Plasma Cutting Aluminum

[bilbo]

I have a circular saw with an old blade on it. If we get a break from the rain I'm going to try it tonight. It can't be any louder than the grinder and I'm not too worried if I wreck the blade.

 

[Shran]

Should work just fine. Get the saw fully spun up before cutting and start into your cut slowly.

I do have a non-ferrous blade on my miter saw at work now but we used a normal framing blade on it for years with no issues, cutting up what is more or less 1/4" wall aluminum square tube. The non-ferrous blade makes a slightly better cut but both of them were very clean.

 

[2011Supercab]

I have a circular saw with an old blade on it. If we get a break from the rain I'm going to try it tonight. It can't be any louder than the grinder and I'm not too worried if I wreck the blade.

Gloves, sleeves and eye protection, those aluminum chips are very HOT, and there will be a lot of them.

 

[bilbo]

Just finished cutting some, the circular saw worked fine. I made a fence from a scrap panel and some plywood and it worked even better. Yes, lots of hot chips, but seemed better than the grinder. Definitely long sleeves, pants, gloves, face shield, and hat are required equipment.

 

[bobbywalter]

Just finished cutting some, the circular saw worked fine. I made a fence from a scrap panel and some plywood and it worked even better. Yes, lots of hot chips, but seemed better than the grinder. Definitely long sleeves, pants, gloves, face shield, and hat are required equipment.

thats the difference between dedicated blades.....they still pester ya...just not as bad. years ago we used worm gear saws that turned much slower and dedicated blades that would die instantly in a regular saw....



get er did...

 

[bilbo]

That makes sense. I remember seeing contractors use evolution saws to cut structural steel and bar grating on a project quite a few years back. I believe those were purpose built and ran slower than a normal circular saw.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I've used 40 tooth carbide wood blades to cut steel roofing. It works but lots, and I mean LOTS, of metal shards flying out. And the occasional tooth. Only when I have no choice. I use dedicated steel metal blades normally.
I bought a Jepson 14" slow cut metal chop saw a few years ago. Finally had a chance to use it. Oh My God!!! What an absolute pleasure to use. I cut through 2x2x1/4" square tube in less time than it took me to peck out this sentence....
The proper tools make work easier...

PS; I paid $50 for the saw. It's normally $1,500. It was marked down at Princess Auto. Was missing a bolt....

 

[Eddo Rogue]

Wood blade. If it coarse tooth count run it backwards.

Also they do make specialty saw blades, cut off wheels, and flap discs for aluminum.

Its a soft metal, plasma cutter is way overkill. Like using a chainsaw to half a toothpick.

I once did 8' rips through 1/4" diamond plate aluminum with circular saw wood blade. It was a little loud and violent, but cut clean.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I haven’t bought one of the metal blades yet for the circular saw. Back in the day you couldn’t buy anything but the grinder type blades for saws and I got to burn through a lot of them doing concrete work. I do as much steel cutting as I can with the porta-band now that I have them and use a grinder for the rest. Sawzall if I have to, but if it’s thin metal the Sawzall likes to bounce and make a mess. Haven’t done a lot of aluminum work yet because right now I’m not set up to weld it. Thin steel and aluminum though, like those panels and steel decking and stuff one of those metal blades in a circular saw would probably be the ticket if you can’t use a water-Jet or plasma table, lol. Dad said back in the bad old days, cutting steel decking was done with a torch if you had it, or an axe if you didn’t, which would be an absolute brutal and barbaric method….

 

[superj]

that would be terrible with an axe. holy cow

 

[pjtoledo]

use the axe like a giant chisel, hold it against the metal and hit it with a sledge hammer. much neater that way.

 

[Curious Hound]

use the axe like a giant chisel, hold it against the metal and hit it with a sledge hammer. much neater that way.

That sounds like a lot of hard work for very little gain.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I cut the lid off the top of a 55 gallon drum a few weeks ago with a cold chisel and drilling hammer, was way quicker than I thought it would be and the cut was clean and folded over just like I wanted it to be... way faster than the body saw that was the backup plan and way cleaner than an angle grinder or my nibbler would be... for the right thickness an axe and a sledge would be a good solution...

I didn't realize the steel demon was that magical, I think I have a spare circular saw I could leave one in... next time something comes up I might just pick one up, doesn't look like it would replace an angle grinder but in the right circumstances it looks pretty sweet...

When I was building my shop I just bought a pair of left and right hand Milwaukee tin snips, they went through the corrugated metal just fine, not perfect but not bad either...

I have a Harbor Freight plasma cutter too, that thing is great as well, but a bit overkill for metal siding...

 

[bilbo]

I tend towards overkill, so that would be nothing new to me.

I tried the saw to cut some of the track yesterday. I had been using the portaband, which works fine, but wanted to try this out. It's basically 1/8" aluminum angle iron and it cut that stuff well. I haven't noticed any broken teeth on the blade yet either. I ripped some fascia cover on a table saw a few years back and it destroyed the blade.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I've cut small pieces 1/2" aluminum flat sheet on the table saw. Lots of wd40 and slow feed. My boss didn't believe it would work. He was wrong.