I need to cut a number of pieces of 0.125" (3 mm) x 1.5" (38 mm) brass flat bar (either 360 or 385 alloy) for some custom drawer pulls. Could this be done on the Kapex? Would the Oshlun SBFT-260068A non-ferrous blade be the right one to use (Festool, at least in the US, no longer appears to supply a non-ferrous blade for the Kapex)?
Cutting Brass Bar Stock With Kapex
- Thread starter dlu
- Start date
Cheese
Member
You should be fine, it has the same specs as the Festool 495385 blade except it has 5º less hook angle. Just dial down the Kapex speed first and then increase it if necessary. I'd also use a wax stick for lubrication.
Thanks, appreciate the sanity check. Would you apply the wax to the blade or the work? Is there any particular wax you recommend or specs to look for? How often do you apply it? What would you look for to know that you were using enough (or needed more)? Guess who doesn't do much metalworking…
Cheese
Member
With the blade not running, I rub the wax onto the gullets and teeth of the blade. I'd do that for each cut I made.
I'd also do a chop saw motion and not a sliding motion. The brass is only 1 1/2' wide so that should work.
A Milwaukee cold cut saw operates at 1500 rpm using a 14" blade. The Kapex is capable of being turned down to 1400 rpm, so start there and dial it up until the speed feels right.
I'd also do a chop saw motion and not a sliding motion. The brass is only 1 1/2' wide so that should work.
A Milwaukee cold cut saw operates at 1500 rpm using a 14" blade. The Kapex is capable of being turned down to 1400 rpm, so start there and dial it up until the speed feels right.
I cut aluminum and brass all the time with nothing more than WD-40 in a spray bottle...I buy it by the gallon and have done so for 40 years. Actually lub is not neccessary for brass...it is self lubricating. I use scrap brass lock parts to clean up my bandsaw blades when cutting aluminum.
Sanderxpander
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Not doubting your 40 years of experience, but isn't WD40 flammable? And technically not a lubricant.
Michael Kellough
Member
It doesn’t take much of anything to improve the surface quality when cutting aluminum. Water would probably work but it’s not compatible with an environment filled with machinery.
Cheese
Member
Sanderxpander said:
If there are no sparks...there is no fire. [big grin]
WD40 is a lubricant from the aluminum's perspective and it does work well. I don't use it because it can be messy. I prefer to use isopropyl alcohol instead because it migrates less and evaporates after 5 minutes. Again, you don't want any sparks with that stuff either.
Usually when drilling .060" Ø holes in aluminum the drill bit immediately gums up with aluminum and the chips are hard to clear. When using IPA for that situation, the drill produces tiny aluminum chips and there is no gumming up. It's just a pleasant experience. [smile]
Mike Goetzke
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Just remember, like with wood, clamp the material down tight.
(Recently I was cutting some metal on my dry cut chop saw and the piece somehow loosened and wrapped itself around the blade somehow. Lucky it was very thin gauge.)
Mike
(Recently I was cutting some metal on my dry cut chop saw and the piece somehow loosened and wrapped itself around the blade somehow. Lucky it was very thin gauge.)
Mike
rvieceli
Member
Cheese said:
[member=44099]Cheese[/member] what are you using a 1-64 screw for?
Ron
Cheese
Member
rvieceli said:
Hey Ron, actually I needed to make a series of slots in some aluminum flat stock. I also wanted some overlapping of the holes in the aluminum so that I could minimize the amount of slot filing I had to do. The best way to prevent any drill bit wander was to use a brad point drill.
So I drilled the .060"Ø holes in the proper positions and then followed that up with the brad point drill being started in every hole. That allowed overlapping holes, it centered the brad point drill precisely and prevented damage to the brad point drill point.
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