Aluminium cutting

[morfeus80]

Dear all,
I have just built my cnc milling machine and I want to start to mill the first parts. I already have some aluminium bars and plates, but I need to cut them. Which kind of tool do you suggest to buy to cut up to 30mm thick aluminium? Consider that I don't have a lot of space and it is just for hobby, so I am looking for something small and cheap.

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[awerby]

When you say "cut", what are you trying to do, specifically? Are you just making straight cuts, or do you need to cut curves? For straight cuts in aluminum, you can use a table saw with an aluminum cutting blade. But for curved ones, you'll need a band saw. If those tools are too big and expensive, I guess you could use a hacksaw, but it's a lot slower and less accurate. Using a hardened aluminum alloy rather than a soft one will make things a lot easier, both on the saw cutting and the eventual machining, since it has less tendency to stick to your tools.

[morfeus80]

Thanks Awerby, the problem is that both solutions are quite big and the hacksaw I think takes too long. What abaut a circular saw like this one ?

[awerby]

I wouldn't use a saw like that to cut aluminum, especially small pieces that are hard to hold onto. You can get bandsaws that are pretty small, but still adequate for what you're proposing, that would be a lot safer to use. My first bandsaw was a cheap horizontal one that I made a table for so I could use it in vertical mode. Just make sure that the one you get has enough capacity for the thickest thing you want to cut.