Cutting alu profile with a hacksaw
- Thread starter markie44
- Start date
stigs2cousin
Premium
I hear you
i´d rather drive 180km and do it in the mashine shop of a friend than saw it by hand.
i´d rather drive 180km and do it in the mashine shop of a friend than saw it by hand.
Upvote
0
Upvote
0
If you are a home owner, owning a miter saw is a must. If not a home owner, Home Depot rents them for $25 per 4 hours or $35 for the day.
Upvote
0
stigs2cousin
Premium
Finish depends on the quality of saw and cutting disc.
The industrial band saw at my friens shop does a way better cutting finish than the "home depot " miter saw.
We used that one only for the angle cuts which the bandsaw couldn´t do.
So if you don´t need it to often rent a higher quality tool instead of buying a cheap one.
And get a high quality blade!!
Just a heads up so you aren´t to disappointed when your cuts don´t look like the ones the fabricator makes.
MFG Carsten
The industrial band saw at my friens shop does a way better cutting finish than the "home depot " miter saw.
We used that one only for the angle cuts which the bandsaw couldn´t do.
So if you don´t need it to often rent a higher quality tool instead of buying a cheap one.
And get a high quality blade!!
Just a heads up so you aren´t to disappointed when your cuts don´t look like the ones the fabricator makes.
MFG Carsten
Upvote
0
Home Depot is very good with providing the needed blades for your jobs.
Upvote
0
I've only had to cut some 40/40 pieces a few times. So not yet any of the wider or larger pieces.
I actually found the cutting not so bad. It cut faster than I thought it would.
But where I struggled is to get a nice square cut. Even though I used a small mitre box, the end result was quite poor. So I spend much more time with a file trying to square things off and give the end a nicer finish. That filing job took WAY more time and was far more annoying than the cutting.
I actually found the cutting not so bad. It cut faster than I thought it would.
But where I struggled is to get a nice square cut. Even though I used a small mitre box, the end result was quite poor. So I spend much more time with a file trying to square things off and give the end a nicer finish. That filing job took WAY more time and was far more annoying than the cutting.
Upvote
0
RCHeliguy
Premium
Hand cutting will tend to make a mess unless you are very slow and careful, have your metal clamped solidly, have a sharp blade and a good guide.
Once you have a mess however, aluminum will sand away pretty well with a good course belt. I've used my table top belt sander on numerous occasions and aluminum is soft and responds well to hand sanding.
You can hand sand an edge to 90 degrees if you have good flat area. Use a course grit wet sanding adhesive backed sandpaper on a flat surface. Use a ruler to mark your reference 90 degree line on the aluminum. Then carefully sand to that line.
You can use a 200 grit to to take off edges and burs(carefully) Make sure to use gloves or a padded sandpaper holder with a handle.
Hand sanding with 400 grit using very straight parallel stokes will give you a brushed look like this.
A random orbital sander will leave a satin finish with a 320-400 grit paper like below. This was done with 320 grit.
For polishing, a drill with a polishing disk can work with the right cutting compound. Most polishes will sling black everywhere, so do this in a garage or outside.
Once you have a mess however, aluminum will sand away pretty well with a good course belt. I've used my table top belt sander on numerous occasions and aluminum is soft and responds well to hand sanding.
You can hand sand an edge to 90 degrees if you have good flat area. Use a course grit wet sanding adhesive backed sandpaper on a flat surface. Use a ruler to mark your reference 90 degree line on the aluminum. Then carefully sand to that line.
You can use a 200 grit to to take off edges and burs(carefully) Make sure to use gloves or a padded sandpaper holder with a handle.
Hand sanding with 400 grit using very straight parallel stokes will give you a brushed look like this.
A random orbital sander will leave a satin finish with a 320-400 grit paper like below. This was done with 320 grit.
For polishing, a drill with a polishing disk can work with the right cutting compound. Most polishes will sling black everywhere, so do this in a garage or outside.
Upvote
0
