Under what, if any, conditions would it be reasonable to cut 0.5 inch
thick 6061 on a wood bandsaw? The cut I have to make is one that my h/v
junker can do, so I might go that way to put the wear on it vs. my
Delta. However, the Delta is safer for a cut like this, hence the question.

Thanks!

Bill

Aluminum cuts very much like wood. It should be no problem. Use a coarse
blade and lubricant if possible (that dry waxy kind).

Now 0.5" steel is a different story.

"Bill Schwab" wrote in message
ink.net...
Under what, if any, conditions would it be reasonable to cut 0.5 inch
thick 6061 on a wood bandsaw? The cut I have to make is one that my h/v
junker can do, so I might go that way to put the wear on it vs. my Delta.
However, the Delta is safer for a cut like this, hence the question.

Thanks!

Bill

"Bill Schwab" wrote in message
ink.net...
Under what, if any, conditions would it be reasonable to cut 0.5 inch
thick 6061 on a wood bandsaw? The cut I have to make is one that my h/v
junker can do, so I might go that way to put the wear on it vs. my
Delta. However, the Delta is safer for a cut like this, hence the
question.

Thanks!

Bill

Yep! What Al said. Run as fast as the saw permits, assuming you have the
power to run the cut. Faster the better, and use a skip tooth or 4 pitch
blade. Yeah, it violates the three teeth in contact, but with fast blade
speed and aluminum it works fine and provide good chip transport.
You'll find a fine blade works quite poorly---so use, at the finest, a ten
pitch, assuming you don't have a coarser blade.

Harold

On Wed, 01 Feb 2006 06:36:42 GMT, Bill Schwab
wrote:

Under what, if any, conditions would it be reasonable to cut 0.5 inch
thick 6061 on a wood bandsaw? The cut I have to make is one that my h/v
junker can do, so I might go that way to put the wear on it vs. my
Delta. However, the Delta is safer for a cut like this, hence the question.

Thanks!

Bill

Most any condition. Half inch 6061 is regularly cut on wood bandsaws

Gunner

"Deep in her heart, every moslem woman yearns to show us her tits"
John Griffin

Works fine, use a 6 tooth blade. I cut some 24" circles out of 3/8"
6061-T6 recently with no issues. I adjusted the speed to the low end of
what my saw would do, around 2000 fpm. Expect to tear off the blade and
clean the wheels when you are done, the large aluminum will imbed in the
soft tires. Usual comments about safety glasses, this throws a LOT of chips

Bill Schwab wrote:
Under what, if any, conditions would it be reasonable to cut 0.5 inch
thick 6061 on a wood bandsaw? The cut I have to make is one that my h/v
junker can do, so I might go that way to put the wear on it vs. my
Delta. However, the Delta is safer for a cut like this, hence the
question.

Thanks!

Bill

"Bill Schwab" wrote in message
ink.net...
Under what, if any, conditions would it be reasonable to cut 0.5 inch
thick 6061 on a wood bandsaw? The cut I have to make is one that my h/v
junker can do, so I might go that way to put the wear on it vs. my
Delta. However, the Delta is safer for a cut like this, hence the
question.

Thanks!

Bill

Piece of cake.
This is 10mm brass, not aluminium, but you get the idea:
http://faxmentis.org/html/jpg/worm03.jpg

No detectable wear on the blade afterwards. Cuts easier than 1" hardwood.

--
Jeff R.

We used to cut 6061 all day on a 1/4" 6-tooth blade, at full
speed. The blade lasted as long as it would with wood unless someone
shoved too hard on the metal and stalled the saw, bending and derailing
the blade and cracking it.
I also used to cut thinner 4130 steel sheet on a same sort of
machine, using a 1/2" hacksaw band with 18 tpi, again at full speed.
The teeth round off immediately and the cut is made using the heat
generated by friction. Pretty slow but beats a hand hacksaw. The
pressure against the work has to be just so to get the best travel
rate.

Dan

wrote in message
oups.com...
We used to cut 6061 all day on a 1/4" 6-tooth blade, at full
speed. The blade lasted as long as it would with wood unless someone
shoved too hard on the metal and stalled the saw, bending and derailing
the blade and cracking it.

I routinely cut 1" and 1.5" 6061 plate on a table saw with a 40-tooth
carbide blade. I run the saw slowly ('bout 800-1000rpm), and let the saw
decide how fast to feed.

It hurts a lot (from the hot chips) but cuts just fine, and doesn't seem to
dull the blade excessively fast.

LLoyd

Bill Schwab wrote:

Under what, if any, conditions would it be reasonable to cut 0.5 inch
thick 6061 on a wood bandsaw? The cut I have to make is one that my h/v
junker can do, so I might go that way to put the wear on it vs. my
Delta. However, the Delta is safer for a cut like this, hence the question.


The only think I would add to the thread is to clean your tires after
doing this.

Wes S
--
Reply to:
Whiskey Echo Sierra Sierra AT Alpha Charlie Echo Golf Romeo Oscar Paul dot Charlie Charlie
Lycos address is a spam trap.

Bill Schwab wrote:
Under what, if any, conditions would it be reasonable to cut 0.5 inch
thick 6061 on a wood bandsaw? The cut I have to make is one that my h/v
junker can do, so I might go that way to put the wear on it vs. my
Delta. However, the Delta is safer for a cut like this, hence the question.

Thanks!

Bill

Do it all the time. Use a coarse-toothed blade, the fine ones will
plug up. 6 tpi would be right for 1/2", but you could get away with 4
tpi if you're careful not to feed too heavily. Cut it dry, use WD40,
whatever. Clean your tires afterward.

I often cut aluminum on the table saw, too. Some will tell you to run
a carbide blade backwards, but I just use one the normal way. I have
cut with a miter gauge, sled, rip fence - any way you would with wood.
Cutting with the rip fence is not my favorite, though. With the table
saw, make sure you wear goggles or a face shield. It's also one of the
very few times I might ignore the rules and wear gloves.

John Martin

I lost a good bit of time tonight trying to find parts for the other
half of the relevant task, so I have not had time to try it. It sounds
like it should work nicely.

Thanks to all who replied!

Bill

This reminds me of a little anecdote. A few years ago I was in a
university machine shop in the US trying to make a piece of research
equipment on the cheap. Too cheap to spend $100 on the aluminium stock
to build it. So one of the guys I was working with scrounged some cast
aluminium ingots from a friend of his. I have no idea of their origin
or intended purpose. Anyway, they were about 2" x 4" in cross section
and full of sand. We were working after hours and the main machine shop
was closed, but we needed to cut some lengths from the ingot. Our
little department machine shop had a bandsaw - one of those small
vertical bandsaws for woodworking with a circular housing at the top
and bottom, and altogether a bit cheesy. So my friend decides it would
be a good idea to use it to cut the ingot. I suggest we call it a day,
get a coffee and pizza and come back in the morning to use the decent
horizontal bandsaw in the main machine shop. I had visions of burning
out the motor on the little bandsaw. But we give it a go. After all,
it's out of hours. I was rather surprised that this little saw did
manage to cut the ingot, although it struggled and wheezed. I guess the
moral is that aluminium is much easier to cut than steel!

Chris

Hello all,

As you predicted, it works nicely. The inside of the saw is pretty
happy (will check again shortly when I'm "done"). The only disclaimer
is that I have no sense yet of any excessive harm that might have come
to the blade itself. Given the way it cut, I doubt it felt it any more
than hard wood.

Thanks!

Bill

On Sat, 04 Feb 2006 04:27:38 GMT, Bill Schwab
wrote:

Hello all,

As you predicted, it works nicely. The inside of the saw is pretty
happy (will check again shortly when I'm "done"). The only disclaimer
is that I have no sense yet of any excessive harm that might have come
to the blade itself. Given the way it cut, I doubt it felt it any more
than hard wood.

Thanks!

Bill
Most woods have some degree of abrasive material within their cell
structure carried up in the sap, Aluminium does not have this.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada