That blade will work at gentle feed, and huge coolant flow.
Will work as a grinder, really.
The gentle feed will remove Aluminum in small bits, and coolant will remove them.
Also, ask the operators...'I want this cut, how will you do it?'
That is very useful, taking their experience, they know a lot more than you think.
Spoke to a wire EDM owner, he says the normal steel wire is iffy, brass wire on a standard (not cheap) machine works on Aluminum, the steel wire tends to stick, some carbon brush attached to wire drum does improve things a little. Something to do with Earthing, the brush is connected to machine PE.
And the pulse generator in expensive machines is better than those in cheap machines.
So you need a shop with experience of Aluminum cutting.
Will work as a grinder, really.
The gentle feed will remove Aluminum in small bits, and coolant will remove them.
Also, ask the operators...'I want this cut, how will you do it?'
That is very useful, taking their experience, they know a lot more than you think.
Spoke to a wire EDM owner, he says the normal steel wire is iffy, brass wire on a standard (not cheap) machine works on Aluminum, the steel wire tends to stick, some carbon brush attached to wire drum does improve things a little. Something to do with Earthing, the brush is connected to machine PE.
And the pulse generator in expensive machines is better than those in cheap machines.
So you need a shop with experience of Aluminum cutting.
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I use a large wax candle (~300x75mm) as lubricant on my 100T tct blade when cutting aluminium. Just a touch on the spinning blade and you are good to go.
Take 1/8” deep passes, starting from the finned side on a table saw or even using a skill saw with some clamping/fixturing.
Use wd40 or some light oil for cutting fluid to help prevent the material from adhering to the blade tips.
You may be wise to stop and clear any such material between a certain amount of passes.
Avoid breaking all the way through the part, leaving a foil thickness that can easily be removed.
Use wd40 or some light oil for cutting fluid to help prevent the material from adhering to the blade tips.
You may be wise to stop and clear any such material between a certain amount of passes.
Avoid breaking all the way through the part, leaving a foil thickness that can easily be removed.
Actually steel is capable of a sharper edge than carbide and is perfectly fine for aluminum cutting.
Carbide is typically used on steels.
That drop saw can be adjusted to a slow feed rate and offer a perfect result.
A waterjet would not be a good choice since they have a costly maintenance and running regimen, and can be accomplished on basic equipment.
That’s a diamond blade for composites.
I would steer clear of that for aluminum as you won’t make any friends with the people who have to replace the blades.
That blade you’re going to destroy costs more than you hobby project likely.
https://www.doallsaws.com/406-94215...ENZJO5Kvepg4-CoFF3mNEATDDrzivlCl8QDbj1S9pkAil
It sounds like you got your current job done, but for future reference you might want to take a look at portable bandsaws. With some ingenuity they can be turned into small versions of horizontal and vertical bandsaws. Before I got my 4 x 6 bandsaw from Harbor Freight, I used a portable bandsaw to rough out steel and aluminum parts -- it's MUCH faster than a mill when it comes to removing large amounts of metal, and less wasteful (important if the waste bits you end up with are useful sizes).
Portable bandsaws can be pretty noisy. I always wear ear protection when using mine.
Like any power tool, you need to be careful while using it. Metal chips are no fun if you get one in your eye: and it's always nice to retain ownership of all 10 digits on your hands.
Portable bandsaws can be pretty noisy. I always wear ear protection when using mine.
Like any power tool, you need to be careful while using it. Metal chips are no fun if you get one in your eye: and it's always nice to retain ownership of all 10 digits on your hands.
e_fortier,
The heat sinks look splendid - the workshop did a good job with the cuts.
This was done with a band saw, right?
With the long fins and thick base, these should be a good choice for your planned Class A projects. 🙂
The heat sinks look splendid - the workshop did a good job with the cuts.
This was done with a band saw, right?
With the long fins and thick base, these should be a good choice for your planned Class A projects. 🙂
Flushing is far from ideal when wire cutting heatsinks, perhaps that was part of the reason for them declining the work? Aluminium sparks/wires really well and fast usually.
Here in the UK, wire eroding is a high end/precision type of machining. I wouldn't say it would be cost effective for slicing heatsinks up. I have a very good friend that has a company specialising in wire edm, next time I see him I'll ask his opinion. I'd love to be a fly on the wall if someone walked in off the street and enquired about having some heatsinks wired, I doubt that he would want the hassle.
I've never come across a reusable wire machine in the UK, they're new to me. Mind you, I've only been in precision engineering since 1975, what do I know 😎
Yap, yap, yap, yap.....
Looks like Eric got a decent job done in the end. Well done.