I've cut 1/8 – 3/16" Aluminum alloy plate on my table saw (regular cross-cut carbide blade) on a number of occasions without any problems – although it's a bit noisy. Need to feed slowly (probably obvious) and normal precautions: eye protection, blade guard down etc.

The speed is probably still a bit fast even for aluminum but it's do-able. I wonder if anyone has tried it with a VFD to get some control over the speed.

Also done Acrylic with no particular problem (although the hardware/lumber stores around here in Canada have recently begun refusing to cut it – don't know their reasoning).

The thing I've never had any luck with is LDPE which is supposed to cut easily. Never does for me.

Metal fastenings are clearly often used in carpentry/joinery. Aluminium star dowels have been used for years to stabilise joints, simply because they are easily machined, whether cutting, planing, routing, etc without damaging the cutters. In the past, and likely still a problem with some hardwoods, was machinery coming into contact with steel jacketed bullets. HSS cutters do not fare well against these unexpected items. Metal detectors were often fitted to installations to avoid such damage – and probably still are.

I have found the same thing happens with nails in pallets. I have a 10" mitre saw and a Screwfix brand TCT saw blade that I use for chopping up pallets for firewood (amongst other things) and staples/nails are frequently hidden in the timber. The blade is almost as sharp now as it was when I fitted it 3 years ago. The original blade had to be replaced when it was down to 10% of its tct tips left. That was a B&Q own brand blade & nowhere near as good.

Where I work we make boxes for expensive stuff (satellites being on the list in the past). Due to the fact many of the boxes go on aeroplanes, we have to make them fairly light, which mean 6082-T6 aluminium extrusions. However they also big enough to need fork lift pockets. Until we got cnc machined longitudinal extrusions for the boxes, we found the most cost effective way to cut the pocket holes was with a 1.5kW handheld woodworking router using a router blade and a timber template clamped to the extrusion. The speed of cut was phenomenal, as was the noise and velocity of the swarf as it was fired across the workshop. OK, killed the routers fairly fast but each lasted a batch of 50 containers worth. The man-hours saving compared to milling the pockets more than paid for the routers. I suspect that had we used an end mill instead of the router bit, the router would have lasted longer.

Regards

Richard.

When you are cutting metal on the wood saw rub a line of beeswax along the cut line, or a wax crayon. It helps the cut.

Clive

Don't think there's enough energy in them, but you're right, it is one thing to be aware of.

Regards,

Richard.

The thing that bothers me most is the combination of sparks and a table saw full of wood dust.

Martin

Always remember to run without the Local Exhaust Ventilation when attacking steel, the dust bags dont like the sparks and draught much. I know what happens

it scared the hell out of me every time.

Did you use a former to support the channel? Much less dramatic if laid under or over a suitable piece of wood, per eg!

.

Hopefully not a UK standard 13A plug with partly insulated pins

…. The mind boggles.

MichaelG.