cutting aluminium extrusion on the table saw

[mickthetree]

Afternoon all.

I have some C section Aluminium extrusion 50mm x 50mm x 3mm which I need to cut down to 40mm x 40mm. Can I do this on my tablesaw (kity 419)? Do I need any different type of blade? Trend do a blade specifically for Ali:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121077994010

I have about 6 metres worth of cuts to make.

Anyone got any experience of cutting Aluminium this thik?

Cheers

 

[Racers]

Hi, Mick

Yes you can but a band saw with a fine blade would be better, it spits less hot swarf than a table saw.
I have cut some big aluminium heat-sinks with mine using a bit of oil as lubricant.

Pete

 

[mickthetree]

Hi Pete

Ok, thats for that. I think I'd rather keep my bandsaw dedicated to wood as the guy who had it before me cut ali on it and I could never get it out of the tyres (which I've just replaced).

I dont much like the sound of hot spitting swarf!! Great name for a band, but not so good for my workshop.

I might give this a miss and put the money into buying the right size angle iron in the first place.

 

[Lons]

Hi Mick

I cut a length of ali box section using a negative rake blade but it wasn't a pleasant experience and there were sharp bits all over the place for weeks. it cut ok but I wouldn't do it again unless desperate.

I do use my mitre saw to cut to length without a problem but as Pete says, the swarf is pretty hot and feels a bit like welding spatter - not nice.

Bob

 

[No skills]

How about on your router table (? or maybe not, assuming ownership), could build a custom guard to keep the swarf at bay.


Just a thought.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Hacksaw, then clean up with a router bit.

I got excellent results with a simple straight bit in the router (no lubrication). Sorry that I can't remember what size cutter it was, but I had some L-section that needed to be asymmetric. I needed a run of about 18". I think I improvised a router table outside (where thrown chips didn't matter as much). I agree with Mick about bandsaw tyres - I know you can, but the cleanup afterwards isn't worth it.

I've also machined brass with a router cutter very successfully, again without lubricant. I had to convert some spigoted plumbing fittings into compression ones, done with the aid of the router table and an MDF jig (for the curious I measured the angle of the bevel that compresses the olives at 30 degrees). That was done on the 'proper' router table.

E.

 

[AndyT]

I briefly had a summer job in a warehouse full of aluminium extrusions. I remember that to cut them to length they used an electric chop saw with a big, coarse-toothed blade. The reason was that if you used a fine-tooth blade the chips of hot ali would stick to the teeth and clog it, where the bigger chips were thrown free.
Do bear in mind though that this was a long time ago and was for quick cuts. I mention it just to make the point that very fine tooth blades are not always the right choice for soft metals.
If I were you I would talk to the saw supplier - Cutting Solutions is often recommended IIRC.

 

[No skills]

Funny you mention that, the Bandsaw/chop saw we used to have ran a suprisingly course toothed blade. Only thing you had to be particularly carefull with was material that had large voids inside and thin walls - stuff like that had to be clamped to the machine to stop snatching and brown overall moments

 

[spinks]

Bit late to the discussion, but also lets not forget that ripping a 3m length of ali will cause alot of heat, causing distortion on the extrusion!

 

[DTTech]

Myself, i'd either go with the band saw and specific blade (I hear you about debris in the rubbers though). But my prefered method would be on a Miller.