old_man
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Loveland, Colorado
When it comes to fabing aluminum, things are very different than steel. Rough cutting of aluminum sheets is done the easiest on a table saw. Just use a 80 tooth carbide finishing blade. Wear glasses because the chips are hot as hell. Be very careful not to have the blade up any further than necessary and make sure you have a good pusher to force it through the blade. The biggest problem I have seen is that on many cheap table saws, the rip fence does not extend all the way down to the table surface and the metal can slide under the fence with disasterous consequences when the blade grabs the sheet and shoots it back at you at Mach 3. Curves are easy using a cheap sabre saw with the fine tooth metal cutting blades. Unless its .025" or less don't even think of using hand shears.
HF has a cheap air driven sheetmetal nibbler that works pretty good, but I still have better luck with a sabre saw or a air driven panel saw. A sawzall is normally just too big and hard to handle with any precision. Electronics stores, even RadioShack normally stock a hand driven sheet metal nibbler for doing complex shapes, but it will give you carpal tunnel in a heartbeat if you try to remove too much material at one time.
Don't try and use an abrasive "metal" cutting blade. It will just load up and melt its way through the panel.
As for holes, a Uni-bit works great for cutting larger holes. A standard hole saw can be used, but be real careful to have the work piece clamped down, as they tend to stick at the worst possible time. If you are using a hand drill motor with a large hole saw, if it sticks, it can rip the drill right out of your hands and really screw up a wrist. For smaller holes, your standard brad point wood drills will give the best and cleanest holes in most cases.
The real secret is to just get it close and finish off outside radius's with a belt sander. Large inside holes can be cleaned up real nice using the cheap drum sanders on a hand drill or better yet on a drill press. An assortment of course files will also make short work of most complex hole shapes.
HF has a cheap air driven sheetmetal nibbler that works pretty good, but I still have better luck with a sabre saw or a air driven panel saw. A sawzall is normally just too big and hard to handle with any precision. Electronics stores, even RadioShack normally stock a hand driven sheet metal nibbler for doing complex shapes, but it will give you carpal tunnel in a heartbeat if you try to remove too much material at one time.
Don't try and use an abrasive "metal" cutting blade. It will just load up and melt its way through the panel.
As for holes, a Uni-bit works great for cutting larger holes. A standard hole saw can be used, but be real careful to have the work piece clamped down, as they tend to stick at the worst possible time. If you are using a hand drill motor with a large hole saw, if it sticks, it can rip the drill right out of your hands and really screw up a wrist. For smaller holes, your standard brad point wood drills will give the best and cleanest holes in most cases.
The real secret is to just get it close and finish off outside radius's with a belt sander. Large inside holes can be cleaned up real nice using the cheap drum sanders on a hand drill or better yet on a drill press. An assortment of course files will also make short work of most complex hole shapes.
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