cutting tool?

admin

I currently am using a hand held 4.5" electric grinder with a variety of wheels for my needs...cutoff, grinding, sanding, wire wheel.  It is very messy and loud.  I used to have a portable band saw but the bearings stripped out and there were no replacement parts for the brand.  I am now using a recip saw with a metal blade for on-car and then lots of grinding to get pieces to fit right.  90% of what I do is off-car.I need to cut exhaust-type tubing (16 gauge or so) mostly mild steel but sometimes stainless, both on and off cars.  Fabricating intake pipes, exhaust pipes, coolant, etc.  Also 2x2 square tube, 1x1, 1" round, all DOM, up to 2" all in .120 wall thickness.As far as I understand, there are a couple options:1.  portable band saw2.  bench metal band saw horizontal or vertical3.  chop abrasive sawWhile it's not price-is-no-object, that's not the big concern.  Space is.  For the bigger tubing for chassis and frame stuff, the chop abrasive saw would be fine.  It's loud and messy but easy to carry 20 feet out the door with an extension cord and makes quick work.  But on the thin stuff like exhaust I am cutting out mandrel bends so the piece really should be clamped down for a very precise cut as it's going to have to mate to other pieces.So as I see it...1.  portable band saw...necessary for that on the car stuff.  But you can't really cut very precise/straight off-the-car.2.  chop saw is probably the cheapest and does the big stuff well but really takes too much metal out of the small stuff to get accurate cutting.3.  bench band saw is the most expensive and would do the best for the precise stuff but takes up a lot of space and isn't portable for on-car.  also hard to do big pieces with what space I have.can anyone think up any solutions?  i'm currently leaning towards staying with the recip for on the car and living with having to do a lot of grinding to get good fitment and purchasing the chop saw.  I think if I cut real slowly and I account for how much metal it is going to take away I can get pretty good cuts.
Reply:I would actually recommend a good bandsaw for doing cuts off vehicle...gives nice accurate cuts, clean and very efficient.  For on vehicle, I'd recommend a forward facing air cut-off tool like this one:http://www.eastwood.com/4-in-air-cut...d-reverse.htmlOr A good quality (read as good namebrand manufacturer [dewalt, porter cable, etc...]) porta-band.--Wintermute"No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience." - John Lockewww.improvised-engineering.comManufacturer Agnostic:Blood----------Sweat---------Tears----|------------------|----------------|----Lincoln Red, Miller Blue, Esab Yellow
Reply:That's pretty neat, unfortunately I don't think it would get in much of the spaces I have to work.  I removed the safety from the electric grinder to make it a lot more versatile (yeah...OSHA...yeah...).  So when cutting an exhaust on the car/truck I usually start by running that through the underside usually gets about halfway through, then stick the reciprocating saw through the large opening I just made and finish the top.  Leaves an uneven edge though so I have to switch to the grinding disk and finish it up nicely.  Not terribly a big deal as I would be switching to the sanding disk or wire wheel anyway to clean up the last inch or so of the pipe so I have something solid to weld to.I really wish I could find something that is about 7 or 8 inch diameter cutoff wheel so that I could cut up to about 3" diameter tube on the car just by one pass straight up from the underside.  In most cases though, there really isn't that much room to stick something that big in anyway.Could you go in-depth a bit more into the on-bench band saw.  Vertical or horizontal?  What speed or options should I be looking for?  Is craigslist or eBay a good source for these cash picked up?  I get a lot of big old tools through there usually with success.  What should I be looking to spend?I forgot to add.  Due to the current garage setup, 110V is my only option.  The cost of upgrading to 220V far outweighs the cost of just buying a new house and building my own garage from the ground up.  I'm trying to do what I can with what I have now and saving for said house/garage.
Reply:Craigslist is a good place to look, Ebay not so much (unless you get really lucky and a good bandsaw comes up in your area).  Shipping a bandsaw is expensive.  As for the type of bandsaw, I would recommend a horizontal one (in a pinch, you can always lock it in the up position and use it as a vertical).  The horizontal will allow you to clamp the exhaust into place and get a good clean and straight cut.  Seeing as you're running off of 110v only, you could go with one of the little harbor freight/grizzly 4x6 bansaws or if you have the money, buy the 7x12 instead.Another recommendation for cutting exhaust on the vehicle is an airsaw (actually used pretty much everyday by almost every exhaust shop around).  If you get a good one (don't cheap out on it) you'll actually get very nice clean cuts. Also, buy good high quality blades for it.--Wintermute"No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience." - John Lockewww.improvised-engineering.comManufacturer Agnostic:Blood----------Sweat---------Tears----|------------------|----------------|----Lincoln Red, Miller Blue, Esab Yellow
Reply:Horizontal bandsaw is what I'm after, my chop saw has worn out it's welcome with the noise and mess. Here's a cool option that might fit your needs, uses a porta band...http://www.swagoffroad.com/Porta_ban...t_Product.htmlSeems like it may be the best of both worlds, but you need have the horizontal advantages.Millermatic 175Black and Decker hacksaw
Reply:Ever think of a non-abrasive carbide chopsaw? Like the Milwakee Dewalt Evolution units? What about a 110V plasma like a Powermax 30 for the really tight spots?
Reply:Sounds like we are in kind of similar situations. I have all of the above mentioned tools, aside from a horizontal band saw. I would love to have one, but I just do not have room. I picked up a used but very good running Milwaukee 3260 porta band off ebay, and love it! Cuts 2" .120 wall tubing with ease, doesn't take up a ton of space, works REALLY well. It's much nicer to use than the plasma or abrasive cut off tools, doesn't burn up blades left and right like a sawzall, and I think you will find with practice you can make pretty straight cuts. I had been looking at the Grizzly porta band w/stand for $165, but decided against trying to fight with a cheap tool.
Reply:Unfortunately your working in very tight space.  I do the same.Cutoff wheel is usually the only thing that really works good, aside from the probability of grease firesSometimes the small cuttof die grinder type tools work good.  And they work best if you make sure not to close the saw kerf by cutting on the wrong side of the pipe.  Always make sure the kerf opens up due to the weight of the pipe as you cut.Torch is the last resort because of the fire danger, but sometimes it's the only way.  I've had good luck misting the area with water to cool the slag blowing off the torch.  Messy, but effective.  Undercar, and on the ground beneath the car (I work on grass)"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:I've posted this up before for people looking for a bench top bandsaw.  I've had this bandsaw for a couple of years now and have really enjoyed it versus a grinder with a cutting wheel or a chopsaw.  Lately I've been cutting 2"x3"x3/16" tubing for some of my projects and really don't see a need for anything that could be more accurate since saw is pretty accurate on its own.  Check the bandsaw out at these sites.http://lathemaster.com/Benchtop%20bandsaw.htm
Reply:http://lathemaster.com/Benchtop%20Bandsaw.htmHere is the other link.This link is for the original manufacture of the bandsaw.http://kooltools.com/bandsaw_ad105s.html    I was wondering if you added a large 6"x48" beltsander w/12" disc would be useful in truing up your edges of you tubing when trying to match another.