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Well you got the advice on what to use to cut it.
Bending, rolling, and forming isn't going to happen with home owner tools on .125.
The 2024 T-3 should be able to bend both ways with the proper bend radius. Depending what thickness it is will determine if a vise or brake will work.
What you are missing is we don't have a clue what your layout looks like for the parts you are trying to make. example are your bends needing to be 90 degree? Less? More? How tight do the rolls you want need to be? And on and on.
Eat Fish, Wear Grundens, Drink Alaskan.
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Hammer to fit. Paint to match.
I'm an expert.
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Best way to cut aluminum is on a tablesaw using a carbide blade. Been doing it for years with excellent results. You can cut T-6 up to 1/2" thick, just don't feed too fast. To keep the chips from flying back at you and to keep the piece from "hopping", I simply use a piece of wood to hold the piece down.
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Surprised no-one has mentioned a unishear or nibbler. Those are the first 2 electric tools this old sheetmetal worker would grab for cutting if I didn't have access to a shear.
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You could have worked for Del Smith!
Eat Fish, Wear Grundens, Drink Alaskan.
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Thanks for the heads up on the circular saw, blade and Crisco pointers B!
MCH, I don't know what the bend radiuses are going to be for the skid plates/a-arm guards, I was planning on pulling the stock guards off and try to make some close to whatever those happen to be. I'm not a metal guy (metalhead, yeah) so perhaps thats why my questions seem a bit vague to you.
I want to use this piece I already have so thats why I made this thread. I know it's too thin to be of any use for skids and such but for panels it should work just fine. Yamaha didn't put any kind of guard near the coolant bottle either so that's something else I plan on making with it.
When i get around to making the skids/guards, what would you suggest I use and what thickness? Obviously I can't go too thick with what limited tools I have on hand.
That's ok, I'll ass shoot a dink.
Steelhead
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If the OP needs some curves & such cut in the aluminum, and/or needs several of the same item cut, I'd look for someone who has a waterjet/abrasive jet machine, and give them a good sketch. may cost a few bucks, but they will cut 100 inches a minute or more, and hold better tolerances than a handheld tool.
FWIW I'd look at 5052-H32 aluminum, which is used on a lot of aluminum boats, and is fairly easy to find in sheets. About halfway in strength between 6061-O and T6
"...the designer of the .270 Ingwe cartridge!..."
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For panels the 2024 T-3 will be perfect. Easy to bend and with the right radius will bend with the grain should you need to.
Eat Fish, Wear Grundens, Drink Alaskan.
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For the guards you want it is going to be tough using .125, plus you are adding a lot of weight.
Eat Fish, Wear Grundens, Drink Alaskan.
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I'm not that worried about adding weight, I want protection for the underside of my Rhino, this thing see's a lot of rocks, mud and other debris.
I might be better off just buying some prefabbed a arm guards, they use 3/16ths 5056-H32.
That's ok, I'll ass shoot a dink.
Steelhead
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I was thinking about weight on the sled.
Eat Fish, Wear Grundens, Drink Alaskan.
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I was thinking about weight on the sled. Yeah, that's a good point but winters at least 3 months away still before I start worrying about the sled. lol
That's ok, I'll ass shoot a dink.
Steelhead
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A circular saw with a carbide tipped blade will work the heck out of a sheet of aluminum.
Everybody who has ever worked in a machine shop has had to wrestle 8X4' sheets of aluminum through an upright bandsaw.
It's a nuisance.
One day we decided to give it a try with an old Skillsaw that was laying around the shop.
Stuck a carbide tipped blade on it,...smeared everything down with Crisco, and launched into it.
Worked so good that it became standard procedure.
A circular saw with a carbide tipped blade is the hot set up for sheets of aluminum.
I've cut 1/2" thick plates of 6061 with one. I'm convinced that you could cut even thicker stuff, but I've never had an opportunity to give it a try.
I know for a fact that you can go through 1/4" aluminum like a knife through butter with one.
Just keep everything greasy with Crisco so the blade doesn't load up,...take your time,..and wear ear protection.
A sheet of aluminum getting cut with a circular saw gives off a right smart amount of racket. You know, I always seem to forget that, and take aluminum to the band saw. I first tried it with a Radial arm saw and it cut very well. A bit hard on the blade, but those are relatively cheap. And yeah, it does make a hell of a racket!!
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An even better material for skid plate / deflector type use would probably be 1/4� UHMW or even HD Polyethylene. Aluminum is very �snaggy� and high-friction while the polys are some of the slipperiest materials you can use. Poly is also very easily cut and shaped. The most expensive item needed to form it would probably be a strip heater for making line bends. thick UHMW is actually hard to cut,it gums up on a blade and you end up with' uhmw hair' instead of sawdust. we make fins for jet outboard motors out of UHMW. we actually invented them about 6 yrs ago. i put 3/8 uhmw on my jetboat hull a few years ago,stuff is pricey.
Last edited by srwshooter; 06/04/14.
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i cut sheet aluminum up o 1/4 on my table saw all the time with a standard 40tooth carbide blade. just wear good glasses. go watch this video. has 2 blade that run in opposite directions. cut backwards or fowards. no binding at all. http://www.dualsaw.com/tv Damn, that thing cuts fast, thanks for the link. Hey... not to be a debby downer but... I've used one of those things before. It's kind of like a firecracker, good for one use, if it's not a dud. Seriously, they are junk. If you do get one.... get goggles, full face shield, ear plugs... Make good with the lord, make sure your life insurance is current and let r buck. i have a buddy that actually bought a cheap china knockoff of the dualsaw and he's been cutting aluminum with it for 2 years now with ease. he loves it.it doesn't throw scrapes near as bad as other saws do.
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Admittedly it is a bit �hairy� when worked on a lathe, but I�ve never had a problem with anything between 1/8 and 1� thick when worked with standard woodworking saws. For cutting small items like fins which you�re making repetitively, you might use a router and templates. Routers really do nice stuff with slick plastics like UHMW.
Sometimes, the air you 'let in'matters less than the air you 'let out'.
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Admittedly it is a bit �hairy� when worked on a lathe, but I�ve never had a problem with anything between 1/8 and 1� thick when worked with standard woodworking saws. For cutting small items like fins which you�re making repetitively, you might use a router and templates. Routers really do nice stuff with slick plastics like UHMW. mitre/angle cuts ae hardest. i made jigs to hold the part. this is what we make.they bolt on the bottom of a jet intake and give you a wear surface when running in rocks. ![[Linked Image]](http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a126/srwshooter/boat%20stuff/P1040766.jpg)
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