well its almost break and that means 2 things for me, Free time and midterms any way this little log is in preparation for a full scratch build i will hopefully be doing latter, but for now I want to get my self familiar with aluminum angle and how to work with it and hopefully get some answers So I made up something simple i could make with aluminum and came up with a simple shelf unit for my desk, i need the extra space this is the plan So i went shopping and got some stuff here was the original drawings, in the lower left i was trying to make a circuit, I'm going to add some LEDs to the bottom of each layer for a cool glowing effect i started cutting the aluminum and ... well... it started snowing !!!!! i hope i miss school so i can get some more work done also I got moved inside, my mom wants me out of the cold, you know how moms can be woot i got the Living room !! i've probably bored you all to death so i will get to the point I have cut all of the piece, just need to file them and here is my question: how do you get straight edges once you cut the aluminum? here: I am doing this with a hack saw, no power tools and before filing it looks like this not too bad, but not a right angle, now i have been filing them down *proof* but it takes forever and it never comes out right (no pun intended) the first few times Are there any tips on filing? or are you just going to tell me to shut up and get back to filing because there is no wrong way to do it? any help is appreciated along with comments and questions thanks
There are big expensive mitre saws with a massive circular saw sitting on a sliding linkage, but a cheap handsaw version of a mitre saw like the one in the first picture, will give you perfectly straight or angled cuts cheaply. The only filing neccessary is if you want to alter the ends from being blunt, otherwise sanding is enough to de-burr them.
Thanks, and believe it or not I saw that saw (no pun intended) at home depot when I got my supplies, I wanted it naturally, but it was 40 dollars so i shied away from it, but after my work so far, I may have to get it. thanks