Cutting sheet aluminum

If you can find a friend with a table saw, a normal carbide wood cutting blade will do the job if the feed rate is slow. I now use a blade especially made for non-ferrous metals, but before I had this I used a wood cutting carbide blade. Eye and ear protection is a must here!

A really nice tip I got from an ex-Army Engineer pal: Keep a candle handy, and rub the wax across the cutting blade or tip of the drill, it makes for a much smoother passage through the panel.

If you're nervy about swarf getting into motors or pcbs when cutting steel, keep a magnet handy. I once left some swarf across the terminals of a 1.5Kva / 88,000uf reservoir per-rail power-amp supply, it made a hell of a flash and the burning swarf flew across the room!

Justin

BTW... The word 'Swarf' makes a tech-friend of mine from Nashville grin... apparently it's a UK-specific word, he always laughs when I use it!

keith

Masking tape over the cut zone will help to control flying metal.
a little bit.
Oh, and a OT tip=place a piece of round thin cardboard at the top of a drill bit to keep the strands of drilled Al from getting too long.