[TowerTalk] Cutting slots in aluminum tubing - summary of responses

[Steve London]

Gang,

Here's a summary of the responses that I received....

- Use a small size grinder.  Not a Dremel, but the kind that you see people
use on the car shows on TLC.

- Hack saw, tubing in vice and rotate 90 degrees for each cut (two cuts
only).  Then "deburred" with a round file.  [Many responses similar to this]

- Use a Dremel and don't forget the safety glasses. [Several responses
similar to this]

- I used a saber saw with a metal cutting blade. There were only minimal
burrs that were easily removed with a sharp utility knife.

- The dbl hacksaw will work but one of the problems usually is not very
straight cuts.  A technique that will give you very clean and straight cuts
is using a high tooth count, carbide tipped, ordinary wood cutting circular
saw blade in an ordinary table saw.  The problem is that the kerf is likely
to be 1/8" (0.125) unless you find a very thin mill finish blade.   We cut
aluminum up to 1/4" thick, and tubing as thin as 0.050".  Be cautious in the
feed rate of thin material to allow small bites of the blade tips.  Also be
sure to wear eye protection.  You will find that aluminum cuts very smoothly
and is easy to control.  In cutting round tubing, it is a good idear to
devise a simple wood block and clamp mechanizm to prevent turning while
moving through the blade.  also this device can be made to give you accurate
180deg indexing.  Two slots should be all that is necessary.