cutting 8020 extrusions with a chop saw

Hi, Ive been wanting to cut some 8020 with my 14" chop saw. but am not sure what blade to use. ive been reading about some bladfe with 108 teeth that can do the job with minimal or no lubricant if not forced of course. whats the best way to do it with a chop saw? anyone know of any blades? for non ferrous of course. thnks

It isn't hard to cut aluminum. You can use a hack saw, jig saw, table saw or miter saw with a carbide blade, or nonferrous blade for a chop saw. The problem is that saws don't guarantee a square cut. The best way to deal with 8020 is to cut it by whatever means you have, a little longer than needed, then mill the ends square so they can be butted together and joined and you know they'll end up square. Square ends can be butted against other pieces of 8020 and be simply screwed together to make a rigid, square frame.







Square cuts alone won't guarantee a square frame when you assemble it- for that you need equal lengths, too. Clamp multiple pieces on the mill table and mill them together to get equal lengths.

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davedavedave
Hi, Ive been wanting to cut some 8020 with my 14" chop saw. but am not sure what blade to use. ive been reading about some bladfe with 108 teeth that can do the job with minimal or no lubricant if not forced of course. whats the best way to do it with a chop saw? anyone know of any blades? for non ferrous of course. thnks

A multi purpose saw blade will do the job. They'll cut wood (with nails in), plastic and even mild steel so will go through aluminium extrusion like a knife through butter. Finer teeth will give you a cleaner cut. Don't know where you are based but here in the UK my personal recommendation would be Erbauer or Evolution.

Based on the replies ive decided to go ahead amd buy a miter saw amd order a carbide blade. Those chop saw blades are really expensive! At least with a miter saw i will get my money's worth


EDIT: 2 days after this post was answered ive decided to buy a table saw and non ferrous carbide tipped blade. seems like I can get more bang for buck on that.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2016 10:49PM by davedavedave.

Yea good trick for getting those pieces cut equally. I was wondering what would be a good method of getting them all the same size. And im thinking of using sand paper to keep the cut ends smooth and not jagged

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gilbertjames332
Hi! Usually most people prefer the matter or jig saw blade to cut aluminium. Check out this link for detailed information about the best blade to cut aluminium; many replies are detailed and very illuminating. [www.dslreports.com] Good Luck!

The already suggested drop or mitre saw with a fine tooth carbide blade is considered perfectly fine by significant number of professionals working in the Aluminium game. The next step up is water jet cutting or milling.

Jigsaws etc are a major step down unless you specifically need freehand cutting but they provide little to no actual accuracy.

Extrusion plants use drop or chop type saws when they cut extrusions to length. One of the reasons that extruded material is so straight is that it's stretched up to 10% after extruding using hydraulic cylinders. How much each extrusion is stretched depends on the die design, the alloy and the size of the extrusion. Not really important, but thought it might be interesting knowledge. I worked in the aluminum industry for many years and some of that was in an extrusion plant.