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Metalworking (rec.crafts.metalworking) Discuss various aspects of working with metal, such as machining, welding, metal joining, screwing, casting, hardening/tempering, blacksmithing/forging, spinning and hammer work, sheet metal work. |
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#1
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I need to start cutting aluminum plate (1/2" or less) and some angle.
The material will be 6061-T6 mostly and I'll be cutting it on a bandsaw. What blade should I use on this material and what should be SFPM be? It's a Grizzly 1HP band saw for wood. I'm guessing that I need to slow the blade down but by how much? The blade is a puzzle too. What style of blade, what tooth type and how many TPI? Thanks so much, I searched GOOGLE and didn't come up with anything. Phil |
#2
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![]() "Phil Mitchell" wrote in message ... I need to start cutting aluminum plate (1/2" or less) and some angle. The material will be 6061-T6 mostly and I'll be cutting it on a bandsaw. What blade should I use on this material and what should be SFPM be? It's a Grizzly 1HP band saw for wood. I'm guessing that I need to slow the blade down but by how much? The blade is a puzzle too. What style of blade, what tooth type and how many TPI? Thanks so much, I searched GOOGLE and didn't come up with anything. Phil Speed is a non-issue with aluminum. You should be able to run your blade without slowing the saw. If your saw won't hack the speed you select (not enough horsepower), slow it down to the next step, which will increase the driving power, although the saw will cut slower.You're likely to be limited more by horsepower than anything. The rule to observe is to have a minimum of three teeth engaged in the cut at all times so you don't shuck teeth. You could get by very nicely with something as fine as a 14 tooth raker set blade in this case, though a 6 pitch blade would cut the ½" material much better. Use a little wax or kerosene while sawing (brush applying is fine) to keep the blade from loading. If you intend to saw thicker material in the future, seek what is called a skip tooth blade, which has coarse teeth, but they are not real deep. That keeps the blade much stiffer, and still provides for chip clearance. These blades cut thick aluminum beautifully. Your wood saw will do fine, but it will be rather useless for contouring (in aluminum), or for sawing steel. Metal cutting band saws provide better top and bottom support for the blade, which permits successful contour sawing with the proper width blade. Good luck~ Harold |
#3
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In article , Harold & Susan Vordos says...
... Use a little wax or kerosene while sawing (brush applying is fine) to keep the blade from loading. The stick wax works fine, but the last time I used a hand jigsaw to do aluminum I had a spray can of wd-40 to spritz the cut line periodically. Worked great. Only issue with that is keeping any ignition sources (sparks from motor brushes) away from the spray nozzle. Jim ================================================== please reply to: JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com ================================================== |
#4
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![]() If you are cutting regular shapes, ie squares, rectangles and so on, you might consider using a skill saw. Home Depot has a balde for non ferrous metals that works fine and is about $30.00. I use some Castrol stick wax lubricant on the blade but that is for thicker material. 1.125 and 3.000 material 6061. The 3" plate can be cut in one pass but I usually take it in two to reduce the work load on the saw. Wear eye protection and ear protection!! Makes a hell of a noise but is quick and efficient. Other than that I would second the already posted suggestions. Oh yes, keep your fingers out of the blade. Had a girl student take a nasty cut earlier in the school year. Required surgery to repair the tendons but she will be fine in the long run. Ouch. Errol Groff Instructor, Machine Tool Department H.H. Ellis Tech 613 Upper Maple Street Danielson, CT 06239 860 774 8511 x1811 http://pages.cthome.net/errol.groff/ http://newenglandmodelengineeringsociety.org/ On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 02:26:06 GMT, "Phil Mitchell" wrote: I need to start cutting aluminum plate (1/2" or less) and some angle. The material will be 6061-T6 mostly and I'll be cutting it on a bandsaw. What blade should I use on this material and what should be SFPM be? It's a Grizzly 1HP band saw for wood. I'm guessing that I need to slow the blade down but by how much? The blade is a puzzle too. What style of blade, what tooth type and how many TPI? Thanks so much, I searched GOOGLE and didn't come up with anything. Phil |
#5
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I cut a fair amount of 3/8" 6061-T6 with a 3/8" wide standard 6
tooth blade. Slowed it down to about 1800' per minute. Biggest problem was the build up of aluminum chips on the soft rubber tire. It blew up on me a few weeks later, shed the tire, snapped the blade, etc. Phil Mitchell wrote: I need to start cutting aluminum plate (1/2" or less) and some angle. The material will be 6061-T6 mostly and I'll be cutting it on a bandsaw. What blade should I use on this material and what should be SFPM be? It's a Grizzly 1HP band saw for wood. I'm guessing that I need to slow the blade down but by how much? The blade is a puzzle too. What style of blade, what tooth type and how many TPI? Thanks so much, I searched GOOGLE and didn't come up with anything. Phil |
#6
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In article , Phil Mitchell
wrote: I need to start cutting aluminum plate (1/2" or less) and some angle. The material will be 6061-T6 mostly and I'll be cutting it on a bandsaw. What blade should I use on this material and what should be SFPM be? It's a Grizzly 1HP band saw for wood. I'm guessing that I need to slow the blade down but by how much? The blade is a puzzle too. What style of blade, what tooth type and how many TPI? Thanks so much, I searched GOOGLE and didn't come up with anything. Phil Speed, as fast as you can go. Blade, Skip tooth blade. They are made specifically for aluminum. It looks like a wood cutting blade, but with every other tooth missing. They are normally just carbon steel, but I have seen bi-metl versions. Lube, Use a stick wax or a citrus cleaner (wierd but it works). |
#7
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Ernie Leimkuhler wrote:
In article , Phil Mitchell wrote: I need to start cutting aluminum plate (1/2" or less) and some angle. The material will be 6061-T6 mostly and I'll be cutting it on a bandsaw. What blade should I use on this material and what should be SFPM be? It's a Grizzly 1HP band saw for wood. I'm guessing that I need to slow the blade down but by how much? The blade is a puzzle too. What style of blade, what tooth type and how many TPI? Thanks so much, I searched GOOGLE and didn't come up with anything. Phil Speed, as fast as you can go. Blade, Skip tooth blade. They are made specifically for aluminum. It looks like a wood cutting blade, but with every other tooth missing. They are normally just carbon steel, but I have seen bi-metl versions. Lube, Use a stick wax or a citrus cleaner (wierd but it works). I agree. I use a 4-TPI skip-tooth at full speed on a Rockwell 14" bandsaw and it cuts like butter (well almost). |
#8
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Thank you to everyone that responded. The advice so far is that a 4TPI to
6TPI with stick wax or citrus cleaner for a lubricant is the way to go. I will be cutting some contours in motor mounts for some old racing hydroplanes. Most of the plate will be .250" to .375". I know on the new boat we are doing that it will be .500". One of my plans is to install some scraper brushes on the wheels to keep the buildup of chips to a minimum. I'm also using a chip collector (dust collector or shop vacuum) on the band saw to keep them to a minimum. I'll let you guys know how it comes out. Thanks again for helping a new guy out. Phil TOF (Three Old Farts) Racing Avenger A-30 Special Edition J-17 "Phil Mitchell" wrote in message ... I need to start cutting aluminum plate (1/2" or less) and some angle. The material will be 6061-T6 mostly and I'll be cutting it on a bandsaw. What blade should I use on this material and what should be SFPM be? It's a Grizzly 1HP band saw for wood. I'm guessing that I need to slow the blade down but by how much? The blade is a puzzle too. What style of blade, what tooth type and how many TPI? Thanks so much, I searched GOOGLE and didn't come up with anything. Phil |
#9
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In article ,
Phil Mitchell wrote: Thank you to everyone that responded. The advice so far is that a 4TPI to 6TPI with stick wax or citrus cleaner for a lubricant is the way to go. Not for the 1/4" plate -- you want about a 12 TPI for that. Remember the "at least three teeth in the cut" rule, and with 1/4" you don't have much length. I will be cutting some contours in motor mounts for some old racing hydroplanes. Most of the plate will be .250" to .375". I know on the new boat we are doing that it will be .500". Contours will want a narrower blade -- which means more frequent failure. Depending on the radius of the contour you may be able to get away with 1/2" blades or need to go down to 1/4" blades. Good Luck, DoN. -- Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564 (too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html --- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero --- |
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