Cutting steel with wood working machines is a no-no, especially
with abrasive blades. The grit gets into everything and
ultimately hurts the machine. That being said, it's your saw, go
ahead as long as you understand the long term consequences. Watch
where the sparks are going!!!!

For the aluminum, get rid of that d____d abrasive blade. Use a
good carbide wood cutting blade and cut what you want. Radial
arms are very prone to climb cutting (running toward you). Have a
good grip on the stock and keep control of the saw head. A touch
of wax stick helps keep the aluminum from gumming up the saw
teeth.

(top posted for your convenience)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




wrote in message
oups.com...
I own a Sears 10" radial arm saw that I purchased when my son was
in
the Cub Scouts. He's now 40 just to give you an age fix on the
saw
(which actually still looks like it's new).

Recently I purchased an 8" abrasive metal cutting blade from
Home Depot
and used it to cut some thin-wall aluminum tubing to length and
it did
a fine job (except for the fact that the hot fiber blade made my
shop
smell like a wet dog for about 12-hours). I also chopped some
steel
angle stock and, except for all the sparks, that appeared to
work fine
too.

Is there a problem with cutting metal on a radial arm saw
normally
intended for woodworking?

Why I ask is that I have some 1-1/2" hard aluminum (7075?) bar
stock
that I need to cut down to machine on my lathe. Am I in for some
unexpected problems if I try to cut it on this saw using a 10"
abrasive
blade?

Thanks in advance.

Harry C.