I want to start cutting sheet aluminum...
 

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

I want to start cutting sheet aluminum...
 

"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

I want to start cutting sheet aluminum...
 

In article , Harold & Susan Vordos says...

... Use a little wax or
kerosene while sawing (brush applying is fine) to keep the blade from
loading.

The stick wax works fine, but the last time I used
a hand jigsaw to do aluminum I had a spray can of
wd-40 to spritz the cut line periodically. Worked
great.

Only issue with that is keeping any ignition sources
(sparks from motor brushes) away from the spray nozzle.

Jim

==================================================
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JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
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I want to start cutting sheet aluminum...
 

If you are cutting regular shapes, ie squares, rectangles and so on,
you might consider using a skill saw. Home Depot has a balde for non
ferrous metals that works fine and is about $30.00. I use some
Castrol stick wax lubricant on the blade but that is for thicker
material. 1.125 and 3.000 material 6061. The 3" plate can be cut in
one pass but I usually take it in two to reduce the work load on the
saw.

Wear eye protection and ear protection!! Makes a hell of a noise but
is quick and efficient.

Other than that I would second the already posted suggestions.

Oh yes, keep your fingers out of the blade. Had a girl student take
a nasty cut earlier in the school year. Required surgery to repair
the tendons but she will be fine in the long run. Ouch.

Errol Groff
Instructor, Machine Tool Department
H.H. Ellis Tech
613 Upper Maple Street
Danielson, CT 06239

860 774 8511 x1811

http://pages.cthome.net/errol.groff/

http://newenglandmodelengineeringsociety.org/


On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 02:26:06 GMT, "Phil Mitchell"
wrote:

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

I want to start cutting sheet aluminum...
 

I cut a fair amount of 3/8" 6061-T6 with a 3/8" wide standard 6
tooth blade. Slowed it down to about 1800' per minute. Biggest
problem was the build up of aluminum chips on the soft rubber
tire. It blew up on me a few weeks later, shed the tire, snapped
the blade, etc.

Phil Mitchell wrote:

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

I want to start cutting sheet aluminum...
 

In article , Phil Mitchell
wrote:

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, as fast as you can go.

Blade, Skip tooth blade.
They are made specifically for aluminum.
It looks like a wood cutting blade, but with every other tooth missing.
They are normally just carbon steel, but I have seen bi-metl versions.

Lube, Use a stick wax or a citrus cleaner (wierd but it works).

I want to start cutting sheet aluminum...
 

Ernie Leimkuhler wrote:

In article , Phil Mitchell
wrote:

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, as fast as you can go.

Blade, Skip tooth blade.
They are made specifically for aluminum.
It looks like a wood cutting blade, but with every other tooth missing.
They are normally just carbon steel, but I have seen bi-metl versions.

Lube, Use a stick wax or a citrus cleaner (wierd but it works).


I agree. I use a 4-TPI skip-tooth at full speed on a Rockwell 14"
bandsaw and it cuts like butter (well almost).

I want to start cutting sheet aluminum...
 

Thank you to everyone that responded. The advice so far is that a 4TPI to
6TPI with stick wax or citrus cleaner for a lubricant is the way to go.

I will be cutting some contours in motor mounts for some old racing
hydroplanes. Most of the plate will be .250" to .375". I know on the new
boat we are doing that it will be .500".

One of my plans is to install some scraper brushes on the wheels to keep the
buildup of chips to a minimum. I'm also using a chip collector (dust
collector or shop vacuum) on the band saw to keep them to a minimum.

I'll let you guys know how it comes out.

Thanks again for helping a new guy out.

Phil

TOF (Three Old Farts) Racing
Avenger A-30
Special Edition J-17

"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

I want to start cutting sheet aluminum...
 

In article ,
Phil Mitchell wrote:
Thank you to everyone that responded. The advice so far is that a 4TPI to
6TPI with stick wax or citrus cleaner for a lubricant is the way to go.

Not for the 1/4" plate -- you want about a 12 TPI for that.
Remember the "at least three teeth in the cut" rule, and with 1/4" you
don't have much length.

I will be cutting some contours in motor mounts for some old racing
hydroplanes. Most of the plate will be .250" to .375". I know on the new
boat we are doing that it will be .500".

Contours will want a narrower blade -- which means more frequent
failure. Depending on the radius of the contour you may be able to get
away with 1/2" blades or need to go down to 1/4" blades.

Good Luck,
DoN.
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