Recently I got a little tablet laptop which led me down the path of eGPU’s, which led me down the path of aluminum extrusion which led me to looking for a mitre saw. Now that I have it and have been learning more about what it can do I’m super excited!
That looks like a mitre saw, but you mentioned you want to cut aluminum. Be careful, I believe mitre saws are for wood only and spin much faster than a chop saw which is designed for metal and spins slower.
I cut aluminum with mine (and professional aluminum sellers cut theirs with their saw, but it likely costs thousands), but I will second the “be careful” part.
Aluminum can snag your saw blade (especially if you use a blade meant for wood, which I don’t recommend because it also produces messy output). Snagging can have dangerous results (saw jumping upward and losing teeth or more in the process).
Ensure the work piece is clamped down very well. Ensure that the saw is either on a large level surface or better yet - bolted or clamped down. Ensure that the saw jumping cannot hurt you in any way.
When cutting aluminum, push very gently. And when the raw material gets too small, don’t try cutting the last little piece. Small working material will increase the chance of accidents. I set my limit around 20 cm.
When cutting aluminum, push very gently. And when the raw material gets too small, don’t try cutting the last little piece. Small working material will increase the chance of accidents. I set my limit around 20 cm.
This. So much this. Even when cutting wood properly on a mitre be careful with little pieces. You simply cannot control or hold really small pieces. Almost lost some fingers and scaring the hell out of myself making that mistake.
Oh I didnt realize that about the speed. A lot of people recommended them while looking up cutting extrusion as long as you get a blade for it
I think you can get away with it for aluminum, but just be cautious and slow knowing its not the ideal tool. I’m sure it will work through since its such a soft metal. Just listen to the motor in case it protests your feed rate.
That’s the Ryobi, right? Be very careful to wait until the blade has spun down after every cut before letting the blade up.
I’ve used the low profile Bosch for years; it’s got an extra safety that takes some of the prayer out of making safe cuts. I still let the blade spin down with each cut though. And always use a proper clamp to hold the pieces down, including a sacrificial piece when needed to prevent chip out.
Why let the blade spin down before lifting it up?
Because otherwise you can have it kick up a piece of something that flies out and embeds itself in the nearest barrier (likely you), or you might do something stupid and let a finger cross paths with the still spinning blade before the guard gets in the way.
[edit] it’s not that it is absolutely necessary, and if you watch YouTube videos you’ll see pretty much everyone make the cut and then raise the blade before it is spun down.
BUT
There are all sorts of unexpected things that can go wrong, and the risks are almost nil if you have a consistent habit of ALWAYS letting the blade spin down. Otherwise, you’re likely to eventually make the wrong call and have to deal with the consequences.
Also, it’s in the operating manual.
Oh okay. I have this model of saw and that hasn’t been an issue but I suppose that’s a thing that could happen.
Ahh the ol’ stubinator. These things have a long history of being EXTREMELY uh… “finger removal-y”. So uh. be careful.
Good to know I’ll try and be safe
I mean its not a radial arm saw but there are good reasons to be especially cautious and really “think” about where you and your body are relative to the machine, and what the motion you are about to do is.
In my experience, what gets you bit with a miter saw is trying to cut a very small piece that isn’t properly constrained by the fence, the saw kicks back, sending the blade back/up, the work and the fingers trying to hold it down forward/in, badda bing badda boom you get a good look at your philanges.
If the work isn’t long enough to hold to the fence/table with your entire free hand clear of the blade action, you need to use an auxiliary fence and a hold down stick. If you do a lot of small stuff like that. Or, consider using a sled on a table saw. Or, get a miter box and cut it with a back saw.
Are you saying that because of the sliding function or are you saying it about miter saws in general? My non-sliding miter saw doesn’t scare me as much as even a handheld circular saw, let alone my table saw.
It’s a the sliding part and how that impacts where the workpiece/ hands/ force of rotation go. Because you are doing miters, things a going to be a little funky and what fucks people up is the sliding aspect, which granted, is super useful, but the slide is where people lose digits. The additional degree of freedom fucks people up.
The radial arm saw is the same principle with even more degrees of freedom to the movement of the saw. Those were so famously dangerous they don’t even really make them any more.
The thing about a saw where the blade has a very static motion relative to the piece is that it’s very very predictable as to where force is being applied and what’s gonna happen to the piece. Especially in the event of kick back. Start adding in degrees of freedom and it gets less and less predictable. In this way a table saw or skillsaw is actually really safe because the blade relative to the piece is extremely predictable. I’m not scared at all of a table saw or a skillsaw. Just don’t rest the work piece in your knee. A radial arm or sliding miter saw gives me the heeby jeebies.
Very useful tool. This and a circular saw with a nice long straight edge is all you need for home DIY. Table saws are nice, but not really necessary.
One of the more fun things I did as a graphic designer was design a custom aluminum extrusion profile for a product for the shop where I worked. I had to learn all about that, when my job was just drawing pretty pictures. They didn’t have anyone else to do it.
Excellent! I have the same one. If you’re cutting a lot of aluminum know that it’ll dull the blade, but a bit won’t hurt.
You can use bees wax as cutting lube and it helps.
If you haven’t already checked the alignment in both planes with a good quality square.
I guess you purchased an aluminium cutting blade for this? Also if you decide to cut fine wood with this get a better blade than stock.
They are such a useful tool, I’ve cut thousands of floor boards and framing with mine.
Yeah I got a 80 tooth aluminum blade, its one my coworker recommended
Awesome, should cut it like butter
How many fingers do you have? :)
On which hand?
Probably best to get a count of both, and I’ll check back in a week. :)
They are very intense tools, certainly gives me the sweats when I have to use mine. Use clamps where possible.
