tube notching

[dannyp]

kicking about an idea with a few mates atm but it's going to involve a lot of tube and a lot of tube notching.

till now i've just made a pattern to draw round and plasma cut the notch, it's ok for a few notches but just not tidy or accurate enough for this.

i've seen hole saw notches but my experiance of holesaws is they don't last very long, seen abrasive belt tube notches that are basicly a linisher but would they struggel removeing quantity of metal or need a bit of help. r have i missed the best option

 

[brightspark]

what thickness wall tube ?

 

[Hitch]

Depends on the type of notch you require, could you use a shear type tube notcher?

 

[Maker]

I think Baleigh industrial make one that uses an end mill if you think a linisher wouldn't cut it.

 

[langy]

kicking about an idea with a few mates atm but it's going to involve a lot of tube and a lot of tube notching.

till now i've just made a pattern to draw round and plasma cut the notch, it's ok for a few notches but just not tidy or accurate enough for this.

i've seen hole saw notches but my experiance of holesaws is they don't last very long, seen abrasive belt tube notches that are basicly a linisher but would they struggel removeing quantity of metal or need a bit of help. r have i missed the best option

I've had the same holesaw in my tube notcher for about 3 years and it's still sharp, if you buy quality and run it slow with cutting fluid it won't wear out.

 

[Tigman]

Tubella do one £170 + Vat looks to be a nice bit of kit

 

[zx9]

I've had the same holesaw in my tube notcher for about 3 years and it's still sharp, if you buy quality and run it slow with cutting fluid it won't wear out.

Yep, slow speed and a little dab of Rocol makes bimetal hole saws last a lot longer and cut much faster.

 

[roofman]

ive used a rotabroach cutter before today with great results

 

[norlander]

No experience whatsoever of using tube notching kit but I often think about getting a set up, and I always end up looking at this site, and thats the extent of my knowledge, but link to the site in case its of interest you

http://www.stakesys.co.uk/department/tube_notchers/

 

[Wendelspanswick]

I do all my tube notching on the lathe, mount the holesaw in the 3 jaw chuck and clamp the tube to the toolpost on the compound slide. That way you can use the degree scale on the compound slide, you have a large range of speeds to match the holesaw size and material, coolant on tap and even power feed if you are feeling lazy!

 

[Gareth0123]

I have got Starrett and Sandvik Hole saws that are 20 odd years old, which are used regularly on ERW, Sch 40, CHS, 4130 Cro-Moly and Durbar, in my pillar drill, or with my pistol drill and in my staksesy tube notcher . A little care in using the correct speed (or slower) and a few shots of cutting fluid; must be cutting fluid and not a coolant! delivered by a Wesco oil can is all that's need.

 

[norlander]

I do all my tube notching on the lathe, mount the holesaw in the 3 jaw chuck and clamp the tube to the toolpost on the compound slide. That way you can use the degree scale on the compound slide, you have a large range of speeds to match the holesaw size and material, coolant on tap and even power feed if you are feeling lazy!

Stop showing off and get back up the hill to build that workshop

 

[Welderpaul]

seen abrasive belt tube notches that are basicly a linisher but would they struggel removeing quantity of metal or need a bit of help.

We have a couple of the 'linisher' type tube notchers - they make light work of big notches even in heavy wall tube - i've just done nearly 1200 notches on 6mm wall 60.3 OD tube. No bother at all.
Ours are industrial machines - no idea whether the cheaper end ones would be any good.

 

[Kent]

I used to do a lot of notches in large ERW round tube. Put it in a Milling machine in a fixture and put the right size end mill into it (just what we had available but it worked very well)

 

[evobilly666]

How about this?
"The Ultimate Plasma Jig (Coping Pipe & Cutting Saddles)" on YouTube

Been seen before i know but be nice if they sold one.

 

[Maker]

How about this?
"The Ultimate Plasma Jig (Coping Pipe & Cutting Saddles)" on YouTube

Been seen before i know but be nice if they sold one.

There's been a thread about that before, it won't cut the correct profile for another tube to fit properly. It will only be any good to notch round pipe to fit against an oval pipe where the width is 1.414 of the height.

 

[dannyp]

thanks for the replys,

i think to start with i'm going to give holesaws a 2nd chance but get a decent one and see how it goes to start with, i have an old pillar drill that can be used as abase to mak a notcher from. i like the idea of a rotabroach they allways seem so much more durable than holesaws to me. tho ultamatly i think it's going to end up going down the abrasive belt or end mill route

any idea how the economics of running holesaw , end mill and abrasive belt notchers work out ? at a guess the most expensive machene has the lowest cost per notch ?

the tubre wil be 48 or 50mm 3 ish mm wall

the shear type notchers also look good for the straight notches, got a feeling its going to the usual answer in the end and that no one machene is the answer but really a a few diffrent ones.


i do have the raveing must have's for the baleigh machene now tho

 

[evobilly666]

I did mean it rather tongue in cheek. It looks crap and that's why I can't imagine they've sold many :-)

 

[wyn]

How many notches are you looking to do at a time?

I use starret holesaws in one of those generic notchers and do about 100 notches in an hour or two.

 

[Wendelspanswick]

The biggest pain with the holesaws is clearing the bore of the saw after each cut. You can get springs to fit inside to eject the scrap but they don't last long and tend to restrict the depth of cut when used for notching.
You have a trade off of a slightly wobbly saw with the quick release holders or a fixed holder with no wobble but a pain to unscrew to clear the scrap.