Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff

Square holes on aluminum.... how do you do it?

<< < (15/20) > >>

soldar:

--- Quote from: tautech on October 16, 2019, 10:03:24 pm ---Note that a fret saw and coping saw are very similar but there's a distinct difference, fret saws have a very deep throat whereas coping saws have normally just ~120mm throats.
--- End quote ---

OK, so what I have been using all along is a fret saw. I always called it a scroll saw because I thought a scroll saw was just the mechanical version of the manual thing.

tautech:

--- Quote from: soldar on October 16, 2019, 10:34:09 pm ---
--- Quote from: tautech on October 16, 2019, 10:03:24 pm ---Note that a fret saw and coping saw are very similar but there's a distinct difference, fret saws have a very deep throat whereas coping saws have normally just ~120mm throats.
--- End quote ---

OK, so what I have been using all along is a fret saw. I always called it a scroll saw because I thought a scroll saw was just the mechanical version of the manual thing.

--- End quote ---
:)
A fret saw is normally for shop and bench use whereas the much smaller coping saw is what carpenters had in their carry bags for finishing work onsite.
Typically coping saws used 14 tpi blades that are still too coarse for thin alloy and won't touch steel.  :(

beanflying:

--- Quote from: soldar on October 16, 2019, 04:21:01 pm ---
--- Quote from: beanflying on October 16, 2019, 11:58:00 am --- The issue becomes the blades on most coping saws and in particular electric scroll saws.
--- End quote ---

I am having trouble parsing and understanding this. What's the issue?

Obviously you need to choose the right blade. I have used a fret saw on aluminum without problem since forever. It allows cutting of all sorts of shapes without problem.

--- End quote ---

As per Tautechs posts blade pitch and hardness are the issue. My experience is the Coping saw blades and those found of the cheaper scroll saws are the issue. There are 'some' motorised saws that take a fret saw type blade that will be better but they are still not designed for working on 2-3mm Metal like we tend to use for fascias.

drussell:

--- Quote from: tkamiya on October 16, 2019, 06:45:09 pm ---I wonder if there are any high speed dremel type tool that will withstand heavy-duty usage?
--- End quote ---

Absolutely.  They are called die grinders.

Bassman59:

--- Quote from: drussell on October 17, 2019, 03:28:11 pm ---
--- Quote from: tkamiya on October 16, 2019, 06:45:09 pm ---I wonder if there are any high speed dremel type tool that will withstand heavy-duty usage?
--- End quote ---

Absolutely.  They are called die grinders.

--- End quote ---
A die grinder is a fairly blunt instrument, not something you'd want to (or even be able to) use for putting switch/button holes in aluminum.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page

There was an error while thanking
Thanking...
Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod