USE SPOON FLUTE SPIRAL CUTTERS

The spoon flute shape of the gullet of a spiral tool is designed to roll the aluminium into a small chip, which avoids what is known as chip welding. This is when the material being cut actually stocks and builds up on the cutting edge of the tool. In most cases, it can be controlled or avoided by using the right tool design, like the spoon flute spiral, its open curved gullet, this allows for a chip to form, without the cutting pressure of a squarer flute which pushes back at the material causing it to jam up and clogg at the cutting edge.

For thin alloys, use a down cut spoon flute spiral, and cut face up which will leave a nice cut on the top edge as well as maintaining good hold down of the work peice, important when cutting small parts or lettering as in the sign making industries.

Straight cut spoon flute tools also work, but generally we would suggest a seven degree spiral action as apposed to straight. this helps with edge life and reduced chipping damage to the cutting edge of the tool.

Up to 8mm a single flute tool is best, from there above double spoon flutes are great. In hand held routers we have developed a high speed steel cutter which offers super fast cutting, extremely long edge life, with effortless ease and is resharpenable many times over. If your used to cutting by hand to a template then see our HSS Auspro spiral for aluminium, the best tool you will ever find. 

A benefit also with spoon flute spirals is exactly the same tools are also great on plastics, for hard plastics use a straight cut spoon flute, for soft plastics, use the spiral spoon flute tools as above. (read more, in 'Cutting plastics on CNC')

Theres a number of reasons why your saw blade may not be lasting. If your cutting particle board for example, there

is a lot of inconsistency with particle boards, from batch to batch and suppleir to supplier. You only need to understand

where the raw materials coming from and how its stored before manufacture to realise, its a difficult to control what goes

into the board when its produced. Although all forms of quality control are met and the chip is washed prior to processing,

the timber may have come from an area where it has absorbed cilica and other forms of abrasives from the soil in which its

grown. This is going to end up in the board and on the odd occasion, if its there, it will dramaticly increase wear and reduce

tool life by as much as 90%.

Small chipping which insn't noticeable at a glance also is often a factor making a saw seem blunt! Also low clearance as the

saw wears and gets re-sharened will cause the blade to run warmer, which will in turn will cause backcutting, wavering in the

cut. In timber the low clearance will result in the blade being very hard to push through and bind up and burn the timber. In

this case the blade isn't actually blunt, it simply doesn't have clearance enough to cope with timber cutting any more.