Cutting aluminum

T

tonylumps

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Nov 20, 2012
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When cutting aluminum with my Kapex and using a non ferrous blade do I have to use a lubricant. I know some blade Manufacturers suggest using a lubricant on other miter saws.If not is it because the Kapex is variable speed.Thanks Tony
 
I would try a test cut without lube first. You should not need any, and it is pretty messy to use a lube. I have cut and routed aluminum dry with very good results. The material was 8020 extrusions which are made of 6061T6 alloy, an aircraft grade.
 
Thanks will give it a try without the lube. Another Question I have a 16 foot hose on the Vac. I guess I could leave it hooked up, Carbide and alum. not too much heat.
 
If you are cutting more than a few cuts, use lube. I did a job last year where I had to cut 10 sheets of .090 " 6061 into 12' x 6" strips and I used WD40. Watch for aluminum sticking to the blade teeth to tell if you need lube.
Gary
 
I have used the non-ferrous blade to cut aluminum with excellent results. No lube. I don't recommend using the vac. The "dust" will just settle, and afterwards you can brush it away with a chip brush. If the workload justifies it, you might consider buying a metal cutting bandsaw, and save the cost of the new blade and the wear and tear on your Kapex. I have a portable Jet, and it handles the typical extrusions with no trouble, and cleanup is much easier.
 
I only have 2 cuts to make .Very odd shaped extrusion. I am not going to spend 135.00 for a festool blade yet. Going to try the Oshlun Non Ferrous blade with the same tooth set as the Festool and see how it works. I may be wasting my money. But for the price of the blade it is worth the shot and the education.If it was not for the variable speed I would not even try it.New saw so I want to see what it can do.
 
If you are going to try another manufacturer's blades, keep in mind that the arbor is metric (30 mm) - not the common 5/8" and the diameter is 260 mm (10 1/4") not 10".  I looked at the Oshlun website and did not see a non ferrous blade offered with those specs. 

Peter
 
After taking another look at that blade it is 210 mm x30 mm arbor.It is on Amazon. So I guess it will be a festool blade.
 
For two cuts I would consider a hacksaw and a file to clean up the surfaces to the scribe-line. That way you don't risk any damage to a blade you use for wood.
 
Here's the blade Tony is talking about. 

As Greg said for two cuts it may not be worth the $50 for a blade.  However, if you plan on cutting metals (or other material that dulls an ATB blade) in the future, then it could be a good investment.  Me, I hate hacksaws so I like having a non ferrous blade for the miter saw.
 
Brice Burrell said:
Here's the blade Tony is talking about. 

As Greg said for two cuts it may not be worth the $50 for a blade.  However, if you plan on cutting metals (or other material that dulls an ATB blade) in the future, then it could be a good investment.  Me, I hate hacksaws so I like having a non ferrous blade for the miter saw.
Click to expand...

LOL. I suppose you have a motor on your kayak too, Brice.  [poke]
 
I have a customer that makes fancy video projection screens and sells them all over the world. For at least one design, the frame is made of extruded aluminum with overall cross section of about 5" x 3". They are cutting these all the time with a Kapex, the Aluminum/Plastic blade, and no lube or dust extractor. They have dedicated cleaning teams that come by and clean up all the aluminum shards. They tried a dust extractor but decided against it in the end.

Tom
 
That's a good example of how nice the cut comes out.

The customer I mentioned above is cutting mitered corners on their aluminum extrusion frames and even using much more expensive and exotic saws and set ups, they weren't getting good miters. With the Kapex, they get real nice miters that go together almost perfectly. Any imperfections appear to be in the actual extrusions themselves. I think also they sometimes get in a hurry and may have some aluminum shards against the fence or on the table that throw off the set up ever so slightly.

Tom
 
HI, I have use a  250mm TCT blade, 80 tooth, triple chip with a negative rake, for allum. sections.  No lube.  I know some who use wax stick sold for the purpose. Also cuts hardwoods perfectly.  If you feed in too fast you can get kickback with thinner allum sections, this is because of the wide gap in the fence so I have a wood strip sub fence as a backing.  Ideally material best always clamped.  These are standard blades in UK, bought from sawblade business on ebay and can't fault it!.  Cheers, Ed
 
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