Working With Aluminum

[eric113]

i thought would be helpful....

After deciding that they want to make a custom piece or component, people are usually drawn to aluminum as the material of choice. It is lightweight, readily available, and fairly inexpensive. Also decent results can be had without the use of expensive machinery. Yes, aluminum CAN be easy to work with, but if you are not familiar with the way aluminum reacts while being cut, machined, or filed you will soon find yourself very frustrated.

Hopefully this post will introduce the reader to a few basics by following along as I fabricate a part made out of aluminum for one of my Juggernaut 2's. Keep in mind that this post is geared towards people who really haven't been exposed to machine shops and the knowledge that they bring, but still want to be able to enjoy making a piece on there own.

With that said, lets get started!

Personally I am a fanatic about using quality tools, you get what you pay for in this case.


First step is to measure and mark for your cut.

2. Make sure the piece is secure in the vise. Always make sure the spot you will be cutting or filing is as close to the vise jaws as possible, this insures proper support. Before we start cutting, we must first make a notch on the line. Place the hacksaw blade on the edge of the piece and apply a good amount of down force to the saw, then slowly push the saw away making sure the cut stays on the line. The reason we make a notch first is so the blade does not slip as you start your cut!


3. Now we will cut the piece completely. The trick here is cutting a fairly straight line, which is not exactly easy... or is it? When cutting with a standard hacksaw, the blade will tend to drift off of the mark making for a pretty zaggy cut line. The key in avoiding this drift is angling the blade as you cut. Notice the angle of the blade in relation to the piece


As you cut, keep the blade aligned with your mark


This is how NOT to cut, that is unless you want a squirly edge. Notice the blade angle.



The straighter we get our cut, the less work we will have to do later. Top is an example of a cut using proper blade angle, below it is an example using improper blade angle.



4. We need to clean up our cut edges. Since we do not have to remove much material to do this, we will use the fine file. Many people do not realize that there is a proper and an improper way to use a file.

Having a solid grip of the file place the end of the file on the edge, apply slight to heavy down force and push the file forward.



Follow through making sure you maintain a constant amount of pressure throughout the entire stroke



DO NOT drag the file by pulling it back towards you. This will severely diminish the files effectiveness and is a definite no no. Once you reach the end of the stroke, lift the file completely off of the object and return the end of the file to the edge of the object and then make another stroke.



5. Mark the hole locations on the object



6. Make sure the object is secure in the vise or on a flat surface. Place the tip of the center punch on the dot, using a hammer tap the punch into the piece.







Why did we use the center punch? The answer is simple, the drill bit will center itself in the divot and allow you to drill a hole where you want it. Without the divot, the drill bit will slide around until it starts to dig in. The top hole was drilled using a center punch, the bottom hole was drilled without one. Notice the location of the holes to the pencil line. Now you know how important a center punch is!



6. We need to trim an edge on the piece, but we cannot use a hacksaw so we will have to use files. The first thing we have to do is get a reference mark. This mark will give us a visual on how much material we have taken off, as well as showing how straight the edge is.



With the reference mark marked and the piece secure in the vise, we can start to file. Since there is quite a large amount of material we need to file away, we will use the course file on the combination file.



File down about 3/4 of the way through the red mark with the course file.



Using the medium file on the combination file, file until there is slight amount of mark remaining.



Use the fine file to level and clean up the edge



7. Grab a wire brush and brush the piece, this will remove minor markings and leave a uniform finish.



That finishes this piece



Hopefully we have learned how to cut in a straight line with a hacksaw, the proper way to use files, and why using a center punch is so important!

Everyone has their own way of doing things, I hope you enjoyed me sharing my way.

ps i didnt do this write another guy did !

[MaxxZilla]

This should be in the tech section. But still, If I didn't allready know all that stuff it would have been helpful.