Cutting aluminum

Yes. Just ware a face mask. The chips are hot and they are sharp.

-- Nils, So. Central MI. Wood is honest.Take the effort to understand what it has to tell you before you try to change it.

How about a hacksaaw?

-- The pursuit of excellence is gratifying and healthy. The pursuit of perfection is frustrating, neurotic, and a terrible waste of time. Edwin Bliss

Yes. I cut aluminum extrusions and angles. Normally you would need a specialty blade with different teeth angle, but for smaller peaces regular 60-t blade will do. Spray some DW40 on it for cooling and lubrication, although for a piece this small it does not matter much. Clamp well. And yes, chips get hot.

I’ve got a couple of 10” blades made especially for aluminum. They’re HHS not carbide and have way more teeth, I’d guess at least 80 maybe more, and a very shallow gullet. They weren’t expensive either, don’t remember what I paid but I wouldn’t have bought them if the were. Picked them up at Menards and I think they were Oldham. Don’t know if they carry them anymore or if they’re even made anymore. Someone told me a trick one time when cutting aluminum and that was to put the blade on backwards. Sounds stupid and I’m not suggesting or endorsing it but I have done it when cutting really thin aluminum and did get a smoother cut. Don’t know if that’s really good for the blade though, I wasn’t real worried about it as I don’t cut a lot of aluminum with a circular blade anymore, I use a bandsaw.

-- -Curt, Milwaukee, WI

Never cut anything with the blade on your saw backwards. All it does is causes stress on the blade tip joint.
It doesn’t improve the quality of cut at all. I see this recommended a lot for cutting plexiglass on the tablesaw even though a 40 tooth general purpose blade works just fine.

K.I.S.S.

-- He who dies with the most tools... dies with the emptiest wallet.

Yes, I am working on a project that required cutting aluminum extrusions and 1/4” plate. I bought a 100T Oshlun blade designed for cutting aluminum which worked superbly. I also bought a cheap face shield, which helped a lot to keep the chips out of my face.

As previously stated, your 60T blade will work okay. Spraying the blade with WD-40 before cutting helps, as well.

-- Paul, Auburn, WA

Thanx for all the info and insights. I too never liked the idea of running a blade backwards.I have done this before with a Jigsaw and a metal cutting blade. Hot fliing metal chips may be an issue at the jobsite (retail store). Even with the jig saw I’ll use WD-40, can’t hurt.

-- Nat - West Sayville,L.I., NY

A “triple chip” carbide is the preferred blade for cutting non ferrous metals. Get a tube of stick wax and cut into it with the saw running. Just enough to coat the tips will do the trick.

-- OK, who's the wise guy that shrunk the plywood?

You certainly can and you might even have the correct blade on your saw. A triple chip grind and negative hook with around 60 teeth is the type of blade designed to cut non-ferrous metal. The negative hook is common on many miter saws and radial arm saw. You can use a positive hook on the occasional aluminum cut just go a bit slower on the cut. A face shield is nice as the chips aren’t really hot per se, just a bit warm.
As a Metalsmith I use many basic woodworking machines to work non-ferrous all the time including the table saw and router.

-- Few folks really know how to maximize the potential of their tools!