Aluminum Moulding -Hate it or hate it?

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QuinnFarley

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Nov 27, 2024
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Sandy, Utah
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Professional Framer
The shop I work at has easy to use and reliable wood moulding cutting and joining equipment. Wood frames, no problem! For aluminum, we have a basic DeWalt chop saw and with a metal blade (but with no inch measurement tick guides or clamps to keep aluminum still when cutting). That's led to countless headaches on my part going back years. Personally, I hate all things aluminum because of that. I cringe at any aluminum orders and steer customers away from metal whenever I can. Is this just me or do some of you also hate aluminum? If not, what metal moulding cutting system works for you? I'm desperate! We're getting an order from the local university soon for 25 30x40 aluminums!
 
I don't sell metal frames a whole lot. I have my own dislike for them.

When I sell them, I order chop. No headaches. For an order you mention, I would order chop and not deal with the problem of a cutting system that is less than professional.
You can change the blades in whatever you use to cut the wood moulding if your shop insists on cutting your own.
 
We do the chops, too. There are so few metal frames left that we no longer display them on the regular walls. They are hidden, but available if someone comes in to match an old one. (if not discontinued)

Metal is no longer the entry level choice. We can get folks into a decent wood moulding for a lot less, if they are a bargain hunter :)
 
What kind of wood saw set up do you have?

Can you mount the metal blade onto the wood saw?

25 large frames is worth some set up time.
 
Your distributor should offer "length price" on a chop order that size. That's a 300'+ order.
 
We sell some sectional aluminum moulding based on chop pricing.
However, we draw the line at doing anything involving Spacers.
Out fitters do not deserve the headache.
In cases like that we upsell the client to a closed cornered welded aluminum frame.
 
I’m using a reliable old DeWalt with a clamp that works perfectly, and I built an outrun measuring guide with a taped-on scale. Also designed a production stop. I can cut up to 48 inches. Aluminum is great: always defect-free, no dust, no glueing, easy offcut storage, lengths are always 10 feet. Fitting seems to be easier, too.

Years ago I bought a pile of discontinued stuff for 30 cents/foot, and it stores easily, doesn’t deteriorate, and when I can use it, it works.
 
Don't forget it has scrap value also. The question as to what is being used to cut wood is a good one.
 
Todd Evans said:
We sell some sectional aluminum moulding based on chop pricing.
However, we draw the line at doing anything involving Spacers.
Out fitters do not deserve the headache.
In cases like that we upsell the client to a closed cornered welded aluminum frame.
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Hi, Todd. Welcome, to the Grumble! :)
 
wpfay said:
Your distributor should offer "length price" on a chop order that size. That's a 300'+ order.
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This is definitely worth asking about.

Also, if fit with acrylic (I hope), see a plastic supplier for a good price and ask them about cutting to size. You can't beat their $100,000 plastic cutting machines.

tedh said:
Aluminum is great: always defect-free, no dust, no glueing, easy offcut storage, lengths are always 10 feet. Fitting seems to be easier, too.
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I would be a happy guy making all my frames with metal. Once you're in the grove it's easy as Saskatoon Berry Pie. 🇨🇦
 
DVieau2 said:
What kind of wood saw set up do you have?

Can you mount the metal blade onto the wood saw?

25 large frames is worth some set up time.
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We have a Prisma Maxi machine by the Italian company, Brevetti. It's good with twin 2-phase motors. I guess it's an easier upsell to the shop owner to ask for two new metal blades rather than an upgrade to a dedicated aluminum chop saw situation. Won't hurt to ask. Thanks.
 
I hate everything about it! I just finished 8. I hide the samples in the back under a table but once in a while someone really wants them.
 
I have the same model Brevetti and it certainly can cut aluminum with the right blade, but keep in mind that on a job of that scale you will need to be lubricating the blades manually (unless you add a system for that) and you will need to clean the saw of the lubricant when you switch back to wood or you will get all kinds of build up on the inside of the cabinet and dust extraction hoses. Then there's all the aluminum chips to deal with.

One more thing. For years there have been scammers, mostly Nigerian, that order 25 30" X 40" "Shiny Gold" metal frames that they pay for with stolen Credit Card numbers and the framer ends up losing because they ship the frames before the card is scrutinized, and they get charged back. The business is done through a series of emails. Some of the other posters to this thread can confirm that.
 
It's definitely going to be easier to convince the owner to get two metal blades than a whole new set up. If you don't have a lubricate spray system on the saw and don't think you will be cutting just a whole bunch of metal in the future, you can just use a spray bottle of lube or a spray can of silicone. You will have to spray the blades fairly often, but it cuts down on the residue.
 
Some of the more recently-introduced profiles, colors, and finishes are much more interesting and less dated than the "traditional" metal mouldings. Although they are definitely not the "low priced alternative" that metals used to be, they provide some good design alternatives. I have always ordered metals as chops, because cutting them is messy and noisy. Plus, the little aluminum flakes the saw produces are awfully close to the dreaded GLITTER.
:popc: Rick
 
We have 1 Pistorius double mitre saw for wood, and one for Aluminum.
The only difference is the blades.
Changing them about once a week would be a hassle.

Before we purchased the second Pistorius, we cut Aluminum on a table saw with a large mitre jig.
It works similar to how a Frame Square saw works.
The cuts are very accurate, but any rip out happens on the side of the frame, so we needed to file the edges.

We usually order chops for any painted finished aluminum, or small quantity orders, but we stock less expensive OEM Aluminum frames.
 
wpfay said:
I have the same model Brevetti and it certainly can cut aluminum with the right blade, but keep in mind that on a job of that scale you will need to be lubricating the blades manually (unless you add a system for that) and you will need to clean the saw of the lubricant when you switch back to wood or you will get all kinds of build up on the inside of the cabinet and dust extraction hoses. Then there's all the aluminum chips to deal with.

One more thing. For years there have been scammers, mostly Nigerian, that order 25 30" X 40" "Shiny Gold" metal frames that they pay for with stolen Credit Card numbers and the framer ends up losing because they ship the frames before the card is scrutinized, and they get charged back. The business is done through a series of emails. Some of the other posters to this thread can confirm that.
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Your timing with this is absolutely bizarre! We got an email only yesterday with a guy asking if we can do 35 30x30 aluminum frames! We gave him a bid, but now we'll have FULL watchfulness on this. Thank you!
 
Call me crazy, but in 30 years of framing, I always cut wood, plastic, and aluminum mouldings on the same blades; 100 tooth, triple-chip, carbide-tipped. Always with good results, but you need to have the blades sharpened a little more often; maybe after about 100 frames (800 miter cuts).
 
We had separate blades for wood and metal. We sometimes cut metal with the wood blades, but only if it was one metal frame in a group of wooden frames. You probably spent more getting the blades sharpened more frequently than the cost of a set of metal cutting blades. We only had our wood cutting blades sharpened maybe every 200 frames or so.
 
Ylva said:
When I sell them, I order chop. No headaches. For an order you mention, I would order chop and not deal with the problem of a cutting system that is less than professional.
You can change the blades in whatever you use to cut the wood moulding if your shop insists on cutting your own.
Click to expand...

Bingo.
 
Mike Labbe said:
We do the chops, too. There are so few metal frames left that we no longer display them on the regular walls. They are hidden, but available if someone comes in to match an old one. (if not discontinued)

Metal is no longer the entry level choice. We can get folks into a decent wood moulding for a lot less, if they are a bargain hunter :)
Click to expand...
You know when I started framing back in the early 1980s there wasn't a whole heck of a lot of choices you had for affordable molding other than aluminum. I mean there were a few pricey aluminum molding companies around back then but we could always find a third party company that gave us good a good deal on the three basic colors. But like I said this was twenty years before Universal molding came on line and leveled the playing field, so back then anything other than aluminum molding and your customer was going to get a bad case of sticker shock fever as they ran out the front door of the framing studio screaming. But on the production end of it we have two sets of saw blades we use for cutting aluminum and they are kept razor sharp so the cuts are always nice and clean, and we recycle the scrap so if a customer wants it I sell it to them without any hesitation at all because if I'm making a sale, then I'm good with that.
 
framah said:
The one time I had that email, i gave them a bid of $3,000 per frame.
Never heard back.
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Yes, but obviously your overhead is quite high in Degobah. I imagine the shipping (and lead times!) are quite high.
 
Bruce Papier said:
We had separate blades for wood and metal. We sometimes cut metal with the wood blades, but only if it was one metal frame in a group of wooden frames. You probably spent more getting the blades sharpened more frequently than the cost of a set of metal cutting blades. We only had our wood cutting blades sharpened maybe every 200 frames or so.
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Yes, but, labor is one of, if not the highest, costs...
 
Had one of those 30 frame orders a few years ago. Spent some time looking up the name (thanks Linkedin!) found a phone number and called the cardholder. Needless to say, he knew nothing about any frame order, but appreciated the heads up that his card was being used for fraud.
 
Got a letter from the IRS today. They wanted me to verify my identity and answer if I had filed my 2024 tax return, as an Identity Theft precaution. They said that they would not send any refund or apply overpayments to my '25 return unless I confirmed I had in fact filed my return. I had not... (filed an extension). If only the fraudster knew how much they would actually have had to pay! :smileyshot22:
 
LarryB said:
Had one of those 30 frame orders a few years ago. Spent some time looking up the name (thanks Linkedin!) found a phone number and called the cardholder. Needless to say, he knew nothing about any frame order, but appreciated the heads up that his card was being used for fraud.
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We had a similar situation.
We reported it to the credit card company, who cancelled the card.
 
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