I have to cut dog legs and wheel arches 2010 vehicle body skin about 22 ga. I'd get a 32 tpi 12" blade if they were available. Need long to cut entire dog leg out. Seems 18 tpi is about the finest in long blades. What works???
Yep..finest tooth you can find. Helps to keep it wet with wd40 or such. Keep a steady hand and have someone relieve pressure as you are about to break through.
Why would you even dream of using something civilized like a saw when you have the opportunity to "go medieval" by hacking out what you want with a sharp ax and a sledge hammer? (I watched someone cut the entire trunk floor out of a '60's Chevy at "Pull-A-Part" using exactly those two tools)
That ax is intriguing (!) The junk yards use a 14" concrete saw with metal blade and slice it out in seconds. This is U-Pull and not allowed (I do have one too). Maybe a angle grinder w/cutoff blade but I don't think they want sparks - need to confirm tomorrow. That guy using ax, was he hitting it with the sledge or just swinging it? I'm not that skilled with an ax, but seriously a hammer and chisel (boy if I had compressor & air chisel I would make short work of that. IDEA: air chisel bits and hammer but cutting inner panel is still a problem - long saw blade does both instantly. Dog let is a box assembly so saw/cutoff way to go.) I have every Wiss aviation snip made. Hummmm.... maybe them and one of my step hole drill bits to give the snips a start. Problem is cutting inner panel which is wheel well and much worse if dog leg. Have a hand nibbler too.
Tell them that you will do it on a rainy day. https://www.harborfreight.com/20v-cordless-4-12-in-slide-switch-angle-grinder-tool-only-63632.html
I have used all the above methods to remove junk yard parts. You will probably need both short and long blades, I use a medium tooth blade. The long blades are needed because there may be place that it will be easier to cut double metal. For dog legs it may be easier to cut thru the whole rocker panel. There may be multiple layers in there. Yes a sharp axe. Hit it with the hammer. Works like a chisel but you have less chance of hitting your fingers. Take the hammer and chisel. You will need to use them as well. There is always some place the power tool will not fit.
I like Lennox blades over anything else. I have bent the crap out of them, pounded them back into shape and kept going. They usually break down where they attach to the saw, after much abuse.
I once cut the roof off a ford ranger with a hacksaw. The bigger challenge is when we got it to the parking lot and realized we were driving my ‘65 Valiant. Was an interesting drive back to the shop
huh, when I worked at the junkyard 40 years ago we did everything with a torch. And had to keep a 5 gallon bucket of water in the torch car, just in case. I only remember one fire, over the 2-3 years I was there.
Another useful tool is a "brick chisel", has a blade 3-4" wide, great for separating spot-welded panels. The reason the guy was using an ax and a sledge-hammer is the local "Pull-A-Part" won't let you use "Sawsall's", even though a battery powered "Sawsall" would be a lot safer (and less damaging to surrounding sheetmetal).
I only use name brand blades like Milwaukie, or Lennox. Milwaukie sells a 24tpi blade, and I've used them often to cut sheet metal at wrecking yards. They work fine for me. Just keep the speed up, and the foot against the metal.
The thing about trying to use a long blade is that they tend to bend when they get pinched in the cut. Not running the power tool "wide open" but maybe half speed helps prevent bending but slows the cutting process. Last time I went to the Pull-a-part, I took a small tool that I bought at Lowes. It was battery powered and had several blades/wheels. When I entered the junkyard, the lady told me I couldn't take it inside because it was a grinder and would make sparks. I told her that it was NOT a grinder but had a toothed wheel. She called the manager and he oked it. Now it had teeth, but it also had diamond dust on it. It did make some sparks, but I was cutting some brackets from underneath some vehicles and needed it. My point simply is that you may be able to convince them that you don't have a grinder if you mount a blade with teeth. Then if it doesn't cut well, you can always switch to a diamond blade once inside.....just keep the diamond wheel in your pocket till you need it. Another way to get what you need is to cut the whole "quarter panel" from the vehicle so that its easier to get to what you need to cut off it. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-5-in-24-Volt-Max-Cordless-Angle-Grinder/1000093007
Yep.....the best floor in the place for my 1956 was the top one on a stack of three. A four door with a perfert floor and trunk.....had friends watching down below as I cut it out.....
Don't underestimate what can be done with the appropriate hammer and chisels when all else fails or not possible. You don't need power, can be sharpened on site with a good file and some are over a foot long. Cut, leaving yourself a comfortable margin, so as to not deform the sections needed. Hacksaw blades with an insert handle can help too. I used a hammer and chisel to quarter a unibody car to haul to the scrapper in my pickup, just to prove it could be done. Took less than an hour.
years ago I need 5 cars removed from a lot- none collectable. A small black man took the job -to my amazement he used wedge hammer and several sledge hammers - no gas - no saw. finished in one day. Loaded on his truck with an antique barn crane. the cuts were surgical and I learned a lot about physics . We became good life long friends. Later learned at his funeral he was a tank commander in the !st army division Chosin river basin - korean war. Awarded the silver star and 2 purple hearts. He never talked about it.
I was in a junkyard years ago and some guy walks in looking for a heater core. Sure we got one... the yard man (big Tony) walks over with a fireman's ax and proceeds to chop the core out of the firewall, took him like 5 minutes. The heater core came out without a nick on it.
Milwaukie sells there "Torch" line of blades designed specifically to eliminate this scenario. Not cheap, but I keep a 5 pack around specifically for situations where cutting parts at a wrecking yard might end up binding the blades. These torch blades will never bend, unless they were severely stressed. I've not had one bend yet.
Check over the area you are trying to cut,dont try and get the smallest piece,if you cut into the floor further it might not be as many layers?Also if using a battery powered saw,take lots of batteries.A good pair of tin snips helps too. harvey
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