What is the easiest way to cut make aluminum gusset

[lamk]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

We made our .125" thick 6061 gussets on a sheet metal shear. Really easy. And you could do a jig to drill on a drill press if you wanted to rivet or bolt them rather than weld. If you want to save weight, you can go through it with a big bi-metal hole saw.

Sorry I have no experience with metal work. When I google "sheet metal shear" there seems to be many different type of sheet metal shear. Can you point me to the one you're using. A picture or a link will be fantastic.
Thank you

[DonRotolo]

A gusset or bracket CAN be cut with a hacksaw or coping saw. It takes a few minutes extra to do it completely by hand. Buy good quality blades, and finish the edges with a sander (or by hand with a file and sandpaper).

Holes are made with an electric drill.

One step up is a Band Saw or a Jig Saw. A few hundred dollars for a good one. be sure it can run SLOW enough to cut metal (Most run fast for wood, you can change a pulley to slow it down). A little more dangerous, but certainly OK for a typical high school student.

Another step up is a metal shear capable of cutting 0.090 or .125 aluminum. As you found, there are thousands of choices, some costing as much as a car.

Beyond that are milling machines, CNC Routers, and more, all in the multi-thousand-dollar range. I agree, asking your CNC shop to cut gusset plates is like asking your doctor to wash your clothes: You surely can do a fine job yourself.

[sanddrag]

Sorry I wasn't clear. This is what we use:
http://www.westauction.com/archive_i...34_1098203.JPG

[lamk]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

Sorry I wasn't clear. This is what we use:
http://www.westauction.com/archive_i...34_1098203.JPG

Ah we have one similar at the school but I'm not sure if it will cut 0.09". The teacher said the one we have is designed for 0.03". I have use it to cut 0.03" many time for this year's robot. I'll get the model number and look it up. Thanks for the quick reply.

[ttldomination]

So, it seems like a lot of people are telling you to how to cut out pieces of metal, but as far as I'm concerned, that's not even your biggest worry. In my opinion, it's a lot more difficult to get the hole placement right than cutting a decent looking gusset.

For the shape of the sheet metal, use a bandsaw + sander. It'll let you make a large variety of shapes and be an all around good tool for the shop. Just measure twice, go slow, and you'll make some decent looking gussets.

For hole drilling, you can either use a drill press or clamp pieces together and drill through all of the pieces, creating a "perfectly aligned hole." Either method will require some patience and time to do cleanly and precisely.

Whenever we have gusseting needs that need to be met in house, we often just end up printing out a 1x1 scale model on paper and then gluing it to some aluminum. Then the kids/mentors go through and use the marked hols and lines to create the pieces. It isn't super pretty but the job got done.

- Sunny G.

[lamk]

Originally Posted by ttldomination

Whenever we have gusseting needs that need to be met in house, we often just end up printing out a 1x1 scale model on paper and then gluing it to some aluminum. Then the kids/mentors go through and use the marked holes and lines to create the pieces. It isn't super pretty but the job got done.

- Sunny G.

I plan to buy a bunch of vexpro gusset to be used as templates but I like the paper template idea. I plan to pre-drilled the gusset and than clamp on to the extrusion.

[DampRobot]

Depending on where you're located, you could pay a waterjet (or laser or sheetmetal) shop to cut your gussets for you (or even better, get them as a sponsor). Depending on how many you want cut, you'll probably end up spending less than $150 to get them watejerjetted, which even over 4 years isn't all that much. You'll also get much better quality than you possibly could by cutting them yourself. We have all the equipment (except a sheetmetal sheer) mentioned in this thread, and even given the expense and extra lead time, having the gussets done right and quickly is so worth the extra money.

If you don't want to go the waterjet/laser/turret punch sponsorship route (and by the way, large numbers of relatively simple identical gussets is a relatively good use of a sheetmetal sponsors time), I'd try to buy some kind of CNC/DROed mill/router. If those are out of your price range, I'd suggest going the printout route for the holes and buying a nice band saw. Band saws are good tools for the shop anyway, for cutting tubing to length, prototyping, etc.

[JCharlton]

A vertical bandsaw is a great tool for any FIRST shop, but for cutting sheets sometimes the throat is inadequate. A shear is a great tool too, but 0.090 aluminum is really pushing it.

For under $100 you can get a jigsaw at Canadian Tire that will cut 1/4" Al (or steel) to a high enough degree of accuracy for gussets. Yeah it takes a little time, but for the low volume it's the inexpensive way to go. Our team calls it the "Loyola Waterjet".

If you have the resourses for a CNC router that may be a good route to go, or finding a company which will water/laser/plasma cut parts is also great for quality parts. Doing the jobs in-house with student work is also viable and sometimes the faster way to go.

[roystur44]

Another way to duplicate gussets is by using a manual punch press and a pantograph attachment. Back in the old days before CNC we used this method to duplicate metal brackets.

The punch press can hold different shaped punches. Squares, rect, obrounds, rounds.

I like to teach the kids the old ways before I introduce them to the CNC.

Here is a video of a manual punch press:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4hrxcdlVf8

[roystur44]

Here's another way to cut the outside shapes of a gusset. Corner notcher. Works great for small brackets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYNpp2wV2KQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPvb6Rjhvuo