Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Non-Ferrous miter saw blade?

From: Jeff Scarbrough <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2012 21:31:29 -0400

On Mon, Sep 24, 2012 at 8:33 PM, Brian Kemp <[email-masked]> wrote:
> What is special about about a blade to make it good for non-ferrous metals
> like aluminum?  Since I only have a few cuts, can I get a clean edge from a
> cheap regular 10" blade?

Whenever I've made cuts in plastic (like PVC pipe) I turned the blade
around backwards.  Got the cleanest cut you could imagine, with no
chipping.

Never tried it in metal, but if you had a scrap you could test, I'd
find it interesting...  <G>

If you try this:  Be sure to clamp or restrain your workpiece
carefully.  I can think of all sorts of ways for it to go wrong, and I
have the fused finger bones to show for it.

Jeff Scarbrough
Corrosion Acres, Ga.
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From: Doug Braun <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2012 22:25:32 -0400

I have cut aluminum with my normal miter saw blade.  It worked reasonably
well, and
I continued to use the blade for wood.

Doug

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From: David Hillman <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:12:57 -0400 (EDT)

On Mon, 24 Sep 2012, Brian Kemp wrote:
> I'm doing a railing project and was looking for a Non-Ferrous blade for my 
> 10" miter saw, but Lowes and Home Depot don't appear to have them in the 
> stores.  I want it for the weekend, so don't want to have to order online.  I 
> only have six cuts to make in a powder coated extruded aluminum top rail if 
> all is good, so also don't want to spend a bunch.
>
> cheap regular 10" blade?  Are more teeth better? Four of the cuts will be 
> mitered corners, so I want them to be clean.  This will not be long term 
> production, so durability is not a concern.

    Actually, it's the opposite... a ferrous metal blade is special. 
There's nothing special at all about a non-ferrous blade, in fact, you can 
cut aluminium with most wood-working tools just fine (routers, etc). 
Obviously, be careful, and secure the work, but you don't really need 
anything special.

    If that's not good enough, get one of these from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Power-Tools-RAGE255-Circular/dp/B00249JDY4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1348592805&sr=8-4&keywords=evolution+blade

    Unless you live in some serious hinterland, I bet Amazon will get you 
this before the weekend.  I have a similar blade in my Evolution saw, and 
it is extremely handy, and leaves a perfect edge on everything.

--
  David Hillman

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