This may seem like a remedial question, but what do you guys cut steel stock with? I'm talking stuff up to about the 1/4" thickness. I've been fumbling around with the usual combination of sawzall, whiz wheel, and metal blade jig saw - but this gets tough to do on thick stuff..not to mention accurate cuts. I'm not budgeted for a plasma cutter - but am I missing something else?
A cheap metal bandsaw makes it easier to cut if ya can't pop for a plasma!! I have a Menards 41/2" that sells for around $200 and I have used it for almost everything. every now and then I can't cut what I want and resort to other means
Depending on what I'm doing, it works pretty well for me. I just don't tell it it's an automotive part.
I've used a skillsaw with a metal cutting blade for long cuts. They do not work for curves, just straight cuts. But they do track very straight because of the large size of the blade. This works very well for large sheets of stuff, but will also work for tubing etc. I prefer the worm drive version for their power and balance, but a straight shaft version will work just fine. A portaband is also a very handy item to have, but you are limited by the throat depth in what you can cut. They are also nice in that you don't have to worry about heat or throwing sparks and cut fairly quickly.
handheld bandsaw. works great no chattering like a sawzall. great for cutting in a vice. works on some things on the vehicle but hard to get in some places
Cutoff wheel on a die grinder. I like using the cutoff wheel the most. I run a .98HP Dotco and a thin blade. Dices through anything like ****er. Electric shears on sheet metal, vertical bandsaw on bigger stuff and steel tube.
I use the abrasive chop saw to cut off stock that fits in it, and a torch to cut shapes out of plate, or stuff that won't fit in the chop saw.
SawsAll Blades wareout too fast, cut slow, & hardest to make a straight cut. HackSaw blades last longer & supported on both ends & cut good, it's the manual labor that make the girls cry. The Hand Held Grinder with a Cut-Off wheel is the best & gets into most places with plenty of power & bite.
Gas cutting torch. Then 7" grinder. I used one of the cheap bandsaws for years. I still use it sometimes.
Yes, cut-off wheels, I have cut 3" diameter circles with them. I cut 1/2" even with cu-off wheels, just takes abit of time. If I want to go more detailed with a bracket or one that is thicker or several of them than water jet is a better way to go. I like water jet better than plasma as it gives a nicer cleaner edge and doesn't make the cut edges hard.
I use my phumatic Dotco for presicion cuts. Dotcos are the ****. I got two, a tiny one that's so fast but so small it scares the **** out of most including me, I rarely use that one.
Some good ideas...thanks I didn't realize that you could get a 'cheap' metal bandsaw in that price range. I forgot to mention in my original post that I do also have a body grinder with the cutoff discs -
Need to buy better Sawzall blades and invest in some straight plate and tube s**** to clamp to your work to make guides. Oh, and cutting oil. What do I cut steel with? Around the house I've got the Sawzall, a ****py Harbor Freight cutoff saw, and a Miller hand plasma cutter. And a hacksaw, and air tools, and about half a dozen $20 Harbor Freight 4.5in angle grinders (some of which are now ten years old, amazingly enough) and one HF 7-inch. If it's portable, then at the three Techshops in the area they've got an almost-as-****py cutoff saw in Menlo Park and better cold-saws at the others, a very useful Torchmate CNC plasma cutter in Menlo Park, Flow CNC waterjet I haven't yet used at the other two, some decent horizontal bandsaws, vertical bandsaws of highly variable quality but they DO work, little Tormach CNC mills I've been working really hard lately, and a varied collection of non-CNC knee mills. There's turret punches and shears and various other tooling that I haven't used a lot as well.
We couldn't live without our horizontal or vertical bandsaws. Having them makes doing impossible cuts very easy, and with a little creative clamping you can cut really odd shapes. Even if a guy bought one of the HF versions and put a decent Sterritt blade on it he could do a lot with it. I don't own a chop saw after that one exploded right over my head. Don Sometimes you have to get real creative.
I cut pretty much everything with a 3/64" thick Zipcut blade on a 5" Makita grinder. Hard to beat, and the Walter brand blades are the best out there. http://www.walter.com/Walter/en-ca/abrasives/cutting-wheels/angle-grinders-steel-stainless/zipcut
I bought a hoizontal band saw and couldnt live without it but if you are not cutting large stock get a port a band they will cut most stock clean with little mess. I dont miss cleaning up after a chop saw they are messy but do work.
I use in this order, if it will work: hack saw, cut-off wheel, oxy-acetlylene torch. I used a torch to cut out this Snoopy hood ornament (1/4" plate). Used a hack saw on this rear shock/cross member mount for my '56 DelRay. On sheet metal: I use a small cut-off wheel, nibbler, air craft snips, or small Dremel tool with a 1-1/4" cut-off wheel.
For thin sheet I use a thin-kerf disk on a die grinder, or a floor-mounted shear for long straight cuts, or a reciprocating saw, or a plasma cutter. Anything thicker up to 3/8" typically gets cut with my plasma cutter. It's just way too easy and fast not to reach for the plasma.
Yah, it wasn't 1/4" thick but back in '80 when I made a frame from 2x4 tube and had no power cut-off tools I used a hacksaw to make the cuts. I was younger then......
whatever gets the job done... i have grinders and cut off wheels, chop saw, small band saw, hack saw, torch, and a cheap plasma cutter i got from the bay for 350. its not the best, but for the price it is damn good.
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