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Q:
Can I cut aluminum with my chop saw?
A:
Yes. Most carbide blades work fine for occasionally cutting aluminum, but we recommend using a special, non-ferrous metal-cutting blade if you cut a lot of aluminum or brass. It’s safer to use than a standard blade because the geometry of the teeth makes it less likely to kick back when cutting a soft metal.And it will last longer than a standard blade because the teeth are made of a softer carbide.
No matter which blade you use, feed the saw about one-third slower than you do when cutting wood. Coating the blade with a regular dose of WD-40 (when the saw’s not running) prevents the gullets from clogging.
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I always used a fine tooth bade and reversed it when cutting aluminium like that found in soffits and was taught this by a contractor I worked with. However while we had a compound mitre, or chop saw, on site we just made a jig and used a circular saw as many cuts were over the 12″ width the chop saw had. I’m unsure how many thousand cuts we made but we had no real problems. The jig needs to overlap the sheet being cut by a foot or so to hold it rigid, and if you are making multiple cuts that are all the same a stop for the length needed will speed things up.