New tricks for an old saw. . .

Jan 28. I did some b.o.t.e. calculations to estimate how long it would take to hacksaw all the 48-inch aluminum stock (tubes, round and flat bars) into blanks required for the SN10 truss conversion. Also estimated how much waste would be entailed if a miracle does not occur and I continue to hacksaw at slightly odd angles. And then I ordered a metal-cutting blade to fit the miter saw. This should make quick work of cutting out the pieces. Also an unholy amount of noise. For the record, the bars are "Kaiser 6061 T6511 ASTM."

Feb 5. The blade (Freud 80T carbide-tipped) is here and ready to go. Now I have to be sure of the plans, mark the metal, and then make a racket.

Feb 8. A few key points about cutting metal on a miter saw (a DeWalt DW703).

• Use a cutting fluid; I spritzed the blade every cut or two with WD-40 which may or may not be appropriate.
• Clamp both sides of the cut whenever you can (because you do not want loose metal flying around or getting sideways in the blade).
• Wear them goggles: shrapnel does fly.
• Let the saw come up to full speed before lowering it slowly into the workpiece.
• Get the blade stopped as soon as possible after finishing the cut.
• It's not as noisy as I expected.

In short: it works great. With the right blade, aluminum cuts as casually as oak and much more easily than hard maple.

You just have to get over the firmly held conviction that it's a bad idea to lower a spinning blade into a piece of metal.

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Text & Photos by David Cortner
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