"Phil Mitchell" wrote in message
...
I need to start cutting aluminum plate (1/2" or less) and some angle.

The material will be 6061-T6 mostly and I'll be cutting it on a bandsaw.

What blade should I use on this material and what should be SFPM be?

It's a Grizzly 1HP band saw for wood. I'm guessing that I need to slow
the
blade down but by how much?

The blade is a puzzle too. What style of blade, what tooth type and how
many TPI?

Thanks so much, I searched GOOGLE and didn't come up with anything.

Phil

Speed is a non-issue with aluminum. You should be able to run your blade
without slowing the saw. If your saw won't hack the speed you select (not
enough horsepower), slow it down to the next step, which will increase the
driving power, although the saw will cut slower.You're likely to be limited
more by horsepower than anything.

The rule to observe is to have a minimum of three teeth engaged in the cut
at all times so you don't shuck teeth. You could get by very nicely with
something as fine as a 14 tooth raker set blade in this case, though a 6
pitch blade would cut the ½" material much better. Use a little wax or
kerosene while sawing (brush applying is fine) to keep the blade from
loading. If you intend to saw thicker material in the future, seek what is
called a skip tooth blade, which has coarse teeth, but they are not real
deep. That keeps the blade much stiffer, and still provides for chip
clearance. These blades cut thick aluminum beautifully.

Your wood saw will do fine, but it will be rather useless for contouring (in
aluminum), or for sawing steel. Metal cutting band saws provide better top
and bottom support for the blade, which permits successful contour sawing
with the proper width blade.

Good luck~

Harold