somewhat O.T. but I am going to be cutting a large quantity of aluminum

through my real job, as high school metal shop teacher, I am asked, every so often, to manufacture some parts for the districts use..

one such project was the creation of "coat hooks" for one of the elementray schools in our district.
last spring my students designed the "process" for manufacturing these "coat hooks". and in about 3 cl*** periods they (20 kids 9- 12 grade) they made 300.

the hooks are simple aluminum strips..

they begin as 1.5 inch wide pieces of aluminum about 7 inches long, they have a 15 degree bend about 4 inches from the top.. and are drilled with two 1/4 inch holes for mounting..

the top is then radiused

during the last production run the students "radiused" each hook with a jig we made for the disc sander.. the process was slow.. and created alot of dust..


well,
long story short.. the coat hooks went over so well. that the school district wants more.. LIKE 1000.

to hopefully speed production.. I am thinking about asking for one of these




and I am wondering if anyone thinks one of these would be able to cut 1/8 inch thick aluminum?

** granted.. the manufacturer claims that this tool can cut 3/16 inch steel.. but.. wondered if anyone had first hand experience..

thanks in advance..

 

I dont know the answer to your specific question BUT I have a Woodward Fab Shrinker/strecher and the quality is awesome!

 

easily, but with the edge deformation like using snips. If the parts don't need a super clean cut, it will be as precise as your hand/eye coordination.

 

This reminds me of my 8th grade metal shop.
The teacher had a 5 lb. block of aluminum.
If you got caught goofing off or not working, the punishment was to hacksaw a chunk off. They were used in the foundry, and the big block was too big to fit into the crucible. The hacksaw blade was dull, of course...
Most students didn't goof off more than once!

 

i have the cheap 12" one sold on ebay for under $100 it works great on that kind of thing but lacks when cutting more then a 6" sheet of 1/8 steel

 

it will cut it just fine, not sure about posting pictures of people's kids on a message board though, could be a problem, pretty sure it has been a problem for some teachers in the past....

 

I have a smaller Beverly shear that will cut aluminum just fine. Don't know about that foreign **** you are trying to foist upon unsuspecting students.

 

I have that exact shear, and it works great. I use it all the time to cut 1/8" steel, so your 1/8" aluminum should be no problem. That said, i'm not really sure that would be the best tool to use to make the radius. It takes some practice to be able to turn the metal as you're pulling down on the handle and end up with a clean, uniform radius. If it was me, I would use the shear to cut the cornners off at a 45 degree angle, then finish them with your fixture on the belt sander. That doesn't completely eliminate the sander from the project, but should signifigantly cut down the amount of material you would need to take grind on it.

 

thanks

 

All better?

 

Buy the Beverly.

 

I have one of those shears and it works great. To make the radius i mark it and make about 3 'nibbles' with the hand shear and touch it up on a belt sander.
As somebody else pointed out, there'll be distortion. All pieces to the right of the cut will be distorted, to the left they'll be fine. Most often you can figure how to work around the distorted pieces.

 

Our SS-2 will cut the aluminum like ****er. The blade depth is not 7 inches but I don't think anyone makes a small slitting shear with a blade depth of 7 inches. You could call the shop @ 773-238-0003 and get information such as pricing and capacities. Our products will outlast compe***ion hands down and are meant for the serious users. I can say that our SS-2 is much beefier than the one that you posted a picture of but I have no opinion on the manufacturer or the abilities of their products.

 

I agree with the beverly shear deforming one side of the cut. Have you consider gang cutting on horizontal band saw. Stack two to ten layers of the metal, put a couple wraps of tape three feet apart and cut away.
Then use your beverly shear to nip the corners and finish sand and deburr.
Good Luck
dt

 

thats sorta how our process works..
the strips are shipped in bundles.. unfortunately our horz band saw doesnt always cut perfectly.. I think that shearing might be faster..

 

A buddy of mine has that same one. It works great!

 

Sawsall, have you given any thought your starting this project with 1 1/2 x 1/8 alum. flat bar,then just cut 7" pieces. Much easier than cutting the 7" side.

Good luck with the project. ..........Jack

 

Buying an Aluminum cutting blade for the table saw would be less money.