[R-390] aluminum

Fri Oct 28 14:02:04 EDT 2016

I cut up to 1/2" aluminum plate routinely with a 60 tooth, 10", carbide
fine crosscut. Radial arm saw. I use WD40 to keep the blade from sticking.
I use eye and ear protection, it is loud!
73
Frank
KJ4OLL

On Oct 28, 2016 10:56, <r-390-request at mailman.qth.net> wrote:

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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: Cutting Aluminium Plate (Charles Steinmetz)
   2. Re: Cutting Aluminium Plate (Alan Victor)
   3. Re: Cutting Aluminium Plate (jbrannig)
   4. Re: Cutting Aluminum sheet for your R390 (Doug Hensley)
   5. Re: Cutting Aluminum sheet for your R390 (Robert Nickels)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2016 03:49:48 -0400
From: Charles Steinmetz <csteinmetz at yandex.com>
To: r-390 at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [R-390] Cutting Aluminium Plate
Message-ID: <5813031C.8040104 at yandex.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed

Perry wrote:

> Some of my A's are missing the Utah plate.
> I have some very nice sheeting of about the same thickness.
> I'd like to cut them on my table saw that has a new 10 inch 40 tooth
carbide blade.
> Good idea? Bad idea?  Pitfalls to avoid?

40 teeth is WAY, WAY too coarse to cut aluminum of any kind, and most
especially thin sheets.  You need a 100-tooth "non-ferrous metal" blade.
  And unless you have a very good table saw, you won't have enough power
to cut aluminum with a 10" blade.  Most folks use 7-1/4" or 8" blades
for this (even if they DO have a very good saw).

Aluminum tends to catch the saw teeth and buck, so you need very good
blade guards that hold the workpiece firmly down on the table, and
anti-kickback prevention.

Cutting aluminum makes LOTS of noise. Neighbors-may-call-the-police
loud.  It sounds like a thousand angry monkeys screaming.

A metal-cutting bandsaw is a much better tool for this job.

Best regards,

Charles

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2016 02:08:51 -0700
From: Alan Victor <amvictor at ncsu.edu>
To: Charles Steinmetz <csteinmetz at yandex.com>
Cc: 390 list <r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [R-390] Cutting Aluminium Plate
Message-ID:
        <CAO-B_TcVc0VZg=L=z-sLvz7+DZSZtV5T2psyjLmbFTCeYX80Kg at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

Cut mine out with a hacksaw. Took about 15 minutes. Laminated a photo
image of the LC xmfr networks and the alignment blocks into plastic and
attached that to the plate. Images came from the Y2K manual. Looks FB. Alan

On Fri, Oct 28, 2016 at 12:49 AM, Charles Steinmetz <csteinmetz at yandex.com>
wrote:

> Perry wrote:
>
> Some of my A's are missing the Utah plate.
>> I have some very nice sheeting of about the same thickness.
>> I'd like to cut them on my table saw that has a new 10 inch 40 tooth
>> carbide blade.
>> Good idea? Bad idea?  Pitfalls to avoid?
>>
>
> 40 teeth is WAY, WAY too coarse to cut aluminum of any kind, and most
> especially thin sheets.  You need a 100-tooth "non-ferrous metal" blade.
> And unless you have a very good table saw, you won't have enough power to
> cut aluminum with a 10" blade.  Most folks use 7-1/4" or 8" blades for
this
> (even if they DO have a very good saw).
>
> Aluminum tends to catch the saw teeth and buck, so you need very good
> blade guards that hold the workpiece firmly down on the table, and
> anti-kickback prevention.
>
> Cutting aluminum makes LOTS of noise. Neighbors-may-call-the-police loud.
> It sounds like a thousand angry monkeys screaming.
>
> A metal-cutting bandsaw is a much better tool for this job.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Charles
>
>
>
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>
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> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2016 05:30:04 -0400
From: jbrannig <jbrannig at verizon.net>
To: Charles Steinmetz <csteinmetz at yandex.com>, r-390 at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [R-390] Cutting Aluminium Plate
Message-ID: <jxsswrv62ukvcl3t1h1roikb.1477647004505 at email.android.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

I have used a fine panel cutting blade to cut aluminum on a radial arm saw.
The trick is to cut BACKWARDS.....
This works with chassis and rack panel thickness.
Jim

Sent from my Galaxy Tab? A
-------- Original message --------From: Charles Steinmetz <
csteinmetz at yandex.com> Date: 10/28/16  3:49 AM  (GMT-05:00) To:
r-390 at mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [R-390] Cutting Aluminium Plate
Perry wrote:

> Some of my A's are missing the Utah plate.
> I have some very nice sheeting of about the same thickness.
> I'd like to cut them on my table saw that has a new 10 inch 40 tooth
carbide blade.
> Good idea? Bad idea?? Pitfalls to avoid?

40 teeth is WAY, WAY too coarse to cut aluminum of any kind, and most
especially thin sheets.? You need a 100-tooth "non-ferrous metal" blade.
? And unless you have a very good table saw, you won't have enough power
to cut aluminum with a 10" blade.? Most folks use 7-1/4" or 8" blades
for this (even if they DO have a very good saw).

Aluminum tends to catch the saw teeth and buck, so you need very good
blade guards that hold the workpiece firmly down on the table, and
anti-kickback prevention.

Cutting aluminum makes LOTS of noise. Neighbors-may-call-the-police
loud.? It sounds like a thousand angry monkeys screaming.

A metal-cutting bandsaw is a much better tool for this job.

Best regards,

Charles

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------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2016 14:29:19 +0000
From: Doug Hensley <w5jv at hotmail.com>
To: "r-390 at mailman.qth.net" <r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [R-390] Cutting Aluminum sheet for your R390
Message-ID:
        <CY1PR15MB0615CE233B721728B91537ED91AD0 at CY1PR15MB0615.
namprd15.prod.outlook.com>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Perry, the right way to do that is to have a shop chop it on their cutting
shear.  If that is prohibitive for you, laying it out with clear marked
lines that you can see and using a double cut saw would be easiest.

http://www.harborfreight.com/5-in-75-amp-heavy-duty-double-
cut-saw-62448.html

or an electric hand shear:

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200641785_
200641785?cm_mmc=Google-pla&utm_source=Google_PLA&utm_
medium=Power%20Tools%20%3E%20Cutters,%20Shears%20%2B%
20Nibblers&utm_campaign=Ironton&utm_content=46257&gclid=CLzhlP3Z_
c8CFUUbaQodXH0G_A

On a table saw, the blade is going to want to pull on the sheeting if your
feed pressure or clamping jig is not right.  Then  it will try to kick the
sheet metal up over itself.  Not a good thing to do.  To control the sheet,
you could sandwich sheeting between two pieces of plywood or pine wood and
that will dampen the vibration enough so that you can cut through.  But
then, accuracy is tough to get that way.

The problem is not the cutting of the aluminum, its preparing the sheet
metal so that the saw passes through it without moving it.  I went to NASA
on the Gulf Coast one time for a university I was working for and cut off a
twelve foot by eight foot piece of 1 1/8" T6061 with a skillsaw and bottle
of spray lubricant.  Taking my time, it cut like butter but you see the
plate did not move and so the saw just took its sweet time and enjoyed the
ride !  The magic is all in the planning.

Good luck,

Doug W5JV

------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2016 05:47:35 +0000 (UTC)
From: Perry Sandeen <sandeenpa at yahoo.com>
To: "r-390 at mailman.qth.net" <r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [R-390] Cutting Aluminium Plate

List,
Some of my A's are missing the Utah plate.
I have some very nice sheeting of about the same thickness.
I'd like to cut them on my table saw that has a new 10 inch 40 tooth
carbide blade.
Good idea? Bad idea? ?Pitfalls to avoid?
Regards,
Perrier

------------------------------

________________________________

------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2016 09:56:43 -0500
From: Robert Nickels <ranickel at comcast.net>
To: r-390 at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [R-390] Cutting Aluminum sheet for your R390
Message-ID: <12874bec-d0e2-cd09-743e-7949a77c881a at comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed

Some of you may have seen the excellent work my friend Mike KG7TR has
done in his ER articles on his homebrewed SSB gear as seen here:

http://www.kg7tr.com/

Mike gave a presentation at the Jonesborough TN Central
Electronics-Vintage SSB gathering this year on his construction methods
and tools.   He stresses that he doesn't own a brake or shear and makes
the panels and cabinets for all this beautiful gear using a square,
sabre saw, and "lots of filing".    If you're in production, you want to
use the right and best tool for the job but if you're a hobbyist making
a one-off project,  patience and elbow grease are acceptable substitutes.

73, Bob W9RAN

------------------------------

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