metal chop saw?

oxy/acetylene torch,

Well the absolute fastest way would be to wrap them with det cord and pull the pin on the detonator. BUT that way can be a bit NOISY..

Probably the next fastest would be to bundle cut them in the band saw. Or set up the ironworker with a V die and a stop.

Triton make a *very* neat one. It's about 2-3 x the cost of an abrasive chopsaw, but I have seen a demo, it's just as fast, much cleaner, quieter and gives a much nicer cut. But, I think it's limited to about 45 x 45 mm, and you cannot feed any bigger stock into it, as a safety guard/clamp comes down over the metal, before the blade starts to cut.

Barry Lennox

And it tends to swage the ends of the tubing quite badly.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

You could, but the blade would wear pre-maturely. An abrasive chop saw turns at about 3800RPM, vs. about 1300RPM for the dry-cut saw.

Grant, You've had lots of responses here and I'm sure you will have found the solution you want. If you go with bundled stock on a bandsaw it can work very well. Just make sure that the bundle is tight, as was mentioned. This is important because the vibration can wear the blade pretty fast. If you go with a chop saw then a very fast method of clamping is to use air operated clamps. You can use either a switch and solenoid valve or just a valve that is the same form as a limit switch. MSC sells these. And lots of other places of course. Set it up to keep fingers out of the way, make sure the clamp does not open up far enough to trap a finger. And make sure that if there is no stock in the clamp it can't close down far enough to squeeze a finger(s). I have a switch setup that I put on the quill stop on the bridgeport to open and close various clamping devices. It saves tons of time. ERS

Is that the one with the "15 amp/4.0 HP" motor :)

Laurie Forbes

In addition to the speed differential, the abrasive chop saw motors are usually smaller and would likely be underpowered. You'd burn it up under load.

John P.

No, not "Cold Saw", What he is describing is called a "Dry-Cut Saw".

A cold saw uses a high speed steel blade, flood coolant, and costs at least $2500.

Dry-cut saws use a carbide tipped saw blade that uses C-6 carbide teeth to cut steel and anything else, and they cost under $500.

This is the exact one that I own:

This is the one I would buy today, knowing what I know now: The reason I'd go with the DeWalt is that it has the Quick-lock vise and 45° tool-free pivoting fence.

John P.

Thanks! It is out of my price range, but I would like to know how long would a carbide blade last under normal conditions.

i

Interesting. So a blade with that many teeth (seems not extremely fine) will cut through thin verticals like the square tubing without getting upset?

Yep - when I'm not using it, it's sending all that free excess energy back into the electrical grid, and I get credits :)

I cut a bunch of 2" square tubing with it (.120" wall), and also a bunch of

2" flat stock (about 1/16" thick - cut vertically), and it did just fine.

I was just searching Sears web for the "Twin Cutter" - the counter rotating metal cutting saw. I suppose they ran out or took them off the market.

That if available - might be a solution. No kickback and a hand held (lots of work maybe) cutoff tool. Maybe I went to the wrong web - went to sears not Craftsman.com...

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

Ernie Leimkuhler wrote:

Yep - got one of them, too :) Nice saw, but not for a lot of repetitive work. Also, not good for anything but 90° cuts. If you try cutting a 45°, one blade will bite first, and yank the saw out of your hands.

Yep. I was talking about a wood miter saw. Didn't grok we were talking about a different animal.

Peter

Shaped charges? A pair on each side of the bundle?

Definitely just as fast, and probably a cleaner cut than detcord...

(Watched the Loizeaux brothers rig and drop enough buildings on Discovery Channel that I could probably do one myself if you weren't in a rush.... The fun ones to watch were done by others that DIDN'T drop as planned, and then they go back and dissect why.)

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Grant, I talked to the welder at our maintenance shop because he has both the DeWalt with the steel cutting blade and a heavy duty bandsaw. He said they both have good and bad points. He likes using the DeWalt on aluminum or on pieces that he needs a straight cut. The bad part is that it is loud cutting through metal and only one piece can be cut at a time. The bandsaw works great for stacking pieces and it is quieter, but the cuts are not usually as square as using the chop saw. Mike

Good info.

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

Tom Lawrence wrote: