Cutting Aluminum w TS55

[nclemmons]

I have some hollow aluminum beams to cut - 12" by 1.5".  The beam walls are maybe 1/8 inch thick.

Can I cut this with the standard blade that came with my TS 55 saw? 

I only need to make four cuts...  If I don't have to buy the $75 aluminum blade that would be ideal.  These are "one time" cuts.  but i'd like them to be accurate cross cuts with a finished edge or only in need of light sanding.

Thanks -

Neil

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Neil,

I can't directly answer your question.  But I can tell you from experience that my TS 55 cut perfectly well and smoothly through the aluminum mitre gauge fence when I set my saw to cut a 45 degree bevel and forgot to move the fence back from the edge of the guide edge.  I was using the 28 tooth Universal blade at that time to make some French cleats from 3/4" birch plywood.  The cut through the aluminum was so smooth that the only reason I noticed it was the fine silver particles lying around.  No harm to the blade.  I've cut much more wood with it since.  And I plan to cut some small pieces of 1/4" x 1 1/2" aluminum bar and some T-track to make some jigs and accessories for my Festool guide rails.

I note in the Festool saw manual there is provided specific instructions for cutting aluminum, mostly relating to adjustment of the blade relative to the work to keep the tooth entry/exit angles in a certain range.

Dave R.

 

[nclemmons]

Thank you - really great feedback. 

I will just pick up an aluminum blade.

Neil

 

[MarkF]

Would it be heresy to suggest a hacksaw followed by a file/grinder?  How often are you going to cut metal?  Alternately you could check out your local scrapyard.  I pay $.50/cut for steel bar/rod stock cuts at mine...free if I buy stock from them and I always find interesting metal things there.

 

[alg]

Use the standard blade. I bought a 106" FS2700 that had an edge bent at about 66". So, I used the TS55 with standard blade on the MFT 1080 (as suggested by Festool dealer) to make a very clean-square cut. Aluminum is very soft. I now have a 66' guide and 40" guide along  with the connectors.