nik
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| posted on 11/3/02 at 08:01 AM |
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Cutting steel tubes
Hi!
How do you go about cutting the Steel tubes for the space frame? I guess you don't use a hacksaw to all of it.
Best regards,
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bob
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| posted on 11/3/02 at 08:49 AM |
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Nik
I've met people who have cut all the steel using a hacksaw,which is hard work.
I cheated and bought my chassis,but the easiest way is use a grinder on a cut off stand.
screwfix.com (0500414141)
sell them for 4 or 9inch grinders £15 to £25.
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Devilfish
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| posted on 11/3/02 at 08:51 AM |
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I cut mine with a Hacksaw - cheaper than going to gym, my wife was wondering how my right arm muscles were getting so large 
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James
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| posted on 11/3/02 at 10:08 AM |
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quote:
#
my wife was wondering how my right arm muscles were getting so large
That isn't just the consequences of not buying her a Valentines then?
;-)
James
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Devilfish
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 posted on 11/3/02 at 12:12 PM |
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I knew I was missing out on something whilst stuck in the garage.
ps Don't mention Valentines as I was away on business at the allocated time this year - managed to redeem myself by buying roses in Amsterdam airport
though.
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James
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 posted on 11/3/02 at 12:16 PM |
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Sounds like a good plan.
Bit like the mother's day flowers and card I bought late Saturday night whilst nipping into Safeway's for a pizza!
Personally I think leaving it to the last minute always works best...
James
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ewanspence
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| posted on 11/3/02 at 12:57 PM |
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I used a Black and Decker Scorpion saw . Cut through the tube like butter and a lot less noisy/messy than a grinder. (- cost around £50 though)
Ewan.
Ewan.
Visit the MegaGrip site :-
http://www.geocities.com/ewanspence/
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James
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| posted on 12/3/02 at 11:29 AM |
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quote:
I used a Black and Decker Scorpion saw
Was just looking at that on their webpage. I guess at 6500 strokes (ooh sir) per minute it does get through the tube pretty quick!
They've got a big circular saw thing at college for chopping stuff like tubing that allows angles to be measured/cut so I think I'll use that-
anything's gotta be better than getting Tennis Elbow from cutting a million joints by hand!
James
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Jon Ison
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| posted on 12/3/02 at 06:58 PM |
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hack saw ere 
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bigdaddyadd
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| posted on 12/3/02 at 07:58 PM |
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hacksaw to for half then cut the rest in the workshop with bandsaw which I got from machine saw for only £150.00 and doubles as chop saw excellent
value and I use it for all manner of commercial work
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Dunc
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| posted on 12/3/02 at 11:17 PM |
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I used a 9" angle grinder on a stand to cut the first load but then a purpose built machine for more accurate cuts. I tried a hacksaw, started out
straight but bend the further down I cut, that's when I went the angle grinder route. Cut the whole chassis in a morning. Great.
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locodude
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| posted on 12/3/02 at 11:48 PM |
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Hey
Big hairy arsed Yorkshiremen do it by hand, and the steel cutting!!!
Chris (lots of arse hair)
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Jon Ison
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| posted on 13/3/02 at 06:41 PM |
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nothing we dint know there then !!!!!
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theconrodkid
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 posted on 13/3/02 at 06:44 PM |
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I would have thought locodude would have used an axe!
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macdave69
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| posted on 13/3/02 at 06:47 PM |
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they have to do it by hand as you can't trust a yorkshireman with power tools
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interestedparty
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| posted on 15/3/02 at 11:28 AM |
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What you guys need is a Nobex mitre saw, the big one, costs about £100. Don't buy a cheap one. Also buy a mild steel cutting blade for it. I bought
two but haven't needed to change the blade yet and I'fve cut a lot of steel with it. With this amazing piece of kit you will be able to make
perfectly square cuts easily. You can set angles too. You can make cuts with better than 1mm accuracy for length, and it is easy to set it up for
repetition cuts. I will try to post a photo later, and details of where you can buy them. It's arm powered  but the kerf is thinner and
therefore easier than normal hacksaw  and you don't have to grip so hard to control the blade.
John
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JohnFol
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| posted on 15/3/02 at 01:14 PM |
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B&Q are doing chop saws for £50.
Not sure if you can use an angle grinders cutting disk with this type of saw, but if anyone can confirm . .?
FYI I got the metal supplier to do all the cuts as per the book. He ven labelled them up for me. Total cost inc VAT was £180
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stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 15/3/02 at 08:45 PM |
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quote:
quote:
I used a Black and Decker Scorpion saw
Was just looking at that on their webpage. I guess at 6500 strokes (ooh sir)
Yeah, but only a 10mm stroke.... 
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phil
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| posted on 16/3/02 at 09:17 AM |
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Just had a flyer for screwfix in the post,
special offer for a 9" angle grinder was £24.99 with a disc,it will come with a years guarentee so if lasts 1 year& 1 day it still seems good value.
9" angle grinder stand are £ 24.99
phil..
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interestedparty
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| posted on 16/3/02 at 09:03 PM |
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There are two aspects to cutting a piece of tube for use in chassis making,
one, actually cuting the metal, angle grinders will do this as will hand held hacksaws
two, getting the cut in the right place. This is where the two methods above fall down. A mitre saw with a suitable blade will make quick, accurate
cuts, repeatable for length and angle, and is a great aid in keeping the chassis square.
You can get the Nobex Champion for about £99 from Axminster Tool Co
www.axminster.co.uk They will send you a catalogue free 0800 3711822.
and the required ferrous blade for about £16 from the same firm. Expensive compared with angle grinders, I know, but well worth it, and when you've
built your car you can use it for making frames for the photos of your car.
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Jon Ison
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| posted on 17/3/02 at 06:32 PM |
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well, the hacksaw "cut it 4 me", scuse the pun
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ewanspence
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| posted on 28/3/02 at 11:00 AM |
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Just bought a new tool. A 9in grinder from Homebase £30 (normally 39.99 but I had a discount voucher). What a weapon. discs are a lot cheaper than I
thought. Screwfix steel discs are just over twice the price for a 5in grinder but obviously have a lot more than twice the life. Doesn't stall like
the small one when you overload it.
£30 well spent.
Ewan.
Visit the MegaGrip site :-
http://www.geocities.com/ewanspence/
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8smokingbarrels
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| posted on 2/4/04 at 10:43 PM |
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Thought Id bring this one back from the dead. Just wondering what everyone is using to cut their steel with?
Basically Im looking to cut steel tubing and RHS but just cant get the accuracy using hacksaws, angle grinders or saw bench (dont ask!).
The angle grinder stand sounds interesting - just wondering what results people have had using it- can u cut at different angles?
chris
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200mph
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| posted on 2/4/04 at 11:06 PM |
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did you actually read the thread??
hacksaw is fine on a budget, trust me. mitre saw (tenner from B&Q) good for compound angles.
heard varying things on grinder stand, so i went for a decent hacksaw.
Mark
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craig1410
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| posted on 2/4/04 at 11:13 PM |
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Chris,
I did all my chassis by hand using a hacksaw. I bought the grinder stand from Screwfix but I found it a bit flimsy and it means that you can't
work late into the evening without upsetting the neighbours. It also can't do compound mitre cuts (cuts angles in more than one plane) which you
can do with a bit of practise using the hacksaw. Fortunately there aren't too many compound cuts on the "book" chassis but there are
some.
Basically my process involved a small set square, a sharp scribe, a hacksaw with good quality blades (believe me there are good quality blades and
then there are GOOD quality blades) and a metal flat file. I would bet that after marking out the piece I could cut a 16swg 1" tube in not much
longer than it takes with a chop saw. Maybe 20 seconds per cut (accurately too)
For compound cuts I perfected a technique where I would cut each face of the tube individually but in such a way as to produce a smooth cut which
looked like it was done with a compound mitre saw. This takes a bit longer but as I said there aren't too many of these to do.
Hacksaw cutting is something of an art and to do it accurately requires that you stand in the correct position with your shoulder and elbow at the
right angle such that the saw moves in a straight line at all times. If you play snooker then you will know the sort of motion I am talking about as
it is a bit like moving a snooker cue. I usually cut the top face first then run down the front face and then use these two faces as a guide to slice
through the rest diagonally. It works for me every time and produces nice square ends in no time at all.
I would also recommend cutting tubes as you go rather than cutting everything in one go at the start. There is much less chance of making a total ar$e
of it this way as you spot mistakes much earlier and potentially save wasting 35m or so of steel!
Hope this helps,
Craig.
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