Originally Posted by
YZF
I'm not an expert and this is just my opinion :)
1/32" of an inch cuts in aluminum sounds too heavy. I think steel is out of the question. In theory lighter and lighter cuts and smaller tools can reduce the cutting forces but in practice there's only so far you can go before your tool will just bounce of the surface you're cutting. Even if you can cut the finish and tool life will suffer. The accuracy will also be questionable.
A lot depends on the exact construction, the rails etc. Metal working machine are usually massive pieces of steel (steel is about x100 stiffer than MDF).
With very careful construction you may be able to cut aluminum using very light cuts, I think steel is not possible, never built an MDF machine myself though...