Cutting steel plate

On Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:48:51 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Grant Erwin quickly quoth:

I saw the metal-cutting table saw at HF today, on sale for $80. That leaves only a 1/8" kerf and is likely MUCH quicker.

-- The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man. -- Euripides

On Wed, 03 Sep 2008 19:01:44 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Winston quickly quoth:

Again, please, in English this time.

-- The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man. -- Euripides

And a lot noisier.

Winston wrote: ...

And watch where those red-hot chips are flying. You can set something on fire! BTDT

Bob

I gotta say , my $75 pawnshop portaband (with mods for vert use) is quieter than my mill , gives less waste , and is lots quicker ...

What kind of mill do you have?

I picked up an RF45 clone a couple of months ago (gear drive , square dovetail column , 9X32 bed and 800 pounds) . Biggest my limited space (well , and budget) would allow . You would not believe what I got stuffed into my

8 X 12 foot shed ... pretty much a complete mini-machine shop .

I say, Larry old chap.

Your selection of portable circular saw struck me as the sort of tool that would be useful and decorative.

I found myself thinking "why, if I needed to cut up some

6 x 6 lumber in one pass, this would be a most efficient way to do it."

Well done, old boy!

--Winston

On Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:54:49 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, Ignoramus27629 quickly quoth:

Obviously, a slow and noisy one. Prolly a Harley on a stand with a collet holder or chuck welded onto the rear sprocket. ;)

-- Who is wise? He that learns from every One. Who is powerful? He that governs his Passions. Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody. -- Benjamin Franklin

On Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:38:53 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Winston quickly quoth:

You said all that in two words? What language is that, Winston?

P.S: Thank you.

P.P.S: More Power!

-- Who is wise? He that learns from every One. Who is powerful? He that governs his Passions. Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody. -- Benjamin Franklin

I have a cheap Black & Decker 7 1/4" circular saw I have used for years with an abrasive blade for cutting steel. I think I bought the saw at K-Mart for

29.95. 17 years ago. I never put a wood blade in that saw. All I use it for is quick portable steel cuts. I don't know how long the blades would last doing thicker stuff, but I have cut tons of lighter angler up 1/4" and C-channel upto 4" with it.

Bob La Londe

Interesting. I have been using an fiber re-enforced abrasive blade in my

14" chop saw. They seem to last about the best of anything and cut ok. How would one of these blades compare for speed? Is the durability enough to make up for the cost. I mean would they last as long as 5 fiber abrasive disks? 10? 20?

Do they need to be cooled with liquid? The local metal yard where I occasionally buy a few pieces of steel has what looks like a 20" blade that they keep cool with a white milky liquid that is recollected and filtered below the feed table.

Bob La Londe

This is similar to how I cut 2x4s. I lay on them with a belt sander until it sands right through.

-21

My first choice would be the 4x6 bandsaw. You can use it in the vertical position with the auxilary table for longer cuts as long as the width of the offcut doesn't exceed the width of the throat. Not fast but less taxing than a long hacksaw session would be. My HF cost about $90 after discount and coupon, well worth it 8 years ago.

Stan

Mine too, as long as I know that it's mild steel without hardened spots. Second choice is the abrasive chop saw which will cut or at least not be damaged by hard steel. The cheap discount-store wheel on it chokes at about 1" wide steel. Angle cuts well with the corner up but not with one leg flat.

I used to think that the abrasive saw was better for thin tubing until I tried cutting 3/4" conduit with a 14TPI blade on the bandsaw. I lowered the head by hand slowly rather than using the counterbalanced feed.

Making straight cuts in steel with a hacksaw isn't all that much effort for most folks. Your cut probably would've gone quicker with a sharp blade and fewer teeth per inch for 1/2" plate/bar.

Making a few cuts per day isn't so bad, but when you get involved in other projects that require lots of material to be cut, hand sawing gets to be too tedious. That's when you'll appreciate the 4x6 bandsaw that several others have recommended.

It's like having an obedient helper involved in the project.. so you can drill, weld assemble or do other procedures while the saw just hums away, getting the other materials ready.

WB ......... metalworking projects

...

It's pidgeon Kazakh, a highly compressed dialect.

The phrase 'Borat liiiiike' can only be translated as:

1) "Say, she's rather nice!" 2) "I say, Larry old chap. Your selection of portable circular saw struck me as the sort of tool that would be useful and decorative. I found myself thinking "why, if I needed to cut up some 6 x 6 lumber in one pass, this would be a most efficient way to do it.""

As you can imagine, the second definition is rarely employed.

--Winston

Nah , they went belt drive in the late 80's ...

Many thanks to all those who provided helpful suggestions, even those who ignored the $200 limit :-)

To summarize:

1) Hacksaw with a lower tooth count - agreed wholeheartedly! Would you believe that on the day in question there was no blade with less than 18 tpi in town? I have since learned to hoard consumables. Also agree that for more than an occasional cut this would get very old very quickly.

2) Abrasive disk - with many reservations but costwise very attractive: One can often pick up old circular saws in garage sales and dedicate them to this job.

3) Tenryu or similar blade. This piqued my interest. I e-mailed one of the dealers. The Tenryu site was not exactly clear what kind of thickness these blades can cope with - many were listed with outright limits such as 1/8" or 1/4". I am not sure that I got a clear answer but the implication was that the right sort of blade would cut in a circular saw up to 1" thickness without a worm drive. I shall look into this further.

4) Porta-band - although the method of making 8" cuts in a plate remains unclear. I shall probably get one just for the hell of it and because I have not bought a major tool for at least two weeks.

5) Stationary band saw if you live in the USA. Nothing here under $300.

I am eternally grateful that I live in the age of the internet and have access to this group.