Bandsawing Extrusion

Sep 14, 2007 2 Replies
M

I have a hunk of 8020 type extrusion (its actually Bosch, but same concept). What bandsaw blade would you recommend for cutting this.



I currently only have Starrett Bi-Metal Vari 10-14 TPI. Would this be sufficient or should I go with a finer tooth like a 14-18.



I only need to make 1 cut, but would prefer the bandsaw to hand as I'm not very good with a hacksaw (you should see the junk job I did on the wire closet rack I just cut by hand).



I would also of course prefer to not wreck my blade ;) Best to buy a new one if needed and have 2 than buy a new one to replace the ruined one.



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B

You need to turn the stock so it has the tallest cross-section exposed to the blade, then measure. You want two teeth in the work at all times, so it won't hog and rip the teeth off the blade.

Most small extrusions are really thin, and something in the 18TPI to

24TPI range would be more like it.

Get the right blade. For one cut you might be able to cheat disaster by feeding really slowly and do it with a 14-18 blade - or you could chew all the teeth off a perfectly good band and ruin the stock.

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A

" snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@w3g2000hsg.googlegroups.com:

The 10-14 should be fine, you want a coarser blade because aluminum needs a lot of gullet for chip evacuation. I cut tons of this type of extrusion, normally on a miter saw. The hacksaw blades I use for it when I do have to cut a piece by hand is a 14 tpi.

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