I have tried to stay off the river during this extended amateur night going on during the holidays. Last holiday I fished we got speared by a pontoon boat.
Anyway, as a result I've spent most of the last couple days working out in the shop cleaning up, playing with things, fixing stuff, reorganizing and just trying some things. The last tournament I fished I couldn't fing my balance beam anywhere. It basically a crude balance scale with a hook on each end and a handle n the middle so you can quickly decide which fish is bigger, throw back the smaller one, and get back to fishing. Anyway, I losted or misplaced mine. One of the projects I tackeld was to make a new one. I picked up some aluminum stock at a local box store. Holy cow!!! They get big bucks for that stuff. Then I whacked it to length, drilled some holes and added some stainless steel clips off an old stringer I had on the wall.
Thanks to the guys here (or maybe it was the welding group, hence the cross post) I had heard you could cut aluminum just fine with carbide tipped wood cutting tools. Danged if it didn't work just fine. Cut about like a hardwood, and easier than some woods I have cut on my saw. This little thing was rough cut on my table saw, and drilled on the drill press.
Of course my original store bought balance beam turned up yesterday.
Bob La Londe