A friend cuts steel and aluminum on his table saw. The blades required
for each are different. A non-ferrous metal cutting blade is needed for
aluminum,
and a ferrous-cutting blade for steel. He used 7-1/4" blades in his 10"
table saw.
Lowes has (or had) them. He says that the cutting is smooth and not noisy at
all.
He tried the cut-off abrasive disk type and did not like it at all. He
achieves
almost mirror smooth cuts with the traditional style blade.

I would be a bit concerned about the type of sled. There are two types:
one that supports both sides of the cut, and the other that supports only
one side
of the cut (sometimes called a panel-cutting jig). The later holds the waste
part
of the metal up off the table top by 3/4". My friend uses the former - it
supports
both the waste side and the keep side. His sled is aluminum, so the smaller
blade
does not pose as much a problem.

No experience yet myself, but I'll probably try his technique when the need
arises.

-- Tom



wrote in message
oups.com...
i was wondering if it was possible to make straight cuts in 26 -22 ga
steel (zinc coated and otherwise) with my table saw. i was planning on
using a 3/4" plywood or mdf sled with toggle clamps as hold down. it
seems kinda obvious that this kind of support would be necessary for
nice clean cuts without bending the crap out of the relatively thin
metal. my question is, is this even possible with ANY blade on a table
saw? i have NO idea what type of blade would cut the metal safely.
can anyone recommend anything besides shears? i've tried and they just
didnt cut it.... no pun intended. ok maybe it was. =)
thanks
handsome greg