"mc" wrote in message
. ..
| I have a tablesaw with a sliding cutoff box that I often use to cut
small
| pieces of wood and plastic.
|
| Today I needed to cut some aluminum (about 3/32" thick).
|
| I put in a steel blade that was marked "for aluminum and plastic"
and had a
| difficult time. The cutting went slowly and the aluminum got very
hot. By
| the end, the blade was bent.
|
| I then put in a 40-tooth (8-inch dia.) Piranha carbide-tipped
wood-cutting
| blade that was several years old. It cut the aluminum very happily,
with
| very little heat.
|
| I know this is putting more wear on the blade than wood would, but
how much
| more? Am I doing anything harmful to the tools? Seems to me the
original
| "aluminum and plastic" blade was much worse.

The aircraft shop next to mine uses a chop saw with a wood-cutting
blade to cut not only aluminum, but also chrome moly steel tubing.
They report that with a slow, even feed the blades last for a long
time.

"Very hot" means either dull blade or feeding too slowly. Carbide
teeth flying around the shop indicate excessive feed speed. DAMHIKT.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto