[Greg Needel]

Every once in a while topics hits me at home and I can't stand people giving advise to someone for experiences they don't have, ie cutting aluminum sheets on a table saw. For that reason I have made this list for you...


Top reasons why NOT to cut aluminum sheet on a table saw.

1) Kickback pawls don't work with metal as there is nothing to dig into as the material moves backwards.

2) The material thickness is very thin, and such you will be unable to use a modern design push stick. If you do you are likely to slip off the edge of the material.

3)The heat created during the cut, will sometimes melt the aluminum onto the the teeth of the blade rendering it useless after a short amount of time.

4)Possibility of fire. Since most table saws are not used mainly for metal there is normally a load of sawdust in the saw (sitting on the castings, in the bottom of the cabinet, etc). I have seen examples of people who cut metal on the saw causing fire with hot chips falling onto the dust.

5) Aluminum chips act very differently then saw dust, even with proper dust collection they will likely be flying in all directions. In high school a piece of aluminum went under my safety glasses and face mask and landed just short of my eye.

6)Aluminum and electricity - depending on the age of your saw there may be open connections in the unit. (At the motor, at the switch) do you really want to introduce metal to those open connections of 220v


7) Depending on who's saw it is I am not sure that they will want aluminum chips in their $500 piece of mahogany.

8) Problems with future use of the saw. The worm gears and trunions in a saw are open and it is very likely that the chips will jam up these components making it difficult to bevel and/or raise and lower the blade in the future.

I bet I could keep going with more and more, but ultimately it comes down to using the correct tool for the job. You will never find a table saw manual that approves the cutting of aluminum on the saw. This is due to liability and machine design. We don't design saws to cut aluminum and while we do testing to see what will happen that practice will never be endorsed. In my mind this is similar to cove cutting wood to make moldings; People do it all the time but it is really dangerous and many people have gotten hurt doing it. I am sure there are a bunch of people who cut aluminum on their table saws but why take the risk when there are literally tons of other ways to accomplish the same task.


As for the band saw, the throat required depends alot on what your starting pieces are(4x4, 4x8, etc) . Also you can get external support for the right side of the blade and get away with a smaller throat distance.