Tubing notching

I haven't used the unit in question, I do have a lot of production experience with the technique. The unit clips the bottom side of the tube using a die the same diameter as the mating tube. This means full support on the bottom (outside) of the tube.

The big issue is fitup: A notcher does not give the full fitup that a hole saw rig will. Is it good enough for you? Open question. For certain you will have a flat end that will need to be hammered flat against the mating tube before.

Life expectancy is an open question. Rockwell 62 is more than hard enough to handle the tube, you need to ask the questions about clearances, precision, etc. If the tool is anything at all, I'd guess that wear would not be an issue for the first several roll cages. You are only talking a few hundred cuts.

We build full tubing frames with 1" and 1-1/4" tube (small off road buggies) A roughing mill in a bridgeport or mill/drill is really nice. Allows precise cuts, rework is a breeze. We switched to a hole saw rig, works ok, all rework for better fit is hand grinding. Using the notcher in conjuntion with a proper sized sanding head is fast and easy. Suspect you will not like the fitup you get with the notcher without some sort of secondary sanding/grinding. But it sure gives you a nice start.

big e lewis wrote:

It notches one side at a time. I bought one of those for South Seattle, and it worked fine, as long as you had it set correctly. It is designed for pipe, not thin wall tube. They are very popular with fence installers.

The one we have in the race shop is about 12 years old. Still works like a charm. I would hate to use anything else.

Gee, 3 answers:

Sorta OK Piece of Junk Works like a charm

Someone needs to break the tie