Skill saw, carbide blade (if you're doing any amount, if not a reg blade will do) ear plugs and face shield and you're good to go. Use a bit of cutting oil, preferably water soluable as it'll make welding later a lot easier. Or a cutting wax that comes in a stick that you can rub on the blade but I don't imagine you'll want to buy a stick just for a few cuts.
An abrasive blade will cut like crap, more tearing than cutting when it plugs up.
If you've got a bunch the same size to cut lay them on top of one another and it'll save some time. Just make sure to clamp them so they don't move....MIke

 

I wouldn't use the abrasive blade. They make a mess of aluminum, and the blades get clogged full of Al quickly, becoming useless.

You can, very carefully, use a woodcutting blade in a circular saw or table saw. A fine finish carbide tipped blade is best. Just be very aware of what you are doing and your body position in relation to the saw. Kickbacks can be violent doing this. Do not ever back the saw up, or try to remove it from a cut while the blade is spinning. Let it come to a complete stop first.

Use some wax cutting lube on the blade. You can get very nice cuts this way.

 

abrasive blades have been known to explode when they get too clogged up with aluminum. the aluminum causes it to hold too much heat.

 

forgot to add, just use a carbide wood blade preferably one with more teeth than not.

 

I would take it to a local shop and have them use their sheer to make manageable pieces. After seeing kickbacks with wood, I certainly don't want to see a kickback in aluminum. Just my 2 cents...

 

Ok, ignore my post... I missed the part about not being able to transport it.

 

I don't have a shear but I work with Alumium sheets alot. Go to your LWS or Home Depot/Lowes and get a metal cutting circle saw blade. Put it in your saw (worm drives are prefer or a Metal saw) and very slowly cut with it. Gloves and glasses are a must. It will throw the metal shaving all over the place if its not a metal saw with the protective chip guard. Its very easy, 1/8" cuts about the same speed as a 1" thick piece of treated plywood.

 

Before you make the cut in the aluminum, I suggest you carefully run lubricant into the teeth of the running blade. Refresh every 30 to 40 inches of cut or rub it on the surface of the material being cut. Or both.

 

If you use a circular saw, and carbide blade. Bee's wax is the best I have come across. Almost no smoke or unpleasant smell.

A shear is the way to go though. Because even a good quality circular saw, can move just a bit back and forth, even up against a straight edge. And cause some slight jogs in the material. On occasion the sheet will drop down, and let the saw guide underneath the straight edge.

It does make a mess. Little silver shaving will be everywhere. The good thing is they do not stain the cement red like iron. These shavings do burn if you get hit in the face with them.

I would find someone with a shear, and see what he wants a cut. Sometimes a guy will say yea bring it down and we will cut it up for you for 25 bucks or something like that.

Aluminum also cuts well with a reciprocating saw (jig saw), and bee's wax.

On occasion I use a giant nibbler as well. I usually create a pattern that allows for the offset for the guide to the cutter. And just clamp it on to the aluminum and push the nibbler along.

The scallops on the 1/8" aluminum awning where cut with a nibbler and a pattern I generated in a cad program. It was easier, and harder then I thought.
It was easy to cut them and follow the template or pattern. But making the template so that one scallop picked up where the other left off, as you join the panels edge to edge, was at first a little hard to design. Especially because of the offset of template and nibbler guide, compared to the cutter. It was just a matter of figuring out what was causing me the problem.

Sincerely,


William McCormick

 

Generally the consensus seems to be bees wax with a carbide blade containing many teeth pushing forward at a slow rate.

The place is to have 4 horses, so I have 8 feet of aluminum, I place one at about 6 feet then the next two between where I will cut with 6 inches of spare or so, then the last one at the end of the side of the piece being cut off so there is no fall to the ground or that bend you might get when the cut gets towards the end.

I don't think I would use my table saw, sure the rip fence is nice for precise measurements but I don't want to try and push that much metal across with no one or thing to catch and brace is on the other side. I work alone, I probably didn't mention that.

I've got plenty of gloves and a protect mask that I love, it's called the 'accustrike'. I sound kind of like an ad right now, hah, but it's true. I freakin love that helmet. The helmet doubles as face protection. as the lens that protects your eyes from the bright weld can move up and down with a quick motion of your jaw. I love to see people who take their ideas and make them go places.

I was also considering using a jig saw with a wooden board clamped down as a guide, I will probably do this either way, but the jig saw's blade will wear in only that one location, I did just buy a bunch of blades though. Fantastic workings with the nibbler, I had never heard of this device before.

What I imagine to be a good idea for anyone here is to acquire from a company that makes shears just the replacement blades for a sheet metal shear that will cut the metal you wish to cut at the thickness you desire and assemble your own shears around that. In other words, for my case. I would probably want replacement blades for shears that are at least 48 inches long and are able to cut through at least 1/8th inch aluminum, I'd probably aim for 1/2 inch just because I love over kill.

 

I guess I'll be going with the bees wax carbide 7 1/4 blade option and maybe try out my jigs saw as well.

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FXWCG2[/ame] [ame]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00080FEVM[/ame] I am looking at these two blades here, there is a difference in the style of the teeth and the number as well, any suggestions as to which kind I should get? Or perhaps another place, better prices that also carries bees wax.

 

I would go with the 60 tooth blade and if you can't get bees wax canning wax will do. With the blade coasting touch each side of the blade with the wax. The wax will slowly migrate to the cutting tips as it warms. One charge of wax should last several hours. I used to charge my skill saw blade twice in 8 hours. Any more and the welder will have contamination problems.
On thin material keep your depth of cut small. For example on 1/8th material have your blade no more than 1/4 out.

 

Really read the post didn't he, almost spam I'd say :nono:....Mike

 

I don't understand what this means.

 

I don't understand what this means.

There was a reply in between mine and Lotechman flogging some kind of steel cutting somethingorother from some spammer, I didn't even bother to read it.
Nothing directed at you Pinjas :drinkup: ....Mike

 

The table saw is nice. But you do need a table behind the saw to catch what you cut. Pressboard works. But dull Formica seems to really make it slide.

If we cut it on saw horses, we sometimes put another straight edge underneath the metal. Just behind the cut. This way it will not dip.

Over the years we have cut up wooden saw horses, steel and aluminum horses and straight edges. Ha-ha.

You cannot use a jig saw and guide to my knowledge. However you can run a six foot long cut very straight by following a line. Sometimes we cutout large squares from a sheet. If you have a quality jig saw.

Bosch makes a really nice one. It is popular amongst cabinet makers. Years ago before that Rockwell made a sweet little saw and just about everyone that worked with wood had one.

Sincerely,


William McCormick

 

I ordered bees wax off of someone on ebay, hopefully I'll get it today, I am definitly using wooden horses. I went to home depot and they had the saw horse bit without the wood. I've used a 'guide' more than a few times with a jig saw, but it might not work out with all jig saws. There is a large rectangular base on the jig saw I have (black and decker) and I just keep an edge against a piece of wood that is clamped to the piece I am sawing, it works great so long as I line it up right. I don't have an angle that is anywhere near long enough, maybe I need to get one. I've been using my current jig saw for a while and I feel it works pretty well. The adjustable speeds and angle of the blade's cut works exactly how I'd like it to, if not better.

I don't know how to say this exactly so it can be understood. Do you put the teeth of a saw blade going with or against the rotation of the saw? I've heard of some people putting it on against the rotation to cut plexiglass or something like that.

 

Same way you would when cutting wood...Mike

 

Thank you