The variety of saws can be classified into two classes: hand-held and stationary. There are also other types, like electrically powered circular saw, but they cannot be considered as miter saws since they do not provide the same usage.
For cutting aluminum with a miter saw or chop saw, the best thing to do is to use a diamond blade. Diamond blades are made of diamonds and other materials (read below) and they can cut many kinds of material, like steel, titan and aluminum. Aluminum should be cut with a specific kind of diamond blade that is able to cut this metal.
#1: Diamond Blades
A diamond blade for miter saws is a quite expensive kind of blade, but it is worth the price. Since it has quite a large area of teeth and also the shape, it can cut many different stone materials, from granite to limestone.
In general, diamond blades have five properties:
- Low coefficient of friction with material being cut
- Less blade deflection
- Tooth form contributes to efficient dust removal and binds the cutting chips for easy ejection
- The blade stays straight as it cuts, resulting in a longer blade life
- The blade can be used on many different types of materials, from concrete to stone to metal
In case you wonder why diamond blades are so expensive, it is because diamonds are quite rare. Diamonds are actually made of pure carbon at extremely high temperature and immense pressure. These conditions are met deep in the Earth’s crust or even below that. And just one carat of diamond is worth more than $1,000 nowadays.
#2: Aluminum
Aluminum is usually too soft to be cut with regular saw blades, but the miter saw has a very strong motor and a rotating circular blade, which is able to cut the metal. Diamond blades are usually used for this task, because it has a low coefficient of friction, better than other types of saw blades.
If you want to cut aluminum yourself, you need to wear gloves made from leather or latex, as well as goggles that can protect your eyes from small bits of metal that will be flying around while the piece of aluminum is being cut. The work surface should also be covered by sheet(s) of plastic or wood to avoid injuries caused by accidental dropping. You can use cleaning products like Windex to clean up any mess created during the cutting process.
#3: Cutting Aluminum
Aluminum should not be cut with a metal saw blade, because it will cause big problems, like overheating or breaking the blade. To avoid this, use a diamond blade for miter saws, which has teeth made of diamonds. If you want to cut small parts at home, you can have access to a chop saw in your local hardware store.
It is important that aluminum is not overheated while it is being cut. If the aluminum gets too hot during cutting process, it will break into pieces which are useless if they are not in the proper size. Therefore, when using a circular saw with diamond blade to cut aluminum, wait until all pieces are cold before cleaning them up with Windex or other similar products .
What you need you:
- miter saw
- diamond blade – aluminum metal sheet
- protective glasses
- dust mask
Steps to follow:
- Before you start, turn the power to the saw off.
- Put on your safety glasses and dust mask to protect yourself from cutting metal fragments flying around during the process.
- Make sure you are wearing leather gloves, because it is better for griping onto the diamond blade while changing its position. Also, place a cloth or paper towel over the area where you will cut, so that aluminum shavings will not be able to fly into your face.
- Turn on the saw if it is not already turned on, then move it closer to where you have placed your aluminum sheet. The action of moving something closer means lowering its distance with respect to yourself. To make this movement possible, rotate the circular table towards yourself until all its legs have touched the floor.
- Place the diamond blade onto the circular saw’s bed, so that it is in between two of its teeth. If you are right-handed, move it towards your left side and if you are left-handed, move it towards your right side.
- Turn on the miter saw power button after placing it in position.
- Carefully hold onto the diamond blade with one hand while using the other hand to set up a straight edge (e.g., aluminum sheet), which you will be cutting through. Hold onto both hands firmly while doing this — try not to use more force than what is needed because that will scare you and make your hands twitch even though it is normal but only infrequent — and cut the aluminum sheet with the diamond blade.
Cutting aluminum with a miter or chop saw can be done without any problems when following these steps.
Conclusion
If you need larger quantities of aluminum for industrial or commercial purposes, use a diamond blade for miter saws and cut them to the proper size using a chop saw. Larger pieces of aluminum can also be cut if you use an angle grinder, but that kind of equipment is usually used by professionals.
The article was about cutting aluminum with miter or chop saws. If you need larger quantities of aluminum for industrial or commercial purposes, use this diamond blade for miter saw and cut them to the proper size using a chop saw. Larger pieces of metal can also be cut if you use an angle grinder while working maintaining safety precautions at all times while working.
Great!