Welding Tips and Tricks

Specifically, Lenox flex back blades, 6tpi.

I make many cuts each day, using nothing other than Lever bar soap on one side of the blade. I don't like putting waxes on the tire side of the blade, as it's not necessary to get it into the teeth where it counts, and saves from getting a bunch of buildup on the saw's tires. One blade will last me 3-4 months of every day use. I use an older craftsman (don't laugh, it's supe'd up) 80" saw. The big box, home center (ryobi, delta etc.) blades aren't worth the plastic they are packed in. Metal is too thin and there isn't enough set in the teeth for aluminum.

I am posting this because a lot of people think you need a designated metal cutting bandsaw for aluminum work. Curiously, the Delta 93" two speed saw in our shop is left unused, and everyone flocks to the Craftsman brand I set up. I have cut up to 2" thick stock with this saw and they can be found on craigslist etc for around $75 barely used. Blades are 12-13.00 online and that's a deal for 3-4 months of solid use.

Next to the welding machine, the bandsaw is the most used tool of all. Try a good blade, adjust the guides and bearings, and even these light duty saws become aluminum fabricating beasts.

The soap trick works on squeaky automotive fan belts as well.

Where I work we cut lots of aluminum on a daily basis. One of our main machines is a Delta 20" radial arm saw. Metal specific blades are preferred because of the "NEGATIVE" rake on the tooth. A wood blade has a "POSITIVE" rake. The difference being that the negative rake tooth is positioned away from the part being cut.........the positive rake tooth is positioned toward the part being cut.

The Delta has a 480 volt 6 1/2 hp motor. The positive rake blade will tend to grab the aluminum...............when that happens and the part gets airborne off of a machine with that kinda of power schit gets dangerous real fast!!!

On circular blades, yes. I use a Freud Diablo (2 year-continuous use blade) designated for non-ferrous metals and it works sweet. With the bandsaw blades, I have not found any blades that work as well on aluminum as the Lenox flex-back, especially for that $, even if you don't have lube for the blade. I just use soap so they last longer. I have gotten 6 months use out of one blade more than once. We also have to cut plastic and wood with the same saw.

The saw I use is considered non-professional and of a type one would likely find around a home shop. Being that this forum has a lot of hobbyist welders, I figured to pass on this info in the event they have this type of saw and think it not up to the task. Tuning one of these tools in such a way will not only open up another huge realm to working with aluminum, but will add a predictable level of safety to the process by way of effortless cutting.

First question I typically get asked by friends is if they need to buy a metal cutting bandsaw or if they need to turn blades around backwards. The downside is, you have to tell people that assume everything in a welding shop cuts all kinds of metal, not to cut steel or stainless steel with it. I have been lopping off aluminum with this same saw for 14 years on the same set of tires and bearings.

Home center blades are about the same cost, and will not make a satisfactory cut brand new out of the package. Took me two years to convince my boss of this, until I just said "screw it" and started buying my own blades out of pocket.

Ignore my boat, but this is the shop and you can see both saws. The Delta on the right, the bastard Craftsman on the left. If I was to retake this photo today, you would see the Delta with a blade hanging on it along with other clutter. The Delta was purchased later as an improvement, but people still opt for the cheap saw.

TamJeff.

It was pretty difficult to ignore your yacht.
Had to search for the saws.

Tanks.
Alexa

We often cut into aluminum vessels with a plain ol' DeWalt 7 1/2" circular saw with a 14 TPI carbide-tipped "rip-saw" blade.

Actually get a lot of mileage from a $17 home-depot blade doing that. No soap!

The only other cut I do that's nearly as clean is "drag" plasma, with a fresh tip and dry nitrogen.

Steve S

Otto Nobedder wrote:We often cut into aluminum vessels with a plain ol' DeWalt 7 1/2" circular saw with a 14 TPI carbide-tipped "rip-saw" blade.

Actually get a lot of mileage from a $17 home-depot blade doing that. No soap!

The only other cut I do that's nearly as clean is "drag" plasma, with a fresh tip and dry nitrogen.

Steve S

Circular saws, yes. In Delray's dock thread, the ramp I de/reconstructed was mostly all cut with a circular saw/combo blade. We used to use combo blades on our shop saw, but since I was the only one using it for money cuts, there was no feel for my pain using it every day. It was good for maybe 20-30 cuts before you could feel the difference. With the designated aluminum cutting blade, more like 300.

The other issue was when using the stationary belt sander to remove saw marks from plate edges with less than a new belt. The combo blade cuts the part got hot in your hand before they were erased, the aluminum blade, not.

When I started, we used to get our blades from a professional saw shop and send them in every couple months to be resharpened or repaired. They were made for cutting aluminum, but I took it for granted. Just figured everywhere that worked with aluminum would have the right blades. After using the diablo non-ferrous blade, I will buy one for the 7-1/4". I'm usually hard headed unless something works noticeably better. This is one of those times.