What is good for cutting diamond plate? And what is good for bending it?

dont know about bending it but I know a sawzall cuts it quick, a jig saw with a good metal blade probly your best bet, it is "stickier" than steel and will over heat a cheaper angle grinder in a real hurry if its thick,found that out the hard way:banghead

I use a jigsaw with good results. Just make sure to use a good metal blade 12-14 teeth per inch.

A break is the best way to bend metal but you can do fairly well with a vise if you tak your time. Bend a little at a time till you get what you want.

Thanks all!

If you score the backside beforehand it makes the bend easier with less stretch/stress, 'specially if you're doing the bend without a break. Don't score it deep or it will crack. Like was stated above, alum gets sticky when hot and will gum up a grinding wheel in a hurry. You can make a cheapy break with angle iron and clamp it in a bench vise.

use a joigsaw to cut it just tape it off before hand that makes it a bit easier.

Bending aluminum can be a tricky thing, done right and it looks good, done wrong and you'll crack the aluminum, get pissed off and have to start over. Here's a couple of tips from the aviation side of bending aluminum. The thicker the metal, the bigger your curve/bend radius has to be to prevent cracking, we call this "set back". The same goes for what type of aluminum it is (6065, 2024, etc). I don't think diamond plate is rated this way, find out if you can as this will help, 6065 is harder then 2024. Also, always try and bend against the grain of the aluminum as this will reduce the chance of it cracking. Having a metal brake handy always helps, some metal shops will bend the metal for you, a six pack or two always sweetens the deal and costs less.

For cutting long straight cuts I use a circle saw with a fine tooth blade for panelling. Jig saw for smaller angle or curve cuts. The circle saw is loud as hell and the chips fly all over so where ear and eye protection.

For cutting long straight cuts I use a circle saw with a fine tooth blade for panelling. Jig saw for smaller angle or curve cuts. The circle saw is loud as hell and the chips fly all over so where ear and eye protection.

ditto.... and if you are worried about scratching it be sure to tape it off... i use the wider masking tape

Here's a couple of tips from the aviation side of bending aluminum. The thicker the metal, the bigger your curve/bend radius has to be to prevent cracking, we call this "set back". The same goes for what type of aluminum it is (6065, 2024, etc). I don't think diamond plate is rated this way, find out if you can as this will help, 6065 is harder then 2024.

What do you do in aviation, just curious? :shrug

And..i'm almost positive the aluminum shoudl be rated be 2024, 6065, etc. Otherwise you wouldn't know what kind of aluminum you were getting. If you're getting aluminum and they have a choice, pick 2024, and if there's any "T"s tacked on, pick the lower T, like T3 over T6. Also he has a good point about setback and thicker pieces of metal...but i'd imagine that would be hard as hell to adjust much in a vice, i guess you could just change the thickness of metal you're bending around and hope for the best?

I've used a circular saw, a jig saw and an angle grinder. The jig saw works well for intricate cuts but somewhat slow...the circular saw has a really thick cutting blade and I didn't like that so my favorite was a 41/2 angle grinder. It uses thinner cutting blades and so it was 3x faster. Just make sure and put some tape over the cutting area so that you don't get those annoying burs on there. I used it to put diamond plating around my garage. A waines coat. I still have a few sheets to hang but it looks sweet because I painted the garage walls black first.
The neighbors were watching :wtf "why are you painting your garage black?!" but then when they saw the diamond plating go up....they knew that it looked sweet!:rockon :twotu:

I dont know about yall, but I run a waterjet at work, and I can cut ANYTHING.... and everything! All I have to do is draw it up in autocad and the machine will cut it out for me.

OK...we're all jealous now! Our cuts ALL probably look like crap compared to yours. :rofl:

Hey Million, do you have any pics of that garage? I'd like to see that.

Solid.
:beer

I just wanted to throw that out there. I cut out some diamond plate trim for my buddys blazer. It came out really well. Im about to cut me out a front winch bumper and get some one to weld it all together for me.

Hey Million, do you have any pics of that garage? I'd like to see that.

Solid.
:beer
I'll have to snag my wifes digi camera...and I still have to set up a superford page so that I can upload the pictures...but I'll get around to doing that today or tomorrow. If not then over the weekend for sure!
I first got the idea from a home builder that did it in a "macho" themed room in their model home and I thought it would be sweet for a garage. :thumbup

I dont know about yall, but I run a waterjet at work, and I can cut ANYTHING.... and everything! All I have to do is draw it up in autocad and the machine will cut it out for me.


You bastard, lmao, thats awesome, im jealous:rockon

i like running the machine but im getting fed up with this company so i need to cut my sh*t out fast before I quit.

chop saw works tooo ... ideally tho a shear is the best way and to bend it find someone with a brake

I used to have a fab shop that we did aluminum diamond plate for firetrucks. We used a jig saw with a fine blade and put several layers of masking tape on the foot of the saw. The one thing I didn't see mentioned is to cut on the backside so you don't scratch the diamond side.

A tablesaw works good if you know someone that's into woodworking. Same thing for a circular saw and miter saw. They both cut though aluminum quite well, it's just louder than fawk and you swear that somethings going to break the first time that you do it.

I have access to a 10' metal shear, 2 10' breaks and a hydrualic bender.

a table saw sounds kinda harsh for the thicker stuff, like what a bumper would be made outta, i used a vertical bandsaw and it worked great, just make sure its got a high TPI and minimal depth, the kerf would be alot less than a bandsaw too

I've used a circular saw, a jig saw and an angle grinder. The jig saw works well for intricate cuts but somewhat slow...the circular saw has a really thick cutting blade and I didn't like that so my favorite was a 41/2 angle grinder. It uses thinner cutting blades and so it was 3x faster:rockon :twotu:

:shocked :shocked :shocked
I hope anybody cutting aluminum (especially with something that causes aluminum dust) is wearing a respiratory mask.
Breathing in aluminum is deadly, It's been proven to cause alzheimer's.
Please be carefull and use a mask when cutting this stuff!!

where did you get sheets of diamond plate?
i tried lowes and home depot and no luck...