stone to cut aluminum

[snakesaver]

cheers everybody, i have a question as to what type of stone doesn't get loaded up when you try to cut aluminum? or is there a stone you can put into a hand drill or dremel tool that you can "mill" aluminum? sincerely, snakesaver

[usmcpop]

If you need to remove a significant amount of material, a grinding burr would be advisable. Aluminum can be surface ground, usually with a relatively soft silicon carbide wheel. A sanding disk and a bit of lubricant would be better for hand use.

[Hotfoot]

I've had pretty good luck with those cone shaped ones made from a wound strip of abrasive paper. They screw onto a long screw shaped arbor. 'seems like I used to get them from Eastwood. I hogged out some manifolds with them and mill cutters in a die grinder...but aluminum clogs everything eventually.

[enlpck]

For die grinder (or dremel) use, I would second the use of a burr. There are burrs made specifically for soft metals. Single cut clogs up less than double cut (look like a milling cutter, because they basically are). The ones made for soft metals have deeper throats between the cutting edges and the edge geometry is different than those for steel. For light work, even a cheap "rotary rasp" from the box store will do the job ok. For surfacing, use wheels made for aluminum in a 4.5" grinder. They have a softer bond than wheels for steel that releases the grit as the wheel becomes loaded.

[greywynd]

With the burrs, spray it now and then with some WD40 or varsol, it will keep it from sticking as bad. Try to keep it cool, if the burr gets too warm is when the chips start to stick.

[B_C]

Wide fluted carbide burr with Bees wax.....makes a mess but cuts very fast....

[Roger]

Grinding discs for aluminum are available that has faster wear rate to exceed aluminum clog rate.

[snakesaver]

thank you to everybody who responded. and thanks for the very quick replies, i never thought anyone would have replied so quickly! sincerely, mike(snakesaver)