Hilt work

[cal-k]

almost all my knives have a hilt made of plate brass or aluminum. i get it anywhere from 1/4'' to 1/2'' thick, then cut it out on the bandsaw. now here's the problem: that hunk of aluminum is very square and doesn't look much like a hilt, so i am rounding it off and shaping it with a woodrasp and Bastard Files. As you can imagine this takes quite awhile, and the elbows don't like it much. any suggestions on how to shape aluminum or brass easily?
thx

[MRobb]

Maybe a belt sander? I haven't worked with aluminum yet, so I'm not sure how it would do. I'm guessing ok. Mine works well for wood, steel & brass.

[Rob Browne]

Belt sander BUT carefully. Aluminium is very soft and the sander will bite in quickly if you are not careful.

[David Einhorn]

Please keep in mind that Thermite is 23.7% aluminium and 76.3% iron oxide, not a good combination for safety in one's shop.

[belargehair]

The steel shop I used to work in always kept the aluminum and steel separate. We had an aluminum room in a whole different area. I think the forman used to tell me that it was due to the possibility of fire.

[Robert Mayo]

Please keep in mind that Thermite is 23.7% aluminium and 76.3% iron oxide, not a good combination for safety in one's shop.

I used to use aluminum for fittings until a few years ago when i found out about thermite and have not used it since. Now i use brass,copper, bronze, steel and wrought iron. I use files and different size drum sanders to shape them.

Bob Edited November 14, 2008 by Robert Mayo
More info

[cal-k]

i hadn't heard of thermite till now, so i looked it up, pretty crazy stuff. I don't think ill worry much though; i've been grinding iron outside and file aluminum inside for two years now, and nothin's blown up (yet)

[orgtwister]

the iron in thermite is positive charged iron witch is made by positively charging the iron in a water solution then after it rusted they scrap it off about 15 miles from there is a place that makes it i used to pick up hazerdest wast at the facility and you cannot ignite it with a spark you need the ribion fuse to ignite it you can check ebay they sell every thing on there to make it the main use the use it around here is they weld train tracks joints with it using a mold around the track thermite when it does ignite is very interesting i have seen it burn through a hood of a junk car stright through the motor and to the ground

[Rich Hale]

YOu can actually forge aluminum into a guard shape and brass also,,some brass does not do well under heat and hammer

[ThomasPowers]

They may make the iron positively charged to produce the iron oxide they use; but the oxide itself is *not* positively charged.

[azIRonSmith]

Yes, you can forge the right kind of brass easily in your gas forge. You just have to keep an eye on the color and not let it get too hot or forge it too cold.

Aluminum is a little harder since it kinda goes from aluminum to liquid aluminum rather quickly in a standard gas forge. You don't really see heat color like you do with steel.

Of course the next thing you could do with liquid aluminum is to cast it into a hilt form but that gets into a whole other ballpark of issues. ;-)

If you have a metal mill and lathe, you can machine aluminum and brass quite easily.

[jimbob]

almost all my knives have a hilt made of plate brass or aluminum. i get it anywhere from 1/4'' to 1/2'' thick, then cut it out on the bandsaw. now here's the problem: that hunk of aluminum is very square and doesn't look much like a hilt, so i am rounding it off and shaping it with a woodrasp and Bastard Files. As you can imagine this takes quite awhile, and the elbows don't like it much. any suggestions on how to shape aluminum or brass easily?
thx

your using the wrong tool to do the work. You need a Vixen file
here's a link Nicholson