Deburring Edges on Aluminum plates

[Gobi King]

I bought some 1/8th inch plates from my local Iron Werks.

The super nice guy at the store cut the Al plates with a plasma,

One side is smooth and the opposing side is bit sharp. What can I use to smooth out the edges? I need round the ends too.

[Wompus Cat]

The fastest way would be to use a Hand Held Electric Grinder .





Slow but steady use a file .


Forever but really nice use a carbide infused sandpaper . and they make blocks you can buy


  Make your own  and
Take a short piece of 2/4 and staple the sand paper to it and go to town .

[oldmanjoe]

 Flat file for real bad shaping  ,palm or belt sander to finish in your case.
  Block sand if you don`t have a sander .

[Wompus Cat]

Push comes to Shove you can get a grinding bit /wheel to fit your drill motor and go to town .
While you're at it punch out a couple of Reel Spools Like Oldmanjoe does  with his Drill for your Dam Reels...lol

Anuuder thang is to take it back to the place you got it plasma cut and they SHOULD oblige you if they are worth a crap.
imho

[Gobi King]

Thanks guys,
I am going to town with a light file for the edges.

The corner, hmm, no belt sander in my inventory but I have rotary tool, let's see if I can find an attachment for taking the corners off.

[oldmanjoe]

 IF you try grinding stones , dunk them in oil first or they will clog up in a heart beat .     Same with a steel burr.    You can use candle wax also .

[Gobi King]

IF you try grinding stones , dunk them in oil first or they will clog up in a heart beat .     Same with a steel burr.    You can use candle wax also .

wax it is, I just washed em in soap, they were used plates...

[Gobi King]

Push comes to Shove you can get a grinding bit /wheel to fit your drill motor and go to town .
While you're at it punch out a couple of Reel Spools Like Oldmanjoe does  with his Drill for your Dam Reels...lol

Anuuder thang is to take it back to the place you got it plasma cut and they SHOULD oblige you if they are worth a crap.
imho

The guy at the steel werks was bigger than moi, more than the burrs, I value my pretty .... ;-)

Ok, I am taking orders, side plates, spools, heck 2 speed gears anyone?

[Midway Tommy]

Aluminum clogs files pretty quickly so make sure you have a file cleaning brush. Regular wire brushes don't work the greatest removing stuck debris from file grooves. With aluminum you may even have to scratch it out with a utility knife blade. I would knock the rough burrs off first with a square steel edge and smooth it from there with various grits of paper. Aluminum & files don't play well together, know that going in.   

[Fishy247]

A wire wheel on that grinder would work pretty well for cleaning it up. I'd use a regular grinding wheel to knock down the corners then the wire wheel.

[Tiddlerbasher]

I use a battery power file for most light jobs
One of these:
https://www.direct-powertools.co.uk/PBSCProduct.asp?ItmID=28930898&AccID=103701&PGFLngID=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIitLe8Lb57gIVWertCh1AvAh%5FEAQYBSABEgJNhPD%5FBwE

The belts clean up easily with a:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252682930352?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338624526&toolid=10001&customid=a7b8fc7111d6456bf38c7739512d4835

I save my good files (Nicholson) for the harder metals like stainless.

[borchcl]

For filing aluminum or other soft materials, you can pre load the file with chalk. The kind sold for kids to draw on sidewalks works.
Charlie

[conchydong]

Ideally a router with a bit designed for aluminum would give you a nice edge but it would probably be cost prohibitive. I'd probably hit it with a grinder first and finish with a file.

[oc1]

Sounds like a good time to invest in a belt sander.  You'll find a million uses.  They start at about fifty bucks.

[Benni3]

I have done this alot,,, just take some 180 sandpaper and hand sand the edges,,,,gloves help sometimes,,,,,