Personally I do not believe in combining wood and metal working in the same room. By the same token I believe in not fabricating solid surface material in a space used for wood and metal working. The problem is cross-contamination. Wood dust causes all kinds of problems when attracted by coolant residue on metal fabricating machinery.
It only takes a tiny drop of oil that often is not discovered until stain is applies to wood, and that un-stained spot shows up, like using a clear was pencil on Easter eggs!
Long before I opened my big custom cabinet shop in Burbank, I started a massive metal fabrication plant in Van Nuys, about 5 miles away. There the only wood working we do is making shipping crates, and that is done in a separate building on that campus.
Tom mention a client who uses a Kapex to miter aluminum extrusions after not being happy with more exotic and expensive metal cutting saws commonly used.
I do not say my metal working employees were un-happy with their equipment at the time Kapex arrived in the USA. One of the managers was visiting me in a shop I had rented to build cabinets for a mansion kitchen. I was building a batch of doors, using my first Kapex. That fellow has never worked with wood. He asked if I thought a Kapex was heavy-duty enough to miter aluminum.
My answer was that Festool offered n aluminum cutting blade, which I used for certain kinds of wood. I had a spare aluminum blade.
I offered to sign a requisition for a Kapex for the metal plant, knowing my Festool dealer had just received a new shipment. I figured if the Kapex with the aluminum blade did not improve miter production, it could be steam-cleaned and added to my woodworking equipment.
The bottom line is not only is that Kapex still cutting miters and right angles of aluminum extrusions at my metal plant, it has been joined by 2 other Kapex. One of those is at the business end of a Tiger Stop CNC replacement for flag stops. That Tiger Stop pushes 20' full length extrusions through the Kapex. The results, without cutting fluid, are excellent. Those Kapex save a lot of second-operation machining or sanding of those cuts.
I highly recommend the Festool cat 495 385 Kapex Aluminum/Plastic Saw Blade.
LA Grinding has been doing almost all of my metal working sharpening for 50 years. They took over doing my woodworking sharpening and cutter grinding over 25 years ago when my original wood sharpener retired. They have no problem keeping those cat 495 385 keen. They also understand why the metal working and woodworking blades must not contaminate each other. All of my blades from both businesses have my serial numbers, which are distinctive as to the business using them.
