Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Andre Levesque on October 22, 2011 at 11:11am

Tim, as long as you can cut it straight and make sure to dissipate the heat from the cut...i don't see any problems.

I use a plasma cnc on many of my cuts and there is no problem. As long as I pause between cuts and move the cutting head from place to place on my piece, all is good.

I even managed to cut .016 on my plasmacam.   By hand...you can control your speed and length of cut...so it should be fine.

My opinion

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Permalink Reply by Scott Sutton on October 22, 2011 at 12:00pm

Tim,

I machine aluminum all the time and for cutting/tapping I use this;

 

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/TAP-MAGIC-Cutting-Fluid-1MCU9?cm_m...

 

This stuff really great because it does 2 things at the same time. 1. it is a lubricant and 2. it evaporates and pulls away heat during the cut, better than just a cutting lubricant by itself. Because we are working with tempered aluminum heat is a concern. I use this regularly for CNC work and I spray the the blade of my band saw with it before cutting aluminum. If you have access to a metal cutting band saw that you can slow down the blade that would be even better, but even without that you will be fine with a good sharp blade. My band saw is down for repairs right now, I should have it running in a couple of weeks. You are welcome to come over and use it if you want since we are now that far apart.

 

Scott

 

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Permalink Reply by Tim Smart on October 22, 2011 at 12:53pm

Hey Scott, thanks for the tip and offer. I do have a band saw, will look into the lube though. Will give you a call...

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Permalink Reply by Robert Pelland on October 22, 2011 at 3:19pm

Tim,

If you want the parts to look decent, don't even think of using a band saw.  There is too much lateral mouvement in the blade to make any clean cuts.  The parts however, could be sliced with a very professional look, by using a table saw with the proper guide.  It's much quicker, not to mention cleaner, and a lot less heat will be generated.  Use lots of lub, not on the blade ( it just flies off ) but on the full lenth of the aluminum part.

Ask me how I know !

 

Just my two cents

 

regards

Bob

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Permalink Reply by Chris Aysen on October 24, 2011 at 10:41am

Tim - Robert has a point about the table saw. But even with the bandsaw and filing out grooves your ok. I don't see any heat issues with either method. I milled mine on a milling machine; if you have access to a milling machine that's what I suggest.

Chris

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