Susan wrote in:
I am looking for info on a 10″ miter saw blade. I cut a lot of aluminum and I need a clean cut with little spurs. can you advise the best teeth count to get?
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Our response:
It’s not just about tooth count. For cutting aluminum, your best bet would be for a blade suited for non-ferrous materials. These blades typically have “TCG” triple chip grind tooth profiles, which work best on aluminum and plastic materials.
Something like the Freud LU77M010 (more info, $62 via Amazon) is what I’d pick. This blade is designed for cutting non-ferrous tubing, plates, and profiles with 1/4″ maximum wall thicknesses, and there are other blades designed for cutting thicker and thinner aluminum materials.
Generally, non-ferrous TCG 10″ blades will have between 72 and 100 teeth.
Although I didn’t mention this to Susan, there are ways to cut aluminum materials with blades designed to cut wood. However, that’s not something I would recommend.
Years ago I purchased a now-discontinued Freud TK706 non-ferrous blade, and it’s served me quite well. I do have a small Evolution metal-cutting chop saw (here are some general opinions of the brand), but continue to use my Freud blade for certain things.
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Freud and Diablo are my preferred miter saw blade brands, but I would trust Oshlun too as a 3rd brand choice.
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Minh Nguyen
I’m a welder/fabricator and personally I would never cut ANY metal on a miter saw. The correct tool to use would be an abrasive chop saw, a metal cold saw, a metal band saw, a sawzall (with metal cutting blade), a jigsaw (with metal cutting blade), or a hand saw. Miter saws don’t spin the correct RPM and have the correct torque to cut metal.
Since you are cutting aluminum (soft metal) you could definitely get away with it but I still wouldn’t recommend it. A hacksaw should be able to cut right though the aluminum though.
Kyle
Second this comment. I have frequently cut aluminum extrusions (like 80/20 or Bosch Rexroth framing elements) using a cold saw with excellent results. Of course, those are big and expensive…
Stuart
I tend to agree, which is why I purchased a small cold-cutting saw for cutting 80/20 extrusions, but I still use a 10″ miter saw with non-ferrous blade for cutting things like 1/8″-walled 3/4″ aluminum angles and things like that.
fred
I also agree. In the best of all possible worlds (to quote Voltaire) we’d use the right dedicated tool for the job. On some big jobs we’d bring out and set up a pretty full shop (maybe one of our Unisaws , a wood cutting Bandsaw, a drill press, a Doall if we were field cutting pipe railings and so on.) A small Baleigh or Jet cold saw (or even a bigger Dake) would be nice to bring out on a residential jobsite. An abrasive chop saw might also be a good lower cost alternative for cutting ferrous metals – but many abrasive disks load up when cutting soft metals. All this said – its more likely to see something less than perfect – with a mitersaw being used to cut wood, PVC and aluminum in some combination – which does nothing good for either the saw or the blade.
Jerry
Would something like that, or a non-ferrous blade on a radial arm saw work for cutting aluminum soffit? I’ve got some soffit to replace, and I want to use the aluminum ventilated stuff, but wonder what would work best to cut it without distorting the profile like snips would.
Stuart
If it’s thin material that you could potentially cut with tin snips, then a non-ferrous saw blade on a radial arm saw should work well. There are some blades that work better on thin sheet metal-like materials, such as the Freud LU90M010, which has a 1/16″ maximum thickness cutting capacity.
fred
A fine tooth steel tooth plywood blade mounted in reverse will also cut corrugated aluminum pretty well. (Reverse tooth steel blades were once common for cutting Plexiglas) One issue to watch is “burning”
Mike
Fred’s right. This is how most siding guys do it.
You can cut up to 5 sheets at a time, but make sure to keep a FIRM HAND on the saw—it will want to jump and buck. Also make sure to wear safety glasses, as there will be a large amount of aluminum sawdust flying around if you’re doing quantity.
Electricguy
I watched a long conveyor line made up with nothing but aluminum L brackets cut with a miter saw. Not sure if they had a specific aluminum saw blade, but it worked just fine even for a big job like that. Some you guys overthink this stuff.
Teddy
Some miter saws do indeed spin the correct RPM
FOR METAL CUTTING MATERIAL SUCH AS ALUMINUM , brass, copper etc….
A prime example is the hitachi c15fb 15”
Mitersaw!!!
Dave Corey
Unless you’re cutting something pretty thick or thinking about becoming a pro metal crafter don’t get a special blade for aluminum. I just cut some Vidga Ikea aluminum curtain rods (1/16th inch thick H shape) with a plain old 60 tooth Kobalt wood saw blade on a 10” kobalt mitre saw. It worked perfectly, and the cuts were smooth as silk with no chatter. If you’re starting to build dirt bikes or building an aluminum office
building you might need a specialty blade or a tool, but if you’re doing a normal project like cutting a drapery rod just use a blade with a decent tooth count.
bob villa
Steel or stainless you are correct a chop saw is the preferred method but aluminum is perfectly fine to use a miter saw on. In fact most fab shops do use a miter saw for aluminum so not sure what kind of welder and fabricator you are!
Charles
Fabricator here, $10 mil/ year and AISC certified, so not a huge shop, but respectable.
All of our aluminum merchant stock is cut on a miter saw. Plate is usually plasma, and bundles are horizontal band saw.
So I completely disagree with whoever said a mitersaw is the wrong tool. Often, for aluminum, it’s the best tool.
It’s all about the feed rate of the user too. As with cutting anything, you’ve gotta feel your way through the material.
fred
You might want to try a Tenryu blade that we had good luck with:
http://www.amazon.com/Tenryu-AC-255100DN-Arbor-Alumi-Cut-Blade/dp/B000FXY382/
I recall us buying Freud and their Diablo brand blades too for aluminum field cutting of extrusions – but we cut most heavy plate on a dedicated plate saw in the shop.
One issue with soft metals is the tendency of chips to weld onto and get stuck on the teeth or saw blade. The same was true for aluminum filing and grinding – even with special tooling. You just need to pay attention and change out blades as needed.
Back in the dark ages when I started my career – aircraft factory tool rooms often had pots of hot lye to clean off aluminum from tooling. I wonder what OSHA would think of that now!
John
There sure is a lot if miss information in the comments here.
Yes you can certainly use a miter saw to cut soft metals.
If the speed of the saw worries you then buy a saw with adjustable speed. I have never needed to adjust the speed on my saw though and I have cut thousands of feet of alloy stock from everything from 1/8″ to 4″ thick. As with any material make sure its secure when cutting.
andy
Yes you are all over thinking this. I personally cut 1-3″ solid 6061 everyday with a 100 dollar 10″ ryobi chop saw. I have a modified cast iron fence and clamp all work, everytime very securely. If not it is very dangerous if the blade suddenly stops-the saw blows up-breaks off the base with cheap castings. This has happened to me so take my word for it-clamp all work. I only use irwin marathon 40 tooth thin kerf blades 15-20 bucks and they will last over 300 cuts in solid 3″ aluminum bar but only if you add 1 drop of oil before each cut on center of blade bolt. It will spin out and stick with surface tension throughout the cut. You want thicker oil-not thin like wd40. 20-30sec for the 3″ rround. That’s all-you have to try it to believe it. MIT dude!
Grady Bookout
I agree with Stuart’s original post. However, it depends on what you are cutting. Thin stock or thin wall tubing, go with the 100 tooth blade. Either way you go. Most definitely use blade lubricant. It keeps the blade cool and prevents chip build up.
Mister Mike
Cutting standard aluminum extrusions on a miter saw is easy and safe if you use the proper blade. I have used the M.K. Morse Metal Devil blades for both aluminum and steel and can vouch for their clean and cool cuts. I put an MK Morse CSM860AC Metal Devil 8″ on an old Ryobi miter saw and added a plywood support table to cut structural aluminum struts up to 3 inch square. No sparks, no chatter, minimal noise, and it makes fast burr-free cuts. Sometimes parring cuts can even produce 1/16 thin slices. Miter cuts are no problem. I’ve also used their 7 1/4″ blades in a circular saw to cut steel channel and found it makes the same magic clean cuts, though with sparks. The carbide tips do have a short life on the blades for steel, but for aluminum they have real value. Fast mask and goggles are a necessity. The aluminum blade makes aluminum chaff that is not sharp but more a nuisance like when cutting PVC.
Grasshopper
Just to be pedantic: The reason you get no sparks cutting aluminum is because aluminum doesn’t spark. It has little to do with your cutting tool and everything to do with the autoignition temperature of aluminum (~3500°F) versus that of steel (~1500°F). Aluminum just doesn’t get hot enough during cutting for the chips to burn.
Mario
Look at FOREST blades.
They are a bit pracey ~$200.00 – At least that what it was last year…
I have my nounted on old Delta (the cast iron model from 1970’s) miter saw and I am using it for production cutting .375 x 1.5 6061 t6511 extruded flatbars. All you need is to spray a bit of WD40…or just like I did install little KoolMist.
Stanley
One site that discusses how stuff works advises against using a metal-cutting blade in the same saw as the type used for wood. They say this is because a wood-cutting circular saw has an open motor housing. While a metal-cutting saw has a collection bin to prevent metal chips from getting into the machine, a woodcutting saw isn’t designed this way. They add that, if you do decide to use a wood saw on metal, only use a 7 1/4-inch blade and preferably a worm drive blade, which provides extra torque. I assume they recomend a 7 1/4-inch blade because it would be stiffer and less likely to flex and break than a larger blade.
Stanley
Re: my comment regarding differences in motor housing between wood-cutting and metal-cutting saws, please note that that comment pertains to circular saws. I do not know whether similar motor housing construction considerations apply to miter saws.
Harry
I have Apparently been doing things wrong all these years. I use a DeWalt 10″ miter saw to cut 1/8″ thick 6061T6 and 6063 aluminum extrusions up to 2″x 3″. I have done this for 14 years and use 80 tooth Tenyru non ferrous blades that last for thousands of cuts. I lubricate the blade every 5-10 cuts with a wax lubricant. The cuts are clean and the saw blade does not load up. I use this combination because I didn’t know any better but it works perfect for my purposes. I would suggest that much of the info shared here is from uninformed sources
David J.
I’m using my 10″ miter saw to cut aluminum picture frames. I have a lot of large sizes that I want to cut to fit smaller paintings. What blade would you recommend for this?
Thanks
Stuart
Something like the Freud LU77M010 ($69 via Amazon) is what I’d pick.