Many thanks. I have a carefully built sliding cutoff table with essentially
zero clearance, and if whatever I'm cutting is so small that my fingers
would be close to the blade, I put a block of wood down on it and hold it
down with that.

I used some of the blades called nail biters, meant to cut off nails in
old lumber. That worked pretty well because it had little rake, but any
Carbide blade works. When I worked for someone who could afford it, we
would use those radically expensive fine tooth blades and the cuts were
lots smoother. We usually would just have a guy shoot a shot of WD 40
now and then.

The most important part of this job is the wearing of Gloves, Eye
protection, and NEVER let off a stern grip. When a chunk of aluminum
gets kicked back, things tend to hurt for a while. Use every method
possible to ensure it does not kickback, and your board on the top is a
good step.

Grummy