Hi all, I am toying with the idea on getting a reciprocating saw dewalt DW309K which looks a good tool.

Has anyone used a similar saw on 25mm box, looking for quick, accuracy and quite cuts for the acute angles I already have a band saw and a Tungsten tipped chop off saw all are very good but will not do all of the angles in a chassis build.

Thanks
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How bigs the band saw? Surely that can do all you need and more? If you can get a 45º cut you can do any angle.

What's wrong with a hacksaw and a bit of elbow grease?

NOWT !

i dont think a recip is the tool you are looking for, they are for rough cutting not accurate in the least.

if you want accute cuts then either the angle grinder or use a detchable bed on your band saw (assuming its not an upright bandsaw)


Russ.

I am not looking for accuracy thats the band saws job but it takes ages to change the angle setting so I bought a Dewalt DW872 Tungsten Carbide Tipped saw which is excellent for changing the mitre angle but is very noisy, I was thinking of the reciprocating saw as a happy medium when accuracy is not so important and its a little late.

turn the radio right up to cover the noise!

A reciprocating saw isn't exactly quite. I've got one, I wouldn't use it for anything other than rough cutting & it's every bit as noisy as the chop saw. (and it takes longer to cut & is therefore noisier for longer!)

[Edited on 7/8/06 by Mike R-F]

They are saws for hacking, rather than a hacksaw. Good for demolition, lopping branches off trees, and so on.

By the time you've taken up your bit of steel tube, clamped it and attacked it with this saw, you might just as well have gone at it with a hacksaw. If I'm doing a rough cut I can get through a bit of 25mm square in 30 seconds, using a coarse blade (I have 2 hacksaw frames - on with a fine blade for precision cuts on steel tube, and another with a coarse blade for rough cuts and thick/soft materials).

David

I post this every time this comes up......

What I do:

Quick, dirty, noisy and expensive way:

Mark tube on two adjacent sides,
Clamp tube in vice so you can see the two marked sides with the cut line horizontal and the tube angling away from you,
Push thin slitting disc on small grinder through tube, just above marked line. If you brace your lower hand on the vice you can cut quite accurately.
Polish back to line and make cut face flat with a poly fan abrasive disc, checking by eye and or angle gauge.

Slow, clean, and cheap way:

Mark tube on four sides,
Clamp tube in vice.
Cut with hacksaw, turning tube over once you have cut the "top" and "front", so you can see the lines on the other faces .
Finish with file, checking with square and angle gauge.

Which method I use depends on the thickness of the material, time of day (noise factor) and if I have stock of discs.

What I find very useful is a carpenters angle gauge. This is a slotted block of plastic which has a pivoting steel blade secured with a wing nut. You can hold it into the area where you want the part to fit to set the angle, or set it with a protractor, and then use it to mark the tube and check it once cut. Stanly do a good one cheap.

Cheers

Fred WB

I used to use both your ways, then tried a cheap bandsaw which was ok but slow to cut and slow to set.

I now use a £75 abrasive chopsaw, which I spent some time accurately remarking the angle vice properly on. Now when you set it to my scribed lines, that is the angle it cuts. Very good tool, and the ONLY way to do exhaust tube. You can't cut that properly on a bandsaw, the blade wanders, as does a hacksaw blade.

I'd use a 4 1/2" angle grinder with a sliting disc in for round tube, use a length of thin card and wrap it around the tube and line up the edges, this gives you a very accurate line to cut to.

In fact i'd use this method for cutting box too, just mark out, then cut each side individually.

I get my best results with this tool. Few seconds for cutting, 30 seconds of a file work and ... voila !
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