Cutting metal in general.

[bob_CBR]

So now I have a welder, I find that the only tool I own to cut metal is a angle grinder. Good for chopping bits up for a practise but in the near future, not ace for more accurate projects.

So, with limited funds what gives you the best bang for your buck. Lets say at most £150.

I was looking at cold cutting chop saws and they cost £150 upwards and the discs are very expensive.

Never used a fiber disc in a chop saw, how are they?

Band saw, i do not have the room for a massive piece of equipment like that. And the outlay is high.

Any other options.

Want to cut mild steel, 3" round pipe, 2" box section, walls not thinker than 4mm.

Any advice, as i have been reading about wasting your cash on chinese stuff and you get what you pay for. Maybe, i could pick something up second hand.

 

[Tin Can]

Hi
I am 'newbie' and in the process of kitiing out my garage/workshop. I brought a 'portable band saw' from Machine mart a couple of months ago HOWEVER I cant comment on its usefullness just yet as its still wrapped in its box at the back of the garage

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/p...th/power-hacksaws-bandsaws-metal-cutting-saws

Also, we use the saw you mentioned in our workshop, it does the job brilliantly but the noise is horrendus - good job were are on an industrial estate

Mark

 

[MrFluffy]

RIGID frame hacksaw and some all hard blades well in your budget and will cut anything with enough grunting

 

[Chipper]

Grinder+slitting discs is good, can be accurate with it. It's all I had for a time and made a tot rod, bike fuel tank, table, loads o'stuff with it.
Always had at least 2, saves a fair bit of faffing - one can have flap or fibre disc and the other for cutting.

Got a Rage sliding mitre saw for £99, the discs don't last massively long but are OK for DIY if you take your time, and the versatility of wood+ally has been very handy. It is loud - definitely ear defenders and visor needed.

Decent snips for sheet.
Had an air nibbler but found the half-moon chips a royal pain in the chuff...

 

[Smashy]

RIGID frame hacksaw and some all hard blades well in your budget and will cut anything with enough grunting

Tis true, thats what I have just done. Cutting the metal gets very tedious though, I had to cut 16 lengths in one go, each end needed a 45 degree cut, took nearly 3 hours as I was measuring, marking out with a scribe and then cutting each side as recommended here.

 

[Welderpaul]

A reasonable chop saw with abrasive discs would probably suit your needs for not a lot of cash. A decent Makita one or similar can be bought off ebay for around the 100 quid mark. A bit of time making sure the vice is set correctly will give you neat, square cuts with the minimum of cleaning-up of the cut required. The trick is not to force the blade into the cut - they tend to run out a bit if they are pushed. They are a bit noisy too, so ear defenders are a good idea. We've cut 80mm solid round in a chop saw before now, so they have a decent amount of power. Still use them on site quite regularly for cutting tube etc for the likes of Kee clamp handrails etc, they pull quite a lot of power on first start up - usually make the flouro lights go out for a few seconds

 

[bob_CBR]

Nice one.

So if I get one of those, do not use the welder, kettle, shower and chop saw at the same time.

I think the most important element is the long term cost. In this case blades. Looks like the abrasive disc route is the one i will be taking. Thanks Welderpaul.

Thank you all for you replies. Might have to wait until next month for the old funds to buy one. No rush as my welding is rubbish at the mo.

Now for the long ebay search. Let the hunt for one start.

Thank you all for your replies.

 

[Welderpaul]

We have a chop saw somewhere with a TCT blade in it. We paid 20 quid for the blade on ebay, its still going strong years later - saved us a fortune on abrasive discs, maybe worth looking out for one. Gives an almost mirror finish on the cut edges of flats etc.

 

[bob_CBR]

Really, I was looking at TCT blades and they cost lots of money. So, I thought that if they went blunt quickly then the cost would mount up with high amount of use.

So you are still cutting metal with the same blade years later. How much use does it get???

 

[bob_CBR]

Going to do some more research over lunch.

 

[NTwoO]

We have a chop saw somewhere with a TCT blade in it. We paid 20 quid for the blade on ebay, its still going strong years later - saved us a fortune on abrasive discs, maybe worth looking out for one. Gives an almost mirror finish on the cut edges of flats etc.

Do you cut Stainless with this set-up? This is without lubrication? Do you have a smaller TCT blade than the abrasive blade to lower the tip speed?

 

[Welderpaul]

Had it for around 4 years. Probably an average of 3 hours use a week. It's still sharp, and gets used by people who arnt so bothered about looking after my stuff. I think the name has come off the side of the blade, but i'll look next time to see if there are any markings on it.

 

[Welderpaul]

Do you cut Stainless with this set-up? This is without lubrication? Do you have a smaller TCT blade than the abrasive blade to lower the tip speed?

No, mild steel only - no lubrication. Just don't let the chips land on you!
Blade is 350 dia - same as the abrasive discs.

 

[bob_CBR]

Sold.

WOW, looking on youtube and TCT is the way forward.

And since they stay sharp, that's where my money is going.

 

[MrFluffy]

Tis true, thats what I have just done. Cutting the metal gets very tedious though, I had to cut 16 lengths in one go, each end needed a 45 degree cut, took nearly 3 hours as I was measuring, marking out with a scribe and then cutting each side as recommended here.

In case the hacksaw comment came across as glib and facetious, I was serious too, but yes they can be hard work but its good for the engineering soul
Im spoilt, in that I have lots of options right up to a 3 phase guillotine, but if Im stood at the vice and need to cut something in a controlled accurate way, I do often find myself reaching for a rigid hacksaw. For the money they cost it should come in as a definate second choice. And if youve ever tried cutting something like a m4 bolt down or forming a screw slot with a circular saw of some description you'll want to have a decent hacksaw about afterwards.
Also if I need to cut something off in the lathe I just slide on a piece of wood to protect the bed and use the hand hacksaw, no abrasive/power tools are going near my lovely old lathe...
I'd buy the fancy impressive looking whizzy tct bladed thingy, and while I was in there just pick up a sandvik or the like square framed hacksaw and a couple of good quality all hard hacksaw blades just as a safety net. Plus its pretty hard to loose a finger or something to a hacksaw when it goes wrong. About the worst injury Ive inflicted is bloody knuckles when punching the vice as a blade broke because the workpiece couldnt be mounted on the right hand side of the vice as best practice recommends...
If youve ever tried to cut a accurate straight line with a cheap hacksaw/blade, you'll understand why I specified quality

 

[gavuk]

I must say i've been tempted by the evoloution saws ,i discounted abrasive as too noisy and messy,i ended up with a 6x4 bandsaw and whilst the base is um lightweight ,with a bit of fettling i have accurate cuts and a ride on vertical bandsaw ,and happier neighbours ....the local steel stockist uses the heavier duty version like i've used at work,now we have a cold saw ,which at best is ok ,i prefer bandsaws....

 

[Marty2005]

I got one of the Evolution jobbies. Dead chuffed with it. I'm a hobbyist and it doesn't get used day in day out, so the horrendous noise it makes doesn't seem to upset the neighbours. Cuts clean with no de-burring needed. I've had it about a year and probably done a couple of hundred cuts on it. The blade is certainly getting blunt in that it's cutting noticeably slower than when new, but it's still a long way from needing sharpening/replacing. I've used a bandsaw and an abrasive chop saw at my night school welding class and I prefer my Evolution by a long chalk.

 

[pauld]

I also have an evolution chop saw (rage3 to be precise). Very happy with it, but like Marty, don't use it every day! Have used it for mild steel, wood, plastic trunking, all sorts. Is getting a little blunt, but still working fine. Might be different if I used it everyday, but I am very happy with it for the stuff that I do.

 

[Weldingartisan]

Had it for around 4 years. Probably an average of 3 hours use a week. It's still sharp, and gets used by people who arnt so bothered about looking after my stuff. I think the name has come off the side of the blade, but i'll look next time to see if there are any markings on it.

That must be one hell of a blade, I'd love to know the make. I use genuine Makita blades in a Makita TCT machine and they don't last that long with fairly careful use. Mind you if your swarf is coming off blue it must be fairly knackered. W/A