Seems like I’ve had a pattern of developing a new skill each day. This seatbelt attach bracket was my first “long” cut on the bandsaw (hehe… I know much longer cuts are coming).  I used the fence to get a straight cut.

I’m starting to feel more comfortable making both mirrored parts.  Did these cuts on the miter saw but will probably need to use the band saw for the rest.  This part reminds me that I’ve been using a lot of trigonometry to calculate the cut angles–I guess most people use a protractor, but I don’t have one I feel is accurate enough.  I can set the miter saw to a quarter of a degree with no interpolation.  I mark the beginning and end of the cut on the part’s edges and I hit both marks each cut.  I guess my calculator works (good thing I’m not stuck in radian mode).

This was my first “miter” cut on the band saw.  I had hoped to use the miter gauge to help cut at the right angle, but the geometry of getting the part to the blade while attached to the miter gauge wasn’t working so I decided to freehand it.  I drew the cut line and used the laser to help cut right down the line–I split the line in half on my first try.  The second try wasn’t as good–I ended up off the line by a blade width, but some finishing should clear that up.  Not sure if I like the laser–the reflection off the aluminum seems a little too bright.

My parents got me a nice Dewalt 715 compound miter saw and a real aluminum-cutting 12″ 96 carbide tooth sawblade for Christmas.  I decided to put this to use cutting the wing attach blocks which are cut from a 1″x1.25″ block of solid aluminum.  I figure if the saw will cut this it will cut anything.  Also, there is a 3/16″ beveled edge that had been worrying me as I have not previously had much luck with my band saw (I was tempted to do this bevel with the compound miter saw, but could not think of a simple, safe, and accurate way of making the cut).

A lot of builders seem to recommend using a wood-cutting blade on the bandsaw to cut aluminum, but I couldn’t tell if this recommendation is just to save some money or is because a wood-cutting blade is actually desirable.  My experience has been wood-cutting and metal-cutting blades are priced similarly at Lowes, but the selection of blades that fit my saw is small.  The woodcutting blade I tried had a kerf that is about 10x wider than the actual metal of the blade and seemed to be gouging its way through the metal causing a ton of vibration, leaving a terribly ragged cut, and cutting much slower than I believe a blade with a smaller kerf would have.  Unfortunately the kerf width is not labeled on the packaging, so you can only eyeball it.  I decided to try a metal cutting blade and haven’t looked back since–the cuts have been fantastic.

Here I have tilted the bandsaw table 45 degrees and set the fence for a 3/16 inch bevel.  The desired cut path is drawn in using a black sharpie.  The cut went great even though I was initially worried the blade might drift and there would be little I could do to correct for it with the fence in the way.

Here is a part after being cut to size on the miter saw and beveled with the bandsaw.

Before making these exciting cuts I cut a bunch of aluminum angle to size for various parts.