Metal cutting saws

[chevy2]

What did Robin Hood have to do with it... or was it Dick Turpin?

Whoops!
Sh*t happens

 

[candor]

I have the band saw, I think mines a Sealey one (its red!) and it must be nearly 20 years old.
I have added a few mods to the vice to cut short stock and also a jig to do a 8" long cut with the vice removed.
I bought a job lot of Lenox blades about 10 years ago from JL Industrial Supplies (now http://www.mscdirect.co.uk/cgi/insrhm) when they were on offer and I am still working through them.
Best tip is to set the vice to cut square and then use a jig to cut angles rather than resetting the vice to square each time.

Any pics of different jig setups? I have a few ideas, want to set something up for the rapidor to cut 45's.

 

[MattF]

Any pics of different jig setups? I have a few ideas, want to set something up for the rapidor to cut 45's.

Do you have the vice with the fixed front jaw and swivelling rear, or the one where both jaws can be swivelled?

 

[candor]

Do you have the vice with the fixed front jaw and swivelling rear, or the one where both jaws can be swivelled?

It's the first one.

 

[dan.taylor.1]

I've put chop saw, but not a rage one, mines a dewalt, even with a bent bed I can get a perfect cut and it eats everything I've thrown at it. It has a spark guide which if on a bench means they go where you want them to (into a box for instance).

I've used cold saws and they are beasts the only limiting factor is max cut which is usually bigger on a bandsaw.

Dan

 

[HughF]

2nd hand dewalt 827 from eBay complete with spare blade and 110 tranny, £115

There are bargains to be had. I have 3 donkey saws and they are good, but the dewalt gets used more and more now

 

[bigbadbugga]

I have the bandsaw and a rage evolution saw.

I do tend to prefer the bandsaw for cutting, it makes a nicer, crisper cut. Although it is a fair bit slower.

 

[Robotstar5]

I prefer a quiet workshop so bandsaw first, also once started it can be left to get on with it.

 

[MattF]

It's the first one.

Same as mine then. I'd thought of, with that one, either using predefined angle blocks against the fixed jaw, (with a slight lip on the end of the block to locate it and hold it in place against the edge of the jaw, so that the block can't slide out of place when pressure is applied), then just loosening off the movable jaw and setting its angle via the block.

The other option I'd considered was using the length stop, (the holes with a clamping bolt which run at a right angle through the base of the vice), with some form of angle gauge clamped in there instead of a stop, then setting the movable jaw to the required angle using a parallel piece once the angle gauge has been set to the required angle. The first option would likely be the more sturdy of the two options though.

Hope those make sense? Ideas don't always transfer well from mind to print. It's a doddle to set the movable vice jaw back to square once angled cutting is finished, with one jaw being fixed. Trying to angle the vice itself would limit the amount of angle available before the blade tried running into the vice.

 

[candor]

Same as mine then. I'd thought of, with that one, either using predefined angle blocks against the fixed jaw, (with a slight lip on the end of the block to locate it and hold it in place against the edge of the jaw, so that the block can't slide out of place when pressure is applied), then just loosening off the movable jaw and setting its angle via the block.

The other option I'd considered was using the length stop, (the holes with a clamping bolt which run at a right angle through the base of the vice), with some form of angle gauge clamped in there instead of a stop, then setting the movable jaw to the required angle using a parallel piece once the angle gauge has been set to the required angle. The first option would likely be the more sturdy of the two options though.

Hope those make sense? Ideas don't always transfer well from mind to print. It's a doddle to set the movable vice jaw back to square once angled cutting is finished, with one jaw being fixed. Trying to angle the vice itself would limit the amount of angle available before the blade tried running into the vice.

Yea was along the lines of what I was thinking, the block would be held in with some flat welded on.

 

[zardoz]

If you dont need portability go for the bandsaw.

 

[gavuk]

Bandsaw for me too,I prefer them to cold saws,but i hate abrasive cut off,noisy and messy

 

[Perry Owens]

I have the smaller 3 1/2 inch bandsaw from Warco. The arm swivels instead of the vice. It worked well for 6 months then one day all the oil drained out of the gearbox. Warco offered to send me a new seal but I told them I wasn't inclined to mess with it. Next day a Warco van turned up with a new replacement saw.

 

[zardoz]

Heres mine, cuts up to 3" x 2" and mitres to 45degrees.

What is a 'cold saw' and how is it diferent to the evolution mitre saws ?

 

[hotrodder]

Chevy explained that in the bit you deleted when quoting

I've had my cold saw for over twenty years,
its the slow running toothed blade type and coolant fed if reqd,
no sparks or dusty crap everywhere,
blades only reduce in diameter over a number of years due to resharpening,
mine typically last several months without a sharpen with is around £7-8 each time,
I keep a spare as turnaround is generally a week

14" abrasive chop saw runs ~3800rpm from memory, 14" TCT (aka dry cut chop saw) ~1300 rpm while cold saws are VERY low rpm, often 2 speed (say 40 - 120 rpm depending on dia and gear) and in a completely different league to chop saws everywhere except for price and portability. Blades look like this...

can be resharpened until they're too small to be useful and they work like this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTLM_iDbGDQ

 

[johnakay]

yes they definatly are, but whats the question please???

The evolutions are portable, and make a hell of a noise, the "band saw" a lot quiter, both set correctly should cut 45 degrees accuratly.

Stan

I had a rage 2 and had to sell it one of the members on here Gordon bought it off me.
one of my neighbors about 5 house's down across the road could hear it cutting
steel.
what ya got there john?? its bloody noisy!
if your looking for an accurate cut forget it.
I've got the rage 4 now with a cutting stone fitted after a couple of mods.
despite it say it will cut tubing blah blah.
twice it almost lifted the tubing out of the clamps.
with thin wall tubing you cant put to much pressure on it,
the clamps are a poor design in my opinion.
so I started to use cutting stones rather than the blade and it worked fine.

 

[T0rnado69]

funny that all 3 saws you put in the poll i end up having.

got the bandsaw first and is great for quite cutting
and if its a fairly thick bit your cutting you can leave it to get on with it.
and it switches off once done.
the stand is made of too thin metal and i found the bracket that the rear wheels are on bends up.
but when i was needed to cut some 50x50x3 box nice and square.
i found the blade would cut down at a slight angle.
so instead of messing about squaring the ends on the mill.

i got the rage2 cut off saw.
yer its noisy but it cuts fine, though the clamp is a bit crap on it.
its ok when using 3mm or more in thickness.
but when using thin tube or box, you have to be careful how tight you do the clamp or you could cruch the tube/box.

i got the rage3s mitre saw for cutting 45's on some aluminium end panel profiles that trim the end of the showerwall panels.
needing to do both left and right 45's and couldnt turn trim upside down to cut both from one side on the rage 2.
due to the profile shape of the ali trim.

rage3 isnt as noisy as the rage2.
but then rage2 is a cut off saw with a bigger motor.