metal chop saw?

On 1" tubing I'm pretty sure a chopsaw will be fastest. Also noisy and lotsa sparks. If you have to do a lot of them, set up a roller table and some type of stop and you should be able to whack "em out fairly quickly.

I'm back. I had a small piece of one inch tubing and on my chop saw I cut it in about 4 seconds. (not including deburring).

Is it a candidate for an automatic bandsaw? Not necessarily faster per cut than the chop saw, but less manual work.

Pete C.

I think a chop saw would be fastest for single pieces but the bandsaw might be better if you have it cutting one bundle of 18 or 24 while you assemble another.

jw

I agree...assuming the quantity is there, I'd tack weld one end of a bundle to keep em all moving together and band saw 16 or 20 at a time. Assuming the saw is reasonably good, there won't be enough blade wander to screw things up. A slightly compressable pad on the moving saw jaw would help compensate if the tolerance of the tubing is a little loose (making the bundle rattle a bit)

Koz

snipped-for-privacy@segway.com wrote:

A metal cutting chop saw will be the fastest way to do it, but I will make two recommendations:

1) You should invest in one with an actual metal blade. Not the abrasive chop saws that you find in the hardware stores and at harbor freight. The abrasive type will take longer, generate a lot of heat and dust, and drive you nuts after a lot of cutting. The metal blade chop saws, which will run $400-500 will go through the metal so fast that the parts you cut will be cool enough to pick up without a glove. 2) You should put together a stand with a material stop so that you can quickly slide the tube in to the stop and cut to the correct length every time. I'm referring to something like this: Just make sure that you put a clamp on it somewhere so that you can measure the length one time and set a stop for repeatability.

John P

That's interesting.

Can you post a link to an example of such a saw.

Thanks

i

Google "cold saw".

Steve

Oh, I see. I saw cold saws before, but did not realize that John was talking about them.

i

Having just changed out my DeWalt DW871

for a DeWalt DW872 , I can certainly attest to the latter's better performance.

I recently completed a project with 2" square tubing (.120" wall). I started with my abrasive saw (the 871), and it was taking about 30-45 seconds to cut a piece. I finished the project with the 872 (dry-cut saw), and cut-time was maybe 10 seconds per piece. Also - I could grab the freshly-cut end immediately after cutting. It was warm to the touch, but nowhere near hot enough to burn me (as opposed to the glowing-orange of the material cut in the abrasive saw).

I know you don't care about the finish of the cut for your application, but the pieces cut on the dry-cut saw need no grinding or finishing at all - the cut is as smooth as can be. Granted, you're talking about a $400 vs. a $150 saw, but it's already been worth the difference to me.

I still kep the abrasive saw around, mainly when I need to cut material on the flat (making 45° cuts in 2" flat stock, for example) - because the dry-cut saw doesn't like to that kind of task. It's very hard on the blade when more than a few teeth at a time are in contact with the work. I'd rather wear down a $8 cutting wheel than dull a $50 blade.

Bundle cutting in a large horzontal band saw is fast. Abrasive chop saw is fast and cheap to set up but consumables are mid range cost. Cold saw is very fast but not cheap to set up. Forget the OA torch and plasma cutter.

Ironworker (or 10 ton punch press) with proper dies is absolutely the fastest (a 'V' piercing blade into a saddle leaves a dimple in one side but runs as fast as the ironworker will cycle. Shove to stop, hit pedal, repeat).

If the pieces are l> I'm being asked to bid on a recurring job which involves making up a

Howdy Grant,

I concur with the idea of bandsawing 'em a bundle at a time.

Nevertheless, if you decide to buy an abrasive blade chop saw, I do have this observation to make.

I recently discovered that not all chop saws are created equal. At least five years ago I bought a Makita chop saw from my local welding supplier.

Quite a while later I bought another chop saw on ebay. I don't remember the brand of the second saw but it is one of the well known Japanese brands as I recall. I owned this second chop saw for probably a couple of years before I ever used it the first time.

Of interest is that the rpm, horsepower, amperage and other such details show to be identical on the data plates of the two saws.

But the similarity ends there. The Makita saw, which I have flogged mercilessly, will cut proverbial circles around the other saw. The difference is stunning.

So, if you go out and buy a chop saw, be careful which model and brand you buy. If there's a better saw out there than the Makita I haven't found it.

Vernon

What a very impressive product, claims of 4 HP at 15A/110V notwithstanding.

i

Yeah, note too, however, that the $50 blade won't last as long as the $8 wheel. He'll need to factor that into the cost.

Personally, I'm betting if he has a good sized bandsaw that his best bet is cutting a lot of tubes at one time on the bandsaw rather than going with either cold cut or chopsaw.

--Donnie

Yea - a moving table type - static blade - table holds heavy weight and moves into the saw.

A friend of mine in N. Ca - told me about one - used at UC Davis I believe.

Likely common - and available in auction at local (sad to say) ship building sell off.

Martin Martin Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net NRA LOH, NRA Life NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

snipped-for-privacy@segway.com wrote:

There's a difference between a cold saw (turns very slowly, uses lubricant/coolant to keep the work 'cold') and a dry-cut saw (which is just a carbide-tipped blade that turns slower than a chop saw, but faster than a cold saw)

Tom Lawrence wrote: ... I'd

Treat that blade nicely. It's at least *$100* to replace! Bob

Vernon wrote: ... If there's a better saw out there than the Makita I haven't

I have a neighbor who is a custom car builder (a Riddler Award winner) who went through a couple of Makitas and who now swears by the B&D

*Industrial* saw. Bob

Can I buy a cheap 14" chop saw and put one of the expensive blades on it?

GWE

Yes. That's what I've done. While it may not be optimal (I guess it beats the cheaper direct drive saws up), it does work well. I put a Morse blade on a Craftsman miter saw and it's very fast on tubing, needs little if any deburring and the tubing doesn't get hot. It's much faster than the abrasive blade I had on the same saw. To do what you want, I'd use this setup or a horizontal band saw with the tubing clamped or bundled so that you could cut a bunch at a time.

Peter