please excuse agentsteel53 crying out blasphemy and making "no,

[rwx]

does anyone have an idea about how to cut aluminum material such as street signs into long, parallel strips? perhaps 1/2" or 1" wide and going at least 12" at a go?

a friend is thinking of paring down my collection in the next few weeks for an art project.

Comments

[agentsteel53.livejournal.com]

at least tell me what you're cutting apart, and give me the chance to buy them from you...

[rwx.livejournal.com]

Mostly custom-fabbed aluminum signs from Boeing, Burning Man (I think), and other concerns, but there's a couple of SOW-produced highway signs as well. These would be selected specifically because they're in poor shape and not particularly notable, but I'll send you images first.

Also, Boeing surplus has dozens of speed limit and other traffic control signs available by weight as bulk aluminum.

[agentsteel53.livejournal.com]

SOW = State of Washington? I'd be interested in looking at all of those, poor condition or otherwise

[rwx.livejournal.com]

Yeah.

Incidentally, driving last week, I saw a one-armed bandit style fruit import warning sign on the OR/WA border. Never saw one of them before. Didn't have my camera handy, though.

[agentsteel53.livejournal.com]

what is "one armed bandit style"?

[rwx.livejournal.com]

with three pieces of fruit in a row like in a slot machine. they used to be more common, apparently.

[agentsteel53.livejournal.com]

heh wow, never seen one of those!! Oregon/Washington border, eh? Usually it's California that's really strict with the agriculture - I don't think I've seen *any* warnings between OR and WA - but maybe I was just not paying attention.

[rwx.livejournal.com]

Whoops, CA/OR border, but coming into Oregon on US 199.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&saddr=crescent+city,+ca&daddr=Grants+Pass,+OR&sll=42.407235,-123.184204&sspn=1.788621,3.35083&ie=UTF8&z=9&ll=42.236652,-123.760986&spn=0.896757,1.675415&om=1

[agentsteel53.livejournal.com]

never taken the 199; I most certainly will have to. It's the only US highway in CA I've never set foot on at all!

[marc17.livejournal.com]

Saw? Like a big ass chop saw or better yet, a band saw.

[catbear.livejournal.com]

alternate top bevel blade, 20-30 teeth, in a table saw. anti-kickback design preferred. go slow and smooth.

[h2so4.livejournal.com]

Try a sheet metal cutter. Any furnace shop will have one. I think that Pratt Fine arts also has one.


Jim G

[dirtwitch.livejournal.com]

There are electric (actually, now that I think, prolly it is an air tool...) tin snips of sorts, used them in the past to cut out windows for a Vdub westfalia. I really do not know what they are called, but perhaps a car repair shop would know. they did leave a rough, somewhat "chewed" edge... Good Luck!

[double00range.livejournal.com]

Best thing would be a plasma cutter, though you probably don't have one of those lying around. Could possibly rent one, and would cut through those signs like butter. Mmmmmmm plasma cutter... drool...

I have cut similar items with a circular saw with a carbite blade or a large grinder with a carbite blade. In fact, sliced the top off of a station wagon with such tools. Though you'll want to draw the lines on well, and go slow with both of those tools. Pushing the saw or grinder too hard on that metal will burn the tools out fast.

[mskala.livejournal.com]

Saws, torches, and lasers are the Wrong Answer. They'll take too much time, waste material, and give you yucky edges - non-straight, non-parallel, and rough so you'll have to smooth them.

What you want is a squaring shear (http://sacredengraving.zoovy.com/product/SHEAR), probably the same thing h2so4 referred to as a "sheet metal cutter". It's a non-powered thing with a table and a blade. You line up the material on the table, stomp on a bar, and a blade comes down and lops the metal off in a straight, smooth line. There's effectively no kerf - you can cut a two-inch plate into two one-inch plates and the edges will probably be clean enough to use without further smoothing. A shop that works with or sells sheet aluminum should have one of these devices.