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PostPosted: March 7, 2013, 7:11 pm 
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The voice of reason
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Maybe wood blades work better? People build big yachts out of 1/4" plate just using a circular saw.

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PostPosted: March 7, 2013, 7:35 pm 
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nick47 wrote:
Maybe blades are better now than they were back in 2010, but my reciprocating jigsaw cuts thick aluminum just fine.

:lol:


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PostPosted: March 7, 2013, 7:38 pm 
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Actually, the blades in my jigsaw are wood blades, 18 TPI. I should add that they don't last forever, but they will cut out several large pieces before they start to slow down.


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PostPosted: March 9, 2013, 2:00 am 
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Gyrofli wrote:
...The local welding shop here uses circular saws with carbide tip wood cutting blades. The first time I saw him using the skilsaw on aluminum I though this guy was crazy. The guy showed me the blade and it was a regular old circular saw...

A table saw with a carbide tipped blade (like a plywood blade) works well for the straight cuts. I've done a number of panels this way. Next time I'll use some wax or lubricant as others have suggested, but haven't had a problem cutting them dry.
Maybe a combination of some straight cuts with curves added would work for the shapes you are doing. You can always rough cut the outside curves using straight cuts and then dress the curves smooth on a vertical belt sander.

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PostPosted: March 9, 2013, 2:36 am 
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locofinn wrote:
I have a nice piece of 1/8" thick 5052 aluminum plate I would like to use for my dash. I tried cutting it with my jigsaw


When I do a longish run I use paper masking tape along the cut and paint some oil on the tape. I have no problem with quality jigsaw blades rather than cheap ones and for long straight cuts I use a circular saw with whatever wood blade is on it at the time.

davew wrote:
I've run into that problem using cheap China made hack saw blades,
Dave W


Let me rephrase that for you; I have run into problems trying to save money and buying cheap blades rather than more expensive ones.

Gyrofli wrote:
Anyway, I got a whole bunch of new old stock blades made in USA. These old name brand blades cut way batter than anything made in china.


No, again you buy cheap crap and pay the price. The blades I buy in China are fantastic, I don't buy the cheap crap here, it's useless, so I don't know why you guys do .... but you keep doing it.

You guys need to do some more honest self appraisel of yourselves rather than blaming other countries for what are your choices, no one forces you to buy cheap crap.


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PostPosted: March 9, 2013, 4:25 am 
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cheapracer wrote:

You guys need to do some more honest self appraisel of yourselves rather than blaming other countries for what are your choices, no one forces you to buy cheap crap.


I've never seen a product from China that wasn't cheap crap.

If they make quality work, they keep it to themselves.

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PostPosted: March 9, 2013, 8:08 am 
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carguy123 wrote:

I've never seen a product from China that wasn't cheap crap.



And that's a fair statement, but it aint China, it's the American (in your case) entre-preneur who goes and sources the crap in order to make the biggest buck, Chinese companies are only catering to what's on the order sheet and at the end of the day it's you who orders it and you are responsible for your own actions.

Stop buying "Chines crap", I dare you to just say No!

carguy123 wrote:

If they make quality work, they keep it to themselves.


You would be shocked.


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PostPosted: March 9, 2013, 10:33 am 
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The quality issue is part of every country's manufacturing evolution and penetration of a new market.

I'm old enough to remember (1960s) when the "cheap" tools came from Japan. They did have quality issues then, but overcame them pretty quickly. We consider Japanese products to be of the highest quality now.

Likewise, the Taiwanese had similar issues in the 70s-80s. Now their tools are considered better than those from China proper and the equal of many Japanese products.

Korea was the newcomer in the 90s. Remember how people bad-mouthed Hyundai? Now the cars they make here in the USA with factories of their own design are considered tops in quality by several rating agencies.

I just bought an excellent file from India. Have you noticed what India is doing in the automotive world? Brazil is exporting aircraft and I may be flying out of our local airport on one soon. Things change.

It is sometimes a "mind-share" issue. Our motoring press still bad-mouths our domestic manufacturers over mistakes they made two decades ago. I bought a new Dodge last year and it's a fantastic automobile, but if I believed our automotive press, it would have fallen apart on me in 60 days - well close to that . anyway.

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PostPosted: March 9, 2013, 12:00 pm 
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I have worked with select companies in China for 10 years now and can 2nd everything that Cheap says. They can make some really awesome stuff. They can also make some awfull things. Just like here in the US, if you go for the cheapest price, then you will probably get junk. If you do your homework in selecting a good product, then you can get some great value. It makes no difference what nation they come from.

Remember, the iPhone is made in China, as are almost all computer components nowadays. All Chinese companies can't possibly be making all junk.

BTW, I just purchased my first new Korean automobile. So far after 1 year, no real complaints. It still runs, drives and provides good transportation with great styling. I can really see considering a Chinese automobile (maybe Indian?) in the future, maybe 10-20 years from now. It will have to have a support dealership here first though.

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PostPosted: March 9, 2013, 7:46 pm 
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I started to cut my checker plate with a jig saw, then realized that it would take for ever, so I went to my band saw, which was faster by far until I ran out of throat.
After cutting the first one I still thought it was too slow and as I didn't have any curves to cut, I just scored a line on my second piece with my cutoff grinder and then broke it along the line by by bending it.
touched up the edges with the same grinder and it was a fraction of the time of using a saw, clean and neat.



Al

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