Table Saws and aluminum

[Paul Perry]

At 12:47 PM 9/07/97, Bob Zimmer wrote:
>I've found a local distributor who will sell a 4'x4' sheet of 1/8"
>aluminum, mill finish, for about $125.
>Any ideas???

......perhaps.....
I use adhesive aluminium foil for making serial # tags.
this comes from suppliers of adhesive papers in about 1 metre squares.

I have not tried this, but it occurs to me that it would be possible to make
a synth front panel from laminated plywood - a much easier material to work
in a domestic environment, and possibly safer - and then stick the aluminium
foil to it after marking it in some way (iron on, adhesive letters,
screenprint etc). 
The foil is much thicker than oven foil, but can be cut with ordinary scissors.
This way you have unlimited goes at getting the artwork right.

If people are as bad at cutting aluminium as I am with a power saw, think
about using t-cross section plastic or neoprene beading between the sections
of panel - this way nobody can see that there is a 2mm waver in the panel
sides - and it would divide up the synth sections nicely..

THIS MIGHT BE WRONG, but do you get a better finish using the wrong saw to
cut aluminium by sandwiching it between 2 layers of wood? Unfortunately
those school shop manuals never tell me how to do things the wrong way......

Paul Perry