ways to cut aluminum sheets?

[Finale]

I just need to cut an optical base from a bigger 10mm square aluminum sheet. Besides CNC, what can I use? Jigsaw with metal cutting blade?

[VDX]

... a consumer jigsaw won't give enough power to cut 10mm thick sheets - it's normaly parted with a "heavy" band saw or water-jet cutter ...

Viktor

[jeejeedr]

A table saw normally used for woodworking with a metal blade is what I use.

[andy_con]

your teeth ?

[araugh]

If all you've got is access to traditional woodworking tools your best bet is going to be bandsaw with metal blade, unless your bandsaw is on the smaller side. Then you'd likely be best with a tablesaw with a metal cutting blade or router with a single flute carbide bit, just take many passes. Keep each pass between 0.010-0.020" by router, you can probably push it to 0.040" by tablesaw.

Also do a quick search to see if you have a waterjet facility near by, they typically have good rates on small quantity simple work

[absolom7691]

A chop-saw (miter saw) with a metal blade will do a really clean job as long as your width doesn't exceed 5". I actually prefer the cut from a chop-saw as opposed to a band saw. Oil is your friend as are safety goggles!

[planters]

This depends on how precise you want the cut. 10mm thick is more like a plate than a sheet. A band saw will work well if you use a relatively fine pitch blade. The more teeth the better. A woodworking band saw moves much faster than a metal cutting band saw and I use my woodworking band saw on a Variac to slow the blade down. This reduces the torque of the motor and you will have to experiment a little with the best setting, but it does work.

I would be a little afraid to use a table saw on this thick a piece of material. The teeth may gum up with chips and if you feed a little too fast this could get really exciting in a bad way.

[Jem]

For an optical base you don't want stresses in the metal.

Mechanical sawing can introduce stress, you won't notice this until all your optical components are nicely set up. If you align your optics when the table is cool and then over time it becomes warm you may notice the alignment drifting out, this is caused by the stress introduced to the metal. This is an absolute b*tch and will constantly manifest itself as the plate heats and cools. Water jet cutting is the best way to cut plate aluminium as this method doesn't introduce as much stress into the metal. Obviously, the bigger the table/plate the more of a problem this can become. I just thought i'd throw it into the pot for your consideration

[buffo]

... a consumer jigsaw won't give enough power to cut 10mm thick sheets

This is not true. I have personally cut 3/4 inch thick aluminum plate with nothing more than a hand-held jigsaw. It's not easy, and you must advance the saw very slowly, but you can do it. Note that you may need more than one blade though, depending on how much you need to cut.

So long as you don't need a perfectly smooth and straight cut, a hand-held jigsaw will definitely work. Use a metal-cutting blade (lots of small teeth) and watch out for spall that might build up and block the teeth. Move very slow, and let the saw do the work. You do not want to push the saw hard into the cut!

If you want/need a very smooth and straight cut, then either a band saw or a water jet would be the preferable option. I don't know how much that would cost though.

In my case, once the cut was done I smoothed the edge with a file, and then sanded it afterward to make it very smooth. No issues at all.

Adam

[Finale]

What about a plasma cutter?
Just asking. Already got several good ideas from everyone.