Recently I got a little tablet laptop which led me down the path of eGPU’s, which led me down the path of aluminum extrusion which led me to looking for a mitre saw. Now that I have it and have been learning more about what it can do I’m super excited!
I cut aluminum with mine (and professional aluminum sellers cut theirs with their saw, but it likely costs thousands), but I will second the “be careful” part.
Aluminum can snag your saw blade (especially if you use a blade meant for wood, which I don’t recommend because it also produces messy output). Snagging can have dangerous results (saw jumping upward and losing teeth or more in the process).
Ensure the work piece is clamped down very well. Ensure that the saw is either on a large level surface or better yet - bolted or clamped down. Ensure that the saw jumping cannot hurt you in any way.
When cutting aluminum, push very gently. And when the raw material gets too small, don’t try cutting the last little piece. Small working material will increase the chance of accidents. I set my limit around 20 cm.
This. So much this. Even when cutting wood properly on a mitre be careful with little pieces. You simply cannot control or hold really small pieces. Almost lost some fingers and scaring the hell out of myself making that mistake.