How do you cut T-track?

[Jeff Kerr]

I'm getting ready to build a fence for my scms and I want to be able to use a T-track for a stop.

How do you cut yours? Do you use your standard miter saw blade or do you use a special metal cutting blade?

[David DeCristoforo]

Alum. can be cut with WW blades but it's hard on them. I have a fine tooth "plywood" blade (steel, not carbide) that I use in my "chop" saw.

[Bruce Wrenn]

I like to cut mine on the table saw, using a wooden fence attached to miter gauge. Most any carbide blade of 40 or more teeth will cut it, if it is aluminum. (There is some steel track out there.) I don't own a "chop saw" but do own several miter saws. I do have an 80 tooth non-ferrous, metal cutting blade that does a great job. It also handles plywood nicely. Negative hook is helpful in preventing "grab."

[Jamie Baalmann]

You can get a cheap metal cut off blade that will fit your miter saw...

[Chuck Lenz]

Hacksaw ? LMAO

[Matt Meiser]

Hacksaw, clean up with a file. Takes less time than changing the blade on your favorite powered saw, and the mess is not thrown all over the shop.

I'm not one to shy away from a power tool, but this stuff is not hard to cut.

[Gary Keedwell]

Needless to say....it is a job for a hack saw, and like stated above, clean up with a file.;)
Gary K.

[Phil Thien]

I use my 10" miter saw, w/ the carbide-tipped blade that came with it. Wear safety glasses and feed slowly.

Hacksaw/file took too long.

[Wes Bischel]

power hacksaw:D

[Gary Keedwell]

power hacksaw:D

Righthanded or lefthanded power hacksaw?:D
Gary K.

[Michael Schwartz]

Sawzall or a Jigsaw.

[David DeCristoforo]

Or in other words, anything you got that will cut alum.....

[Gary Keedwell]

Or in other words, anything you got that will cut alum.....
I could cut it with a dull hack saw blade before you can find your safety glasses.;)

Gary K.

[Richard Butler]

Hacksaw ? LMAO

I have cut all manner of aluminum on my Unisaw with a 60 tooth carbide blade. Feed slow and it will cut nicely. I have even cut a Unifence guide with a carbide blade. 3/8" thick aluminum plate cuts nicely on my 14" Delta bandsaw. FOr the bandsaw I bought a non-ferrous metal cutting blade from Lowes. I have also cut 1/4" brass plate on the Delta bandsaw as well.

[Gary Keedwell]

I have cut all manner of aluminum on my Unisaw with a 60 tooth carbide blade. Feed slow and it will cut nicely. I have even cut a Unifence guide with a carbide blade. 3/8" thick aluminum plate cuts nicely on my 14" Delta bandsaw. FOr the bandsaw I bought a non-ferrous metal cutting blade from Lowes. I have also cut 1/4" brass plate on the Delta bandsaw as well.
I have done alot of those things too, Richard ...I just thought it a little overkill for one of those scrawny aluminum t-tracks. But if no hack saw around anything will do, huh?;)
Gary K.

[Chuck Lenz]

Sorry, but something about cutting metal with a wood blade in a tablesaw just doesn't set right with me. A metal blade in a bandsaw ok, if the blade is allready in the saw, most woodworkers have a wood blade installed, switching blades is too big of a task for such a small project. Same with the sawzall, if you gotta drag it out, remove it from the case, then install a blade ? Why bother with all that ? Just grab the hacksaw, cut it maybe a 1/8th of a inch long incase you don't get it cut square, then take it over to the disc sander and use the miter gauge until you get it to where you want it, then take a small file to it to take the burrs off and round the inside edges off slightly if you wish.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
I kind of surprised no one has mentioned a Dremel yet. I use mine for cutting Aluminum channel for doors all the time.
A Roto-zip works even better.

[Matt Meiser]

Sorry, but something about cutting metal with a wood blade in a tablesaw just doesn't set right with me.

It is actually accepted practice and there are blades specifically made to do so.

[Peter Meacham]

Speaking of T-track, does anyone have a source for a horizontal clamp that works with T-track. Usually they are some sort of cam arrangement that produces pressure horizontally as you swing a handle left or right. Or any type of clamp that will work with T-track in a horizontal direction.

I'm trying to get a low-profile model for use with a CNC machine to clamp boards tight against a stop at the other end of the T-track while the top of the boards get machined. Thanks, Pete

[Rod Sheridan]

I normally cut metal with a horizontal metal cutting bandsaw, or a hacksaw.

I use both of these in the garage, not the woodworjing shop, so I don't have metal filings, oil etc in the wood shop.

Regards, Rod.

[James Carmichael]

Ditto the hacksaw. File cleanup is usually required whichever method you use.

[Al Willits]

Usually my oxy-acetylene rig makes short work of them, ain't pretty, but it gives me another chance to play with fire....

Actually a hack saw for just a few is the quickest, I can cut several in the time it would take me to change blades.

al...who was just kidding about the cutting torch..:D

[Rick Lizek]

I'm with Bruce. Table saw or chop saw is perfectly fine and safe. Regular carbide blades will work but are grabby with the positive hook. I've cut miles of non-ferrous with my negative hook non-ferrous blade which is also a standard radial arm saw and chop saw blade so you may already have one at hand. Aluminum for the most part cuts like butter and isn't hard on the blade at all. The chips coming off aren't hot enough to start a fire. I do recommend a face mask as the chips are warm and will make you flinch.

[Jeff Miller]

You need to get one of these to cut that T-track:D


http://www.machinery.com.tw/automatic-band-saw.htm


But I would just use a hack saw;)


JEFF:cool:

[Keith Pleas]

(resurrecting old thread rather than starting a new one)

I was cutting some aluminum and stainless last night and thought folks might be interested in this alternative. I ran across this thread because I was thinking of cutting some track saw guide track and this turned up in my search.

I have two Milwaukie portaband saws - one with wood blade and the other (picked up on CL for around $100) with a metal blade. The metal cutting setup is bolted to a $59 Swag Offroad portaband table (http://www.swagoffroad.com/SWAG-V10-Portaband-Table-_p_64.html)that is secured in my bench vise. I also use a floor switch and clamp the trigger. These saws don't have a huge capacity (3.5" x 4"), but the ability to use both hands to control stock against the table give rather precise control.

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[Rob Damon]

+1 on the Portaband saw. 30 years ago I was on a job site and saw one of the contractors using one to cut metal angle iron. It just sliced right through it. I ended up getting one. I don't regularly cut metal, but when I do that is the "go to" tool. The wife calls it the "butter-cutter" because with a sharp blade it can cut through a metal fence rail in about a second. It is the kind of tool you would never think to get, but once you get one, you wonder why you didn't get one sooner. I see then all the time on craigslist. I think I still have a the hack saw, but it never gets used.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hacksaw or metal bandsaw in my house..........Rod.

[scott vroom]

I keep a metal cutting blade on my angle grinder for this type of thing.

[Joe Spear]

Hacksaw, clean up with a file. Takes less time than changing the blade on your favorite powered saw, and the mess is not thrown all over the shop.

I'm not one to shy away from a power tool, but this stuff is not hard to cut.

Agree totally. Just did some that way recently.

[Frederick Skelly]

Hacksaw, clean up with a file. Takes less time than changing the blade on your favorite powered saw, and the mess is not thrown all over the shop.

I'm not one to shy away from a power tool, but this stuff is not hard to cut.

+2. This is pretty straight forward.

[Mike Cutler]

(resurrecting old thread rather than starting a new one)

I was cutting some aluminum and stainless last night and thought folks might be interested in this alternative. I ran across this thread because I was thinking of cutting some track saw guide track and this turned up in my search.

I have two Milwaukie portaband saws - one with wood blade and the other (picked up on CL for around $100) with a metal blade. The metal cutting setup is bolted to a $59 Swag Offroad portaband table (http://www.swagoffroad.com/SWAG-V10-Portaband-Table-_p_64.html)that is secured in my bench vise. I also use a floor switch and clamp the trigger. These saws don't have a huge capacity (3.5" x 4"), but the ability to use both hands to control stock against the table give rather precise control.

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Portabands are pretty versatile. Great tool 'to have around".

I used my DeWalt miter saw, with a 120 tooth blade, to cut the aluminum channel for our shower surround when I built it. In fact the saw was bought for that job. I needed a completely different level of cut quality than I would need on T-Track.
I don't know that I'd want to cut stainless on a miter saw. The aluminum was nerve wracking enough. Cutting tile on it was another nerve wracking affair, but it did a beautiful job on some chair rail tile I needed to cut. Different blade though. ;)

[Keith Pleas]

The wife calls it the "butter-cutter" because with a sharp blade it can cut through a metal fence rail in about a second.
Yeah, 'like butter"!

Maybe the folks suggesting a hacksaw or miter saw need a little demonstration - here's a video I just shot cutting through a 2" x 1/8" steel strap hinge (it was the first piece of steel I found that I didn't care if I destroyed): http://youtu.be/gLyt7EBmxw4

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