Cutting .125 aluminum?

[TXFB.INS]

Howdy,

the shop we outsource our metal cutting to has shut down and are not selling their equipment.
So now we are trying to find a way to cut the materials in house, as the next shop with cutting capabilities is over 60 miles away.

as it stands right now the thickness material is .125 mill finish aluminum, straight lines with radius corners.

What is suggested for cutting this thickness? stomp break, cnc, plasma cutter, saws, etc...
will our panel saw or table saw work? What about a track saw, those appear to be very durable.


Is there a corner radius cutter strong enough to cut .125 thickness? the thickest material listed is .080


thanks for any feedback / suggestions.

 

[Techman]

For smaller pieces I use a good old miter saw. Make sure your blade is a miter saw blade. It has a slight reverse rake so ti will not dig in.

 

[d fleming]

ebay, craigslist, newspaper, etc. Find a good used stomp shear . I use mine all the time. Radius corners can be done with a stomp corner rounder. Just like the table top varieties you can get different dies for different sizes.

 

[Accelerated Graphics]

you wont cut .125 with a stomp shear,at least mine wont..,, I use a skill saw or table saw... Its not alot of fun but gets the job done..

 

[player]

Time to get into CNC?

 

[rdmdarr]

you wont cut .125 with a stomp shear,at least mine wont..,, I use a skill saw or table saw... Its not alot of fun but gets the job done..

I got one of these in my shop: http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/tls/4085237202.html

 

[Techman]

I got one of these in my shop

16 gauge is a long way from 1/8 inch thick.

16 gauge is about 1/16 thick,, that is .0625.
A stomp sheer will have a very difficult time cutting .125 / 1/8 in thick metal of any kind

 

[knucklehead]

Water Jet.

 

[Ditchmiester]

16 gauge is a long way from 1/8 inch thick.

16 gauge is about 1/16 thick,, that is .0625.
A stomp sheer will have a very difficult time cutting .125 / 1/8 in thick metal of any kind

Isn't that rated for 16 guage steel? should be able to cut 1/8" aluminum I would think.

 

[rdmdarr]

Isn't that rated for 16 guage steel? should be able to cut 1/8" aluminum I would think.

That's correct. We don't cut anything bigger than 16ga steel, but we cut 1/8 alum flat no problem.

 

[Mosh]

I can cut .080 on my shear but nothing thicker. How often are you cutting that thick? I would guess it is plasma cut, especially if the corners are a radius.

 

[Z SIGNS]

We cut the.125 alum on our panel saw or table saw.Round the corners with a disk sander.

 

[TXFB.INS]

Thanks for the input.

yes the material were previously cut on a 5x10 plasma table.

I would love to get a CNC machine, or any of the table cutting systems, but the shop is currently not big enough and then there is the $$$


@techman, will try this and see what happens, the issue currently is get the 48x96 cut down as the supplier claims they do not have the means to cut this thickness

@ Z Signs, what HP is your saw and what blade do you use?

 

[Billct2]

I'd look around for a supplier who will cut them for you,
And use a panel saw or table saw w/jig saw to do the corners on the of ones you have to do inhouse

 

[TXFB.INS]

I'd look around for a supplier who will cut them for you,
And use a panel saw or table saw w/jig saw to do the corners on the of ones you have to do inhouse

there are only 2 that deliver to us, freight is a ()*&%*&^% from the other suppliers already looked at that option.

one claims can't cut that thick and the other one, has a GRADE A PRICK for our area salesman and we would just assume chew the metal apart then do sales with PRICK MAJOR