Cutting aluminum on a table saw

[Doozer]

I consider myself a man of the world.
Very versatile and able to handle almost any situation.
But I am not man enough to cut aluminum on the table saw.
I would rather re-wire a 480volt panel live than cut AL on a table saw.

-Doozer

[ed_h]

Most woodworking tools work OK on aluminum, including routers. Carbide cutters are best.

If it scares you, don't do it, but I cut and route aluminum with woodworking tools fairly routinely.

Ed

[Black Forest]

I consider myself a man of the world.
Very versatile and able to handle almost any situation.
But I am not man enough to cut aluminum on the table saw.
I would rather re-wire a 480volt panel live than cut AL on a table saw.

-Doozer

Candy a$$!

[skunkworks]

If a table saw was the only thing I had - I would certainly use it to cut aluminum. YOLO

I cut aluminum soffit material on my table saw.. Had a bruise across my stomach to show for it..

sam

ps - still have all my fingers too.

[Fasttrack]

... they even make table saw blades specifically for aluminum. Not sure what all the fuss is about. Freud, among others, has plenty of information available about how to cut aluminum using a table saw. Proper precautions are a must, including a riving knife.

[gellfex]

Been doing it over 40 years. Learned in a lighting fixture factory. We used to hand route sandcast aluminum using wooden jigs! Was taught to use beeswax on the blade. A triple chip blade is best, but any wood blade will do.

I made this radius tool long ago with just a table saw, router, drill press and hand jigsaw. There's a dado in the mounting block that was cut on the saw.

[darryl]

I wore my nice sweater to the shop one day, where I cut some al. Was picking chips out of it for weeks afterwards. Now, IF I REMEMBER TO, I wear my shop coat. I shake that one out easily, but still brush chips out of my hair for weeks afterwards. Eye protection is pretty much mandatory, but a full face shield is better. Now I'm sporting a beard, so the game is on again-

And yeah, I'm not too keen on wiring live with 480 volts, though I almost always do with 110. I'd rather cut aluminum

[deltaenterprizes]

A friend has a radial arm saw that he uses to cut aluminum with a crank to walk the saw back and holds the plate down with clamps.
They have been designed it for 40 years that I know of!

[skunkworks]

A friend has a radial arm saw that he uses to cut aluminum with a crank to walk the saw back and holds the plate down with clamps.
They have been designed it for 40 years that I know of!

Off-da.. I forgot how much I used a radial arm saw when I was in my teens.. That was dad's go-to saw. Steady... Steady... Stall the blade..

I don't know how many tape measurers he cut in half..

sam

PS add...
It was a Wards radial arm saw.. He must have replace the armature a half a dozen times or more. Used it so much he would slowly cook the windings..

He still has it - I actually used it recently. (like within the last 10 year probably.) He also found a identical replacement on craigs list. (you can't get parts for them anymore.

[ChazzC]

My “large” table saw is a Proxxon FKS-E, designed for Aluminum (over 1/16” thick) if you use a 80mm, 24 tooth Carbide blade. I’ve used to trim the legs on 1/16” - 1/8” 6063 angle, with guides, feather boards and pusher blocks.

[darryl]

I spent weeks chopping up aluminum on a chop saw, It cut well, with little grabbing. The cut surfaces were beautiful, and the blade never seemed to dull or load up, or catch. Much of the ease, and the beauty of the cut is attributed to the blade- the right blade for the job. With the right angles for cutting aluminum. The tooth angles on woodworking blades are optimized for cutting wood and do not suit aluminum that well. Every workshop with a table saw should have at least one instance of a plexiglass blade, or aluminum blade. One blade covers both.

You may not want to mess with cutting aluminum on the table saw, and I don't blame anybody for not wanting to. If you are very leery of it to begin with, you're more likely to have a bad experience. I've launched more than a few projectiles off the saw, many of them aluminum and plastic as well as wood. Stand to the side is pretty good advice.

And working with a sled makes it easier and safer to handle the materials, and eliminates the deviations caused by the typical insert. I've made dozens of sleds- some would best be called setups as they would be made to hold a workpiece above the blade so you could for instance machine a V groove in a rim on the table saw. Or you can get a lathe function by rotating the workpiece by hand against a spinning blade. A sled lets you mount all kinds of holders, and facilitate operations that you otherwise couldn't do.

[DR]

Boeing cut aluminum on Unisaws. Once in a while those saws made it to the surplus center. Always badly worn, spindle bearings, etc. But that doesn't mean it's a bad idea, just that it's hard on the saws. Boeing factory workers have always been hard on their machines, the 6 x48 Delta sanders were sometimes nearly cut in half by poor belt tracking.

I do it occasionally on my Unisaw using a sled.

[aribert]

.... I'm not too keen on wiring live with 480 volts, though I almost always do with 110. I'd rather cut aluminum

I also used to work with live 110v - replacing outlets and the like, got shocked a few times. Then I took high voltage training while working on the Fisker program and got to see a couple of videos of people getting electrocuted on 110v and hearing of a former coworker (plant maintenance) who, one week after retiring, was drilling into a wall of his residence from the outside, hit 110v and was electrocuted. Now, if possible, I shut off the breaker before working on an electrical circuit .

I also have used my table saw a few times to cut aluminum. My primary aluminum cutting tool is a 14 inch Delta wood saw with a 4 tpi ripping blade. I have also cut thin aluminum extrusions when remodeling houses using my circular saw with the blade mounted backwards - prevents the blade from pulling the thin aluminum extrusion into the large gap found on a typical framing circular was.

[old mart]

That is good advise to keep the blade at its maximum height to lower the kickback angle.

[Paul Alciatore]

That is the wickedest radius cutting tool I have ever seen. But I wonder how well it works with smaller radii and more tool stick-out. Or do you have a smaller version for them?

Been doing it over 40 years. Learned in a lighting fixture factory. We used to hand route sandcast aluminum using wooden jigs! Was taught to use beeswax on the blade. A triple chip blade is best, but any wood blade will do.

I made this radius tool long ago with just a table saw, router, drill press and hand jigsaw. There's a dado in the mounting block that was cut on the saw.