Cutting aluminum

[RJD2]

I have seen non-ferrous blades. Can the BT3100 safely cut aluminum? If so, how thick of a piece could be cut? I need to cut some pieces of 1/8" thick 6061 aluminum. Thanks.

[LCHIEN]

yes, it can, you can even do limited amounts with the standard wood blades. altho I do have a non-ferrous blade for that purpose.
1/8" aluminum is not very thick. Aluminum is soft and it cuts quite easily. 6061 is a very common alloy. The cuts are nice shiny and smooth.
You might consider doing bar stock, angles, strips and extrusions on a miter saw instead of a table saw, largely because its easier to work with the fixed fence and easier to clean up.

In any case, you should use good dust extraction if possible with a vac or DC, you don't really want little aluminum metal shavings floating around in the motor and mechanisms and stuff.

[leehljp]

There are a few threads going way back about cutting aluminum on the TS, some on a BS and even routing aluminum.

Here is a link if you want to read more on the subject.

[lrr]

I dedicated one of my older carbide blades for aluminum. I mostly cut thin stuff up to about 1/8" and I use my radial arm saw, but would use the table saw otherwise.

[eccentrictinkerer]

I use my BT3 often to cut extrusions with a anon-ferrous blade. I've cut several BT3 rails to custom length and the cuts come out nice and shiny.

Be sure to clean all the sawdust out from under the table and in shopvac. Those sawchips come out hot!

[LCHIEN]

that old thread brought up one good point - whatever you do, don't try and use a grinder/grinding wheel on aluminum parts. Just don't do it. The aluminum loads up the wheel real fast and then some real bad things happen. Grinding wheels and aluminum don't play together well. The best thing that will happen is that the wheel will be ruined, the worst things include flying wheel debris and fires, possibly explosions if you believe all the stories. I chose not to find out.

[jdon]

My BT3K cuts aluminum very easily- I can show you my SMT fence to prove it!

[scmhogg]

I have cut both aluminum and brass with my BT. I make a sandwich with the metal between two pieces of scrap wood, with double faced tape. It, at least, takes away some of the scary factor.

Steve

[capncarl]

One of the hardest parts of cutting au on the table saw is controlling the feed rate. The sliding miter table is the trick for cutting au. Sheet metal wants to slip under the rip fence and cause problems. Like smchogg suggests, sandwich the au between a couple of sheets of plywood works well, square the au up a couple of inches in and screw the wood together and it cuts just fine. I commonly cut 1/4" to 1/2" au on my table saw to get small enough pieces to use on the mill.
capncarl

[woodturner]

One of the hardest parts of cutting au on the table saw

I'm guessing you mean Al, aluminum, rather than Au, gold ;-)

[TB Roye]

I recently bought 2 Freud Diablo D1084L, 84 tooth TCG Blade From Amazon with prime about $48.57 with prime shipping. The are designed to cut Laminate Floor, Melamine and Aluminum. It also say they are ideal for cutting these materials on under powered table saws. I bought to cut Laminate flooring. I was told by someone that it was better to cut Nonferrous metal on a Miter Saw. I have used this blade to cut some base board and does make very smooth and polished cut but will be using it to cut some BT3 rails when I remake my BT3 table. I have one blade in the BT3 and the one on my miter saw.

Tom

[greenacres2]

My BT3K cuts aluminum very easily- I can show you my SMT fence to prove it!

Or my Kreg fence. Cuts easier than some woods!!
earl

[TB Roye]

Forgot about that, I was just talking about the blade.

Tom

[capncarl]

Carbide blades will suprise you what they will cut. We had a hardware salesman on base give a demonstration of a steel cutting blade he was selling so we all gathered around the shop to watch him cut steel with an 8 inch Black and Decker circular saw. I thought it was a joke when he clamped a piece of 3/4" thick cold rolled steel the size of a garbage can lid down and prepared to cut it with that. When I saw he was serious I did what they called "get away quickly", after a long string of curse words. The dang saw cut through that steel like my saw cuts through wet pressure treated wood, no sparks, little noise, no one died. It looked like it was cut on a milling machine with a water cooled blade. I bought 3 blades and a saw from him just so I could scare my friends. Ive used it to cut 1 1/2" square Reese car hitches/recievers. It works.
capncarl