cutting metal

Personally I would use a die grinder with an aluminium cutting disc. Any wobbles can be sorted out post-cut with a suitable file. Die grinders and the accessories available for them are great; everyone should have one.

If I had a lot to cut I would put an aluminum cutting blade in the chop saw. For one piece just use a hacksaw.

Sheet metal hand shears will do it easily. A sturdy, high quality pair of scissors might also work, depending on what alloy and hardness you are dealing with.

RichD prodded the keyboard with:

I regularly cut 2" inch thick by 4" inch wide aluminium bar with my 10 inch chop saw. Negative rake TCT blade 2800 rpm. Plenty of WD40 as a cutting lube. The work piece gets a bit warm so a clamp is required. but is does the job without a problem.

In fact I cut some 10 mm thick slices from a 45 mm diameter round bar this morning.

I use a metal cutting blade on the table saw and chop saw, can also use for wood. Get one for Aluminum, not iron.

I think I would go to a shop that does fabracation work, maybe even a heating and air condition shop. Have them to put it on a sheer. Would take them almost no time. Maybe they would do it for free or a very minimal cost.

I being retired I miss having access to some scrap aluminum and stainless steel and breaks and shears to work with.

Ralph Mowery wrote on 7/28/2017 6:13 PM:

You can do a lot with wood using basic tools, but metal is a bit harder to work with. However, a 0.050 inch strip of aluminum doesn't really take much. I would use a hack saw, cutting carefully and trimming up the edges or any other irregularity with a file.

I did that once with 0.062 inch aluminum to make pieces to repair a canoe thwart that had rotted a bit and the screws pulled through. I spent a fair amount of time filing them, but that was more to get an exact fit than anything. The part needed to be a bit of a trapezoid rather than a rectangle. In the end it looked pretty good and worked well.

Agreed. For best accuracy, scribe a line before cutting (and if it's critical, blacken the aluminum with felt-tip pen or Dykem, so the scribed line will show up bright).

By 1/20" I'm assuming that is 0.050" thick. I could scribe that through with a box cutter. A good one, not a cheap plastic one.

I'd put a square on the aluminum and a try to make a medium presure cut across it. Then continue four or five more times in the same cut line. Then I would push the blade in on each edge to make a mark that shows on the other side. I would use a ruler to line up with those two marks and scribe along the ruler, then make several more cuts along the ruler. At this point you should be able to flex it and it will come apart. Clean up the edge with a file. I could have had it done faster than the time it took me to write up how to do it. Mikek

Geez, .050 aluminum for 2 inches, nobody here can use a hacksaw?

It must be above their pay scale >:-} ...Jim Thompson

You can clamp it in a vise and run a hacksaw horizontally along the top of the jaws. That makes a nice straight smooth cut, but don't do that a lot because it is a little hard on the vise.

A shear is best, but I assume that you don't have access to one.

I use my 40 tooth 10" table saw, from sheet metal to 3/8" thick.

Slow feed and make sure it won't catch in the rip fence (if it is very thin).

If just one piece then use a hack saw. For .05" thick alunimun you could even use the corner of a file. Just file halfway through from each side. If you have a lot to cut and have a chop saw then that would work great. Use a carbide toothed blade with many teeth. When my shop was built the building parts were shipped without the roll up door frame. I couldn't get the frame soon enough and the door needed to go in. Since the shop was empty and without power I used my generator and a Skil saw to cut 1/4" thick angle and channel into pieces the correct lengths to build a bolt in frame. Some parts needed welding and I found a local welder who was able to make the welds in time. Cutting the angle was noisy, really noisy, and the chips went everywhere. I used lamp oil for the cutting fluid. But I remembered how well the saw worked and years later had a job cutting hundreds of small aluminum parts from 1/2 x 1/4 6061 bar stock. So I used a chop saw made for wood, a carbide blade, oil mist, and hearing protection to do the job. It went very fast. Accurate too. Eric

OK, are hackasaws rated? Do I need to look for a specific rating for this job?

Never used one. What is the specific purpose of a chop saw?

a 32tpi blade in a hacksaw should work fine, tin snips in a pinch, but might be a struggle. also a carbide tipped blade in a circular saw at slow feed rate, but very noisy

No offense intended but maybe you should get someone to do this for you.

myfordboy on YT used a regular TCT-bladed skill saw to chop through a steel I-section RSJ for one of his projects which I've never seen done before; most impressive indeed. No way would I attempt that.