Need help to find a tool, kinda urgent

[AdamHeard]

It's probably best if you take a step back and tell us what you are trying to do.

Are you wanting to end up with a sheet of X thickness 27 x 37 as the final product (those dimensions make me think it is for a base)? Or are you wanting something about that size that you will cut/finish with some other process?

What determines the thickness? and what are you using this for?

EDIT: reread some posts... So, you are just looking for a machine to cut those thicknesses in general?

[Tristan Lall]

A few more useful questions:

• Exactly what is it for? (To give us an idea of the level of fit and finish.)
• How many pieces?
• What's the budget?
• Do you need a special kind of aluminum (or will 5052-H32 sheet work, for example)?
• Does the as-fabricated heat treatment matter? What about cold work (strain hardening)?
• Do you care about edge profile (e.g. straightness, flatness, burrs, etc.)?
• Do you need only squares and rectangles, or will you maybe need curvilinear or concave shapes in the future?
• Do you want to do it yourself, or are you willing to have an outside shop handle it?
• If you end up with a machine, what will you use it for in the future?

[R.C.]

My fault for the inconsistency in posts

I need it for the robotics team to cut sheets of aluminum in the offseason.
The budget is about 200-900 dollars
The aluminum will mainly be 6061 and if possible 7075.
The edges need to be square
I just need sqaures and rectangles
I want to do it myself
The maximum thickness needed is 1/8"
The bottom line is: I just want something that will cut sheets of aluminum

thanks for all the help cd

[Cory]

Originally Posted by rc_cola1323

My fault for the inconsistency in posts

I need it for the robotics team to cut sheets of aluminum in the offseason.
The budget is about 200-900 dollars
The aluminum will mainly be 6061 and if possible 7075.
The edges need to be square
I just need sqaures and rectangles
I want to do it myself
The maximum thickness needed is 1/8"
The bottom line is: I just want something that will cut sheets of aluminum

thanks for all the help cd

What kind of tolerances? Will there be a secondary operation, or are you cutting to size?

The answers to those two questions will determine whether or not you can buy a shear, or if you are SOL.

[acdcfan259]

Hacksaw?

[R.C.]

Yeah hacksaws are great, almost everyone on the team cuts crooked.

tolerence +- 1/8, just cutting to size

[artdutra04]

If your maximum thickness is going to be 0.125", then it sounds like you are going to be working with sheet metal forming tools. As such, 6061 and 7075 are actually pretty bad when it comes to "cold" sheet metal fabrication. 5052 would be a better bet, especially if you want to put any bends or edge flanges on it.

If you just want to cut the edges, look for a sheet metal shear; you can find one in your price range that can shear pieces three to four feet wide. However, trying to shear a piece that thick across the entire length of a shear may be too much for a manual one. In that case, you will need to find a local machine shop that specializes in sheet metal turret/punch, laserjet, or waterjet fabrication.

[MrForbes]

Might also look into having someone saw it. Remember, safety FIRST!

http://www.tipsbytom.com/index.php/cutting-aluminum/

[Cory]

Originally Posted by squirrel

Might also look into having someone saw it. Remember, safety FIRST!

http://www.tipsbytom.com/index.php/cutting-aluminum/

I was going to suggest this, but table saws are a tool that we don't let our kids get anywhere near, due to how many accidents occur while using them. I'd be VERY reluctant to endorse using it for a purpose it was never intended. You could end up seriously injured extremely quickly.

[Greg Needel]

Originally Posted by Cory

I was going to suggest this, but table saws are a tool that we don't let our kids get anywhere near, due to how many accidents occur while using them. I'd be VERY reluctant to endorse using it for a purpose it was never intended. You could end up seriously injured extremely quickly.

I design table saws on a daily basis and I can tell you that while it may be possible to cut aluminum on them. IT IS NOT RECOMMENDED. Besides the fact that the blade spins much to fast you will also need a really expensive carbide tooth cutter (don't use grinding disks)

That being said I think the tool you really want is a band saw. While a shear is a nice tool to have in your shop if all you are worried about is roughing out your sheets, a metal bandsaw using a guide/fence will get you where you need to go. I would look for a used GROB or other industrial variable speed band saw. Most likely something with ~20" will be fine for most standard stock you will buy.

The major problem I see with this route is that power requirements vary. They will go from 440v three phase to 220v single phase. Just make sure you have the right electric service for the unit you would consider.


On a side note - depending on the number of these you want many metal supply houses will have the ability to cut 1/8 aluminum well within your tolerances. And if you ask nicely they may even do it for you. Do you really need the ability to do this all the time, ie. do you really need to buy a tool. If you do then you will get much more work out of a band saw then a shear.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Greg Needel

That being said I think the tool you really want is a band saw. While a shear is a nice tool to have in your shop if all you are worried about is roughing out your sheets, a metal bandsaw using a guide/fence will get you where you need to go. I would look for a used GROB or other industrial variable speed band saw. Most likely something with ~20" will be fine for most standard stock you will buy.

He's going to need a bandsaw with a 40" throat to do that. That's a $5,000+ machine.

We have a JET shear similar to this. I generally hate JET tools, but we don't use it very hard, and it's served us well. I've never tried to shear a full sheet of 0.125" aluminum, but I've sheared 1/8" 6061 6" long or so before and it handles it with no problem. If you get enough people to jump on it hard enough, you'd probably be ok

[dtengineering]

While I can't say that I have personally cut aluminum sheet on a table saw, that was going to be my first suggestion for this particular application. Given the following caveats, I see no fundamental reason why it would not work.

As pointed out the table saw can be quite dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. Not, perhaps, as dangerous as driving a car when you don't know what you are doing... but even experienced table saw users can be sometimes caught off-guard by the occasional kick back. Likewise, just as driving a car can be done reasonably safely with the appropriate level of skill and/or supervision, so can using a table saw.... it doesn't mean accidents will NEVER happen... but we should no more ban appropriately mature students from using the table saw than we should ban them from using a car. Skill and supervision are the keys here.

Jim's link provides a really neat idea on dealing with the high tooth speed... use a smaller diameter blade. With carbide teeth it should work just fine and I can't see any reason why it would be more dangerous than cutting a thick piece of acrylic, maple or teak, or even a large piece of plywood. The article cites an increased tendency for kickback, but normal table saw operations already require the user to make plans to mitigate kickback risks.

If you aren't experienced with a table saw, though... don't cut wood on it, let alone aluminum. All tools deserve respect, but the table saw demands it.

Jason

P.S. I'd expect it might be a bit loud....

[MrForbes]

On the safety issue...as said by others, you need to be very careful with a table saw, which is why I suggested finding someone who would do the cutting for you.

The older fellow who runs the shop our students work in missed most of the 2007 build season because he cut off part of his thumb on the table saw in his shop. But table saws are not the only dangerous equipment used for wood working, and accidents can happen in strange ways...another fellow I know lost a finger on a miter saw, cutting wood, somehow the safety shield broke and the broken shield severed his finger.

Also be careful with a shear if you use one...yet another friend broke his artificial foot using one when we were cutting some relatively thin sheet steel on his manual shear. Not painful, so much as expensive, but still it shows that you have to be very careful no matter what equipment you're using.

I don't have any scary plasma cutter stories, but I'm sure there are some.

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by squirrel

On the safety issue...as said by others, you need to be very careful with a table saw, which is why I suggested finding someone who would do the cutting for you.

The older fellow who runs the shop our students work in missed most of the 2007 build season because he cut off part of his thumb on the table saw in his shop. But table saws are not the only dangerous equipment used for wood working, and accidents can happen in strange ways...another fellow I know lost a finger on a miter saw, cutting wood, somehow the safety shield broke and the broken shield severed his finger.

Also be careful with a shear if you use one...yet another friend broke his artificial foot using one when we were cutting some relatively thin sheet steel on his manual shear. Not painful, so much as expensive, but still it shows that you have to be very careful no matter what equipment you're using.

I don't have any scary plasma cutter stories, but I'm sure there are some.

Once upon a time I saw a kid cut off part of his pinky using a miter saw...he was cutting an ~8" piece of aluminum extrusion, without clamping it down (yes holding it by hand). The saw caught it and whipped it around, it landed on his pinky. Saws need respect.

I've cut aluminum sheet on a table saw before. It is certainly not the best thing to do, but it did work, and I didn't lose any digits or limbs. It wasn't the best experience, and I do not recommend it. It was quite loud though.

[Dmentor]

I'm by no stretch of the imagine an expert on tools. I've been able to rough cut fairly thick aluminum with a good jigsaw and the appropriate HSS blades. You can even cut curved paths if you are careful. You will want to adjust your saw properly and generously use cutting fluid but I have found the tool to be very flexible... I didn't see this mentioned so it probably isn't the right tool for the job but might beat a hacksaw.