cutting 1/2" thick aluminum bars on a budget?

I have cut aluminum with circular saws, both hand held and table. The key is to use carbide tipped blades. I'm pretty sure that your plywood blade was not carbide.

It will not cut aluminum as fast as it cuts wood (duh?) - so don't force it. You can also make multiple passes, starting with the blade low and raising it each pass.

It is much harder on the blade's sharpness than wood is (another duh), so I keep a separate blade for aluminum.

You can get metal-cutting (carbide) blades, and can get 'em ground for a

60 degree bevel on the edge, so that the blade cuts one sidewall of a dovetail socket. It's easier, though, to get a bar and bevel its edges, for the male half of the dovetail, then another bar beveled at the edges can be ripped in two, and the halves mounted on a plate to form the dovetail female.

Don't write off your saw just yet, it could have something simple like metal shavings in the brushes. A cleaning and some lube can bring it back to functional.

If a track is what you need, there's suppliers that can deliver it by the millimeter, with lots of options.

Now is the perfect time to learn how to _really_ use a file. This is your cheapest option and the best way to learn a necessary skill. (Now watch you scoff at it.)

(Burned out your saw? Nasty comments about your IQ suppressed, but most people know when to quit.) HSS plywood blades won't hack it. Try carbide.

Drop by Harbor Freight and get some $5 carbide tipped blades. Oops, they no longer make the cheapies. (Kids are screwing it up, bigtime.) Too bad. 46231 and 00529 are some I still keep in stock. Depending on the alloy, these C3 tips can leave a rough cut, but some alloys cut cleanly. Avanti 10" x 60T blades are $15 at Home Depot. Cut the angle and file the bottom corner. Or regrind the teeth to 15. This is if you were overstating the burnout of the table saw motor.

Freud carbide tipped dovetail bits for wood are 14-degrees and are $17 at Amazon with free Prime shipping, if you're a member. A router could make quick work of it for you, if you can make jigs.

Like these?

This is the blade I was using:

I think you're right, not carbide.

The table saw I chose for cutting aluminum with a carbide blade and sheet steel with an abrasive disk is an old Craftsman that has the blade on a fixed arbor which extends out the side to a pulley. The table tilts instead of the blade. The saw is on a plywood table with the motor underneath, shielded from metal chips or abrasive particles and sparks. The motor mount is hinged so its weight tensions the belt which slips if the saw blade or abrasive disk binds. I jam a hockey puck under the motor mount to adjust the belt slip.

Since I have more tools than storage space the motor is part of a belt-disk sander that can be flipped up to use it, or down to use the saw. Either way gravity tensions the belt. It isn't the fastest cutting machine but it tolerates jamming well and gives me some ability to cut metal larger than my more precise machines can handle, such as 4'x8' sheets.

The hinge it flips around is a pipe across the center of the plywood. The saw is raised to clear the pipe and make blowing out sawdust easier when I switch from cutting wood to metal.

-jsw

I was under the impression that the Craftsman I was using just might have some sort of thermal protection circuit. Unfortunately, turns out that it did not. It wasn't a huge loss though as I got it surplus.

Yes, I don't see those blades listed at HF. I assume you mean this one from HD:

The one I used during the burnout was this one:

I guess $5 more might have saved the saw. Ok, guess I'll start over looking for another surplus saw and pick up the better blade and try again. Thanks!

I just wanted to ask about this possible alternative for cutting the aluminum: a neighbor offered to let me use his Craftsman 10" bandsaw. Would this be able to cut the 1/2" aluminum or not large enough a saw?

-A10200X/202021698

Do not use a plywood blade. Use a blade with about 8 to 24 carbide teeth. And do not feed too fast. wear eye and ear protection. The plywood blad e has too many teeth and since they are not carbide tipped the teeth will g et hot and then dull. And being dull will make them get even hotter.

Dan

I used a yellow 10" Craftsman to cut aluminum until I found a used

4"x6" metal bandsaw which cuts much straighter and more accurately. The Craftman wouldn't cut straight enough unless the blade guides were in perfect condition and adjusted carefully.

Mine lacked any provision for rip or miter guides until I adapted the table from a small table saw. You can clamp on guide bars but setting them simultaneously parallel to the blade and at the right distance is difficult.

I'd buy the widest blade that will fit, 10 to 14 TPI although 18 will let you cut thinner metal without catching and stripping off the teeth. Sharp-edged, incompressible metal chips don't do the wheels any good.

While the blade speed of a wood-cutting bandsaw is acceptable for aluminum, steel will ruin the blade instantly.

-jsw

Nope, you just completely ignored it. Same, same, so solly.

I see that you did not learn the lesson from that experience. You're on your own.

What part of "Oops, they no longer make the cheapies." did you miss?

No, I don't ever use "plywood" blades, preferring a dull box cutter to those. (that was a joke)

No, learning to stop trying when a blade isn't cutting is the lesson you fail to learn. If it's not working, stop and determine what is wrong. Check the sharpness of the blade, verify rotation, verify applicability, etc. Plywood blades don't work on metal. Got it?

You're either a troll or not a tool-using human. G'luck!

He offered _after_ finding out that you -intentionally- burned out your saw? Are you willing to pay for any damages to the tool you borrow, and will you do so _when_ you break it? Otherwise, do not borrow tools.

Have you taken into consideration that telescope mounts are curved? And do you know how to cut that cove on aluminum bar stock? Just save up the money and buy the proper mount, dude.

On 6/25/2017 9:50 AM, Larry Jaques wrote: ...

Hey ... cut him a break. So, he's new and lacks tool savvy, but he's reading and replying to our posts, which is a good sign.

BTW - for cutting something as thin as 1/2", you don't need a 10" blade

- a 7-1/4" blade will do. $5.99 at HF::

You go easy on your buddy the deadbeat liar, but you're hard on some guy's DIY project. That makes sense to you?

Hold off until he learns to put up with you.

2 words. Band Saw.

and wear a full leather suit and a full face mask. Those aluminum chips are HOT and SHARP and they fly EVERYWHERE. Also make sure to protect the motor so NO chips can get into it.(Here is where a belt drive saw with a totallt enclosed motor is highlt recommended!!!) Yes, experience talking!

Mine got a fatal dose of "indigestion" when the hot sharp aluminum chips damaged the insulation on the armature and shorted it out. All the "magic smoke" came out at once - - -.