Any advice on cutting square tube?

[zoama]

IF you want a good one for a cheap price, here is the one I bought to use. (and subsquently loaned out my taiwan made HF to a friend). The metal never moves to cut angles. That's a space and time saving feature. The head does and it has a nice cam tightening vice. After having the kind you have to swing the metal all around its very nice, and angle cuts are made accurately with a degree by degree scale and pointer. The ONLY complaint is that the idler wheel is a bronze bushing instead of a bearing...But the guides and everything are much heavier. I think the bushing is oil impregnated, but I put a shot of lithium up there every once in a while anyway. So far no problems...Oh and when/if you get it, it can be coaxed to cut 6 inches. http://www.agrisupply.com/product.as...6103&sid=&eid=

Could you post a few pics of that saw when you get a chance? I plan on buying one soon.
Looks a lot like this Sealey but I'm sure there are some differences.

[performance]

That's a version of it to be sure. But I can't find any central US source. I'm pretty sure it isn't cheaper than the Agri supply unit. The only difference I see is the switch, which could have been easily changed in the new units. When I bout mine I paid 169.00. They quickly raised it to 229.

[zoama]

That's a version of it to be sure. But I can't find any central US source. I'm pretty sure it isn't cheaper than the Agri supply unit. The only difference I see is the switch, which could have been easily changed in the new units. When I bout mine I paid 169.00. They quickly raised it to 229.

The one in my pic sells for about 280p or $450usd in the UK.

[everlastsupport]

Tom, you have a link to the one you bought.

Any of these http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&key...sl_ylhpb7c1d_b

[Steve]

Most of the feedback drives me to think that a saw is the way to go - I just don't have a chop saw or a metal bandsaw.

I had been thinking that I'd make a wood template that I could clamp on the tube so that I'd get a straight cut across all the angles. I had thought that there might be an issue with starting since starting on the edge would give the entire height of the tubing.

Do you have a wood miter saw? You can get metal cutting abrasive blades for them and it does work pretty good. The abrasive blades cost about 12 bucks and work pretty darned good.
I was using a DeWalt 12 inch compound miter saw with one of those abrasive blades and it made some pretty accurate cuts. You have to watch though as the plastic sawdust guard on the back of so many miter saws will melt. All you have to do it take it off.

I've cut tons of metal with that DeWalt and it is just as good as any chop saw I've ever had.

[sportbike]

Thanks Steve
Sears still has those evolution saws on sale and over the holiday you get free shipping. I got one comming for $279. with tax.
You can never have too many tools.

have fun
Tom

We had one of those at work. It was ok for cutting since it has metal guards and reduced issues with clogging. We have found that a 7" commercial worm drive saw from sears seems to work the "best". We typically cut thick aluminum plate (1-2" thick). We also have a Milwaukee plate saw similar to what they have at Lowes / Homedepot (on a vertical stand with roller guides) that does the job fairly well (not a budget item mind you). Believe it or not, my uncle introduced me to the use of a carbide wood cutting blade, called a piranha blade, by black and decker, to cut black pipe when installing gas lines. The teeth have a sort of hook on them and there were 440T on a 7.25" blade. He just used it in his regular circular saw and cut away.

Edit: Looks like they still make the blades.. http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-7.../dp/B00006FRPH

[Jason]

I usually always just use the chop saw unless its a really wide piece. If its too wide for the chop saw then its whatever is quickest being its a grinder, torch or plasma.

[EmptyNester]

So, I got lots of great advice. I ended up ordering an Evolution Fury 3 (8 1/2" compound sliding mitre saw). The chop saw looked like it would do more cuts per blade, but I wanted to be able to do mitre cuts. I got it from Amazon in time to use this weekend (Amazon Prime is a great thing.)

I got to fire it up today. I was cutting mostly 14 ga. 1 1/2" tube and some 3/16" 2" tube. It did a good job with both, but it seemed that the 3/16 made it work a little harder. (It was hard to find, but in the manual said the "ideal" cut was on 1/8" mild steel.) It's a pretty clean cut, but does need a little touch up.

The manual is somewhat lacking. It comes with a dust collector bag and a plug for the dust collector. I assumed that you should use the plug when cutting metal. If you do that, you really do need a full face shield when cutting metal. It pelts you pretty well and you really get it if you're to the left of the handle.

The saw itself is light weight. I don't expect it will take a lot of abuse, but not unreasonable for a $150 saw with its capabilities.

Thanks for the help everybody.

[acourtjester]

HI Sorry I was out of town over the weekend.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...3&blockType=G3

[bobwills]

If i was you i would go with angle iron. It has plenty of strength for your application and it is way cheaper

[Jason]

The face shield is a good tip. Using the chop saw I usually do not have any face/eye protection on as I should or gloves. In fact, I often grab the grinder without any of this also which a bad idea. The pieces that fly back don't go un-noticed hitting your arms or hands either. I imagine the miter saw is worse than a chop saw but I could see where it could be more useful on wide cuts.

[EmptyNester]

If i was you i would go with angle iron. It has plenty of strength for your application and it is way cheaper

Gabe,

Thanks for the feedback (I just got back from vacation.)

I went with the square tube because I looked at the projects page and found a design I liked. It was still cheaper than buying one and seems a lot stronger. I'll post pics to the project page when I get a chance.

Rege

[bobwills]

welcome. And good look forword to seeing what it looks like. Cause I am gonna build one sometime for when i get my powerarc 200 and been looking for some good ideas.

[EmptyNester]

Gabe,

I posted pictures in the "Hobyist Projects" sub-forum of the "Projects" forum. It's similar to others I've seen on the forums here.

Rege

[MigPlazArc]

I would use a chop saw or a mitre saw with a metal cutting blade. If you use a plasma cutter, mark your cut with a square and then use a straight edge to guide you... Also, just use enough amps to get through one side of the metal. I would do a test cut first.

Remember to consider the distance between the plasma flame and the edge of your tip.

[Trip59]

Someone mentioned a base to convert a port-a-band style saw to a horizontal bandsaw type setup. I've been googling and not really found much useful info. Anyone have a resource they've seen? I tacked it on this thread since it pulled from and was related to the posts and topic, but mods, feel free to split it or I can repost it elsewhere.

[everlastsupport]

Search our forums. Here is the first one I found.

http://www.everlastgenerators.com/fo...hlight=bandsaw

[Trip59]

I must be searching wrong... Thanks Mike!

[everlastsupport]

Nah, not you, for some reason most web forums have a weak search. Always "Go advanced" and select all and try two words, the search box is almost useless for searching

[trickbiker]

Nah, not you, for some reason most web forums have a weak search. Always "Go advanced" and select all and try two words, the search box is almost useless for searching

As for me in cutting square tubing I use a chop saw for a good square cut. Mickey