Advice req: TCT blade cut off saw

[Bruce]

I see Aldi have a special this Sunday on TCT blade cut off saws

http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/2867_7487.htm

are these type of saws / blades any good (for a DIY hobbyist) and I have never really noticed anything like this before which begs the question of where to get new blades when required (are they easily sourcable or not)

 

[knoba]

Depends on what you want to cut really. I have a dewalt, with Jancy slugger blades for stainless steel in. It'll do 3mm section or 1.6mm tube. Anything bigger and the blade chatters in the cut. I have since fitted a Smith&Arrow inox disc in it, and apart from a little bounce it cuts as well as the the tct's. I reckon the S&A will do much larger sections though.

I can't afford a bandsaw, so having a way to cut metal fairly squarely is a necessity for me.

tct blade makes:

Evolution
dewalt
jancy slugger

I used Miles tool & Machinery for the tct blades. (recommended)

 

[Bruce]

Thanks for a quick response

Well I am looking to cut mild steel box and tube no more than 3mm and aluminium flat 3mm so it sounds like it will do the trick.

I'm using an angle grinder for everything and apart from the mess...especially with aluminium dust, I am cutting my hands to shreds on the cut tailings.

While on the subject, is there anything you can recommend for cutting ali sheet in nice straight lines (1 metre - 3 metre lengths)....I've been using an angle grinder butted against 3mm flat iron. Can use the flat iron as a straight edge just a few times before it is worthless.

 

[English Steve]

Hi Bruce, I use a bench shear similar to this for cutting sheet. With a bit of practice it is OK to use on long cuts.

 

[wyn]

I have got one of these for sheet aluminium, it's a bit pricey and needs a bit of concentration to cut a straight line.



For 6mm mild steel i have used an Evolution circular saw with TCT blade........lovely straight cut and no burrs.

 

[Bruce]

Gosh this site has some quick responses. Thanks Guys.

Can I ask English Steve, wrt the shear, how he ensures a straight cut. Do you score the sheet and follow the line by eye or is there some sort of (for want of the correct word) mitre / straightedge guide. The cuts I make need to be pretty accurate, the slightest deflection (when concave at least) and cut becomes an expensive piece of scrap.

I was hoping there would be something along the lines of a circular table saw that you could use something like the TCT blade on. Is there such a device????

 

[wyn]

What grade and thickness sheet are you working with .....if it's thin and softish a TCT blade could make a bit of a mess.

Also if surface finish is important pushing it across a saw table could mark the surface.

 

[English Steve]

As you thought Bruce, I mark the sheet and follow by eye. Same as cutting paper with a pair of scissors really.

 

[Bruce]

Hi Wyn

I work mostly with 5251 aluminium sheet 2 - 3mm. Scratched surfaces will be an irritant but a wasted cut is a real problem because the cut outs are so large the waste piece is significant.

Hi Steve.
I know it seemed like a throw away comment that I made, but I have found that with simple hand tools the skill level to use them correctly and accurately seems to increase. To many times I have been humbled by the simplest device much to the amusement of the old hands who then mutter profanities about waste

At £50 quid a sheet, mistakes get expensive quickly.

 

[English Steve]

I agree about the hand-tools Bruce, it is something that needs an amount of practice. At work, if it can't be cut on the guillotine or notcher it goes in a vertical Bandsaw. Trouble with the bandsaw is that there isn't a fence so you're back to following a line or mocking something up (it leaves a raggedy edge on aluminium as well).
Sorry I can't be more help - hopefully someone with more experience of aluminium will be along later.

Good luck

 

[Hitch]

Unless its straight cuts I tend to use a jigsaw with a nice coarse progressor blade, and just cleam up the edges with curved tooth files.

Marking is sometimes a problem , but if you have polycoated sheet and use a non marking foot on the saw its more than acceptable.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Thanks for a quick response

Well I am looking to cut mild steel box and tube no more than 3mm and aluminium flat 3mm so it sounds like it will do the trick.

I'm using an angle grinder for everything and apart from the mess...especially with aluminium dust, I am cutting my hands to shreds on the cut tailings.

While on the subject, is there anything you can recommend for cutting ali sheet in nice straight lines (1 metre - 3 metre lengths)....I've been using an angle grinder butted against 3mm flat iron. Can use the flat iron as a straight edge just a few times before it is worthless.

Bruce, I used my metal-cutting circular saw (TCT blade) for the straight cuts on the 3mm chequerplate for my pickup load liner, it worked perfectly.

 

[hotrodder]

Short of a guillotine the circular trim saws work best for long straight cuts. You can get away with woodworking tools for aluminium (with a suitable blade!) but the metal specific saws will handle steel too. You can even use routers on aluminium but as you'd imagine they throw hot, sharp, swarf everywhere! Cutters obviously don't last as long

The old trick for cutting thin sheet with a jigsaw is to clamp it to a piece of (sacrificial) ply to take the bounce out. would work with trim saws, especially the 'rage multipurpose' jobs

There is a another type of electric shear that uses three blades (2 fixed, one moves) and cuts a strip out rather than a narrow kerf- zero distortion, straight and LARGE radii cuts only though. Capacity is lower than the type of shear posted earlier though- 2.5mm Al, 1.6 mild and 1.2 SS. The 'shoe' on these shears allows a guide to be used but as with a jigsaw perfect straight cuts still depend on the user. 'Kett' do a range that work on this principle but i've never seen 'em in the UK



Knoba,
What sort of blade life have you got from the Jancy stainless blades? Tried one recently and was less than impressed

 

[simon718]

http://www.toolfastdirect.co.uk/acatalog/Circular_Saw_Bosch_GKS65_-_190mm.html thats what we use in work for cutting aluminium and dibond (alu only up to 3mm, but it would handle much more im sure) You cant really see very well from the pic, but the saw comes with 3 guides just over 1m each, that join together when needed, great job!

and i agree, red hot bits of alu swarf arent too pleasant

 

[knoba]

hotrodder - I'm only a hobbyist so I don't use it all that much, but, from what I can tell the teeth, seem to now have, tiny bits of stainless steel (shoes) that have bonded themselves onto the tct tips, impairing the cuts. So... no, not terribly impressed.

The discs from smith & arrow are far better and I'm not totally sold that a tct saw like this should be cutting stainless steel anyway (rpm's & coolant wise).

The dewalt blade for s/s clocks in at 300 quid. That's a good one... ...they crack me up!

 

[hotrodder]

I can see your point (usually use a bandsaw or abrasive myself for stainless) but TCT blades leave the material cool to the touch when they're sharp so no work hardening- the usual cause of issues when machining stainless. First few cuts i made with the Jancy blade were beautiful, dulled very quickly though and then it's an exponential downward spiral

Yeah, the 'big brand name' blades are silly money. Different grade of carbide maybe?? On a different forum a guy has some good results using a 12" makita blade (just a regular 'general purpose' blade), maybe the reduction in surface speed makes all the difference. They're pretty reasonably priced, maybe i'll take a punt one day...