Cutting aluminum

I need a little help. I have to cut about 200 "slugs" of 1" round aluminum bars stock. I'm using my "new" to me band saw and although I got a couple of piece from the blade that was on the saw when I got it, the cuts are not very accurate or clean.

I've never used a metal cutting bandsaw before and I know that you can get all sorts of blades with different tooth styles and configurations. What I am cutting is 1" round bars of 6061 aluminum. So if any of you have the secret recipe for smooth cut in 6061 please fill me in. TIA Greg

Reply to
Greg Postma
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You want a 4 TPI blade for that material. Some kind of lube also helps. I have a waxy stuff I often use for aluminum called "edge lube". If you use too much, the blade can slip off the drive wheel. But, just a little allows the aluminum chips to not stick in the tooth gullets. You can also brush hardware store thread cutting oil on the blade before it enters the cut.

A flood coolant system is the best, and if you are going to do more of this, that would be a real good thing to get. It needs to handle oil-based coolants.

As for the straightness of the cuts, the blade guide rollers are on eccentric posts, so you can move the upper and lower blade guides left and right a little bit to get the cut straight. Between adjusting the blade guides and fixed jaw of the vise, which usually can be made to swivel, you should be able to get a straight cut.

The blade needs to be tightened a lot more than you might think.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Elson

For 200 pieces I would consider making a jig to clamp it well for a table saw or radial arm saw and carbide blade.

Reply to
Richard J Kinch

It might help to know what you have for a saw. Jon recommended a 4 pitch blade, but I'd suggest you don't use it unless you have some serious speed at the blade, and you're using a vertical saw, not a horizontal. The start and ending of each cut might give you some grief otherwise. If you can run the blade at greater than 1,000 SFPM, I might have a different opinion. By selecting a blade anywhere from 6 to 10 pitch, the slower, the finer, and cutting with lubricant, you should be able to get a decent cut in reasonable time. For this cut, try to stay away from finer teeth than a 10 pitch, there's not enough room for chips, so they cut slowly. You need not worry about running the blade too fast in aluminum----you likely can't unless you have a saw built for friction sawing, so select your fastest blade speed. Lubrication can be as simple as the occasional brush application of kerosene. Enough to keep the blade free of chips and galling.

Harold

Reply to
Harold and Susan Vordos

One thing I've not seen mentioned but I'm sure you have done, is to narrow the distance between blade guides to just allow the one inch stock to fit. Just a thought. Respectfully, Ron Moore

Reply to
Ron Moore

Table saw and a vice set up on the groove of the table to slide at 90 deg to the blade.

Wear a face sheild.

Nice clean , sharp edged cuts.

Get a new blade for your bandsaw. No disrespect for the guy you got it from, but that will remove one variable from the setup.

Cheers Trevor Jones

Reply to
Trevor Jones

Beg, borrow, buy or steal a woodbutchers miter saw, put a triple chip blade on it and finish that job in less than an hour. Fast clean cuts in a flash. Better than a band saw, table saw or chain saw. Wear hearing and face protection. The chips are hot and plentiful. Tom

Reply to
Tom Wait

You'll never get nice cuts with a bandsaw. You want a circular saw. And for Al, you want a high-speed circular saw with carbide tips and lubrification.

Nick

Reply to
Nick Müller

Good point! I totally missed that the round stock would have a problem with this. Of course, a high-quality saw with hydraulic downfeed would do just fine, but the 4x6 with spring counterbalance would jump in and grab at the end of the cut.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Elson

Get a new blade of about 10tpi and use something for a lubricant. Also set the guides next to the work so that the blade doesn't wander. Finally adjust the rdrop speed so that the blade doesn't wander in the cut. I have regularly cut aluminum on the horizontal bandsaws and gotten good square cuts by letting the saw do it's workwth a cleanup cut on the mill of no more than .010". The blade does need to be a good regular kerf for that to happen with a good weld.

-- Why do penguins walk so far to get to their nesting grounds?

Reply to
Bob May

Hey Greg,

Still lookin' for those prints...

Anyhow... I haven't read anyone else's respknse yet so this may be covered... But coolant... Use coolant for sure. Aluminum WILL stick to just about any tool used without it. And a nice slow and deliberate feed. Nothing too agressive. Can't ehlp with the blade tooth type, but that may cause some problems too.

It's IMHO only of course and based on my experience with our

Reply to
Joe AutoDrill

Bitch, bitch bitch.......

Are you related to my first wife by any chance?? I sent the prints off to you tonite. It may take me a while to call you to discuss them, I've got a couple of fires to put out first.

Greg

Reply to
Greg Postma

Reply to
LarryLurker

A little more information about my saw and the project. The saw is an old J-Line by Yates American and sold by Brodhead Garret. This is what it looks like

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I was at one of my clients plants and I saw a guy take it off a pick up truck at the metal recycler next door. The local roach coach showed up and I wondered over to get a cuppa and came back with the coffee and the band saw. The coffee cost me a buck and the bandsaw cost me a cuppa and

10 bucks. I wheeled it into the plant, plugged it in and the motor ran, quiet and smooth but it had no blade. I mentioned the no blade to Jose the metal recycler and he came over with a couple of bands, one of which fit the machine. When I went to install the band, I noticed that the driven wheel had no tire on it. So a call to McMaster and $24 later the saw was cutting. So now I've invested $34 and a cuppa in the thing.

The project involves cutting segments out of the 1" aluminum bar that has been rolled to a 5" centerline radius. The plugs I cut must fit into a tube that also has been bent to a 5" radius. The cross section of the cut is "oval" to match the tube.

I did 3 pieces as a proof of concept and the clients customer jumped on the idea, so now I have to do 30 pcs. of 3 different lengths as manufacturing feasibility test. If all goes well, I will finish this project in the next couple of days and then take a couple of days off before I head to China.BTW if this project works out, these parts will come back from Asia, the second project the I've successfully brought back in 3 months.

To all that offered advice, thanks. I think that I will use my miter saw with a Tenyru metal blade and some WD40 and just whack the plugs off that way.

Thanks again Greg

Reply to
Greg Postma

LOL. Could be... Is she Sicilian from Palermo?

We will be here. No problems... They are huge BTW. Had to export to jpg to print 'em. Not a single printer here could handle the PDF files for the

15 pager. Thus, my running into the 3D Adobe stuff I just posted about.
Reply to
Joe AutoDrill

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