Circular Metal Cutting Saw

[tflnemesis]

After trying to cut a sheet with slitting discs and never managing to get a straight cut i am thinking of buying myself a circular saw. Funds are limited so i have been perusing the bay and found a couple of the evo rage saws about 100 notes. I thought about getting a nibbler but i can see that i would probably run into the same problem of not getting a straight cut.

Any advice on their quality? I do a lot of cutting of 1-2mm sheet and i want something thats going to last. Are the motors up to it? The gearbox? Do they cut the thin stuff i am working with well or do they need a minimum thickness?

I am looking at the 110v version rather than the 240v as i bought a transformer and SDS drill about 6 months ago so any new tools i buy are tending to be 110v.

Any advice would be appreciated, like i say funds are limited so £120 is about my max to spend on this.

 

[Engineer]

http://www.bifabuk.co.uk/shears/manual-shears-mps12.php will work a great deal better for thin sheet metal, and you can cut any curved sections with a pair of aircraft type snips.

Avoid the Machine Mart type tools though, and if you keep a look on Ebay very often you can find a used British made shear for less money than new Chinese ones.

 

[bloke]

Evolution Rage 3

Used the Evolution rage 3 circualr saw, went through angle iron from an old bedstead easily, scaffold pole and still put a smooth cut through wood. All you have to do is take your time and let the blase do the work. Be warned it spits out tiny metal shards like sawdust from wood. Don't use the cloth bag though.
I bought mine from screwfix for 99 quid a while back, cracking saw and even cuts well on the angles. Had no reason to set up as mine was accurate straight from the box.

 

[hotrodder]

They cut thin sheet but obviously the sheet needs to be well supported close to the cut line on both sides, especially if we're talking about cutting up full sheets. Very noisy as well as throwing swarf around

Shears like the type linked to... nice straight cuts but you still need to be able to follow a cut line i.e. if not careful you can easily get a perfectly straight cut that deviates from the cut line as you progress along the cut. The frame also kinda interferes some with the 'waste' side on longer cuts and will distort it a little. Throatless versions exist which are better for thin sheet but i'm only aware of Beverly shears (you don't want to know what they cost new) or cheapnese knock offs. Both types almost impossible if you, say, want to cut a full sheet accurately

The other option that comes to mind is an electric shear. The three bladed design like these cut a 6mm strip and leave zero distortion. Downside is they won't cut curves unless it's a large radius. The Makita one in the google link is over budget and will only manage 1.6mm mild steel but there are other brands and air powered flavours which are cheaper. Don't know about the others but the cutting head on my Makita has machined edges which make it easy to use in conjunction with a straight edge for a cutting guide

 

[chunkolini]

These are great and cheap.
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/p...ter/path/metal-cutters-shears-folders-formers
Can cut a very straight line but on whole sheets it can be a laugh, though with two people a whole sheet can be accurately cut in half. Also good for cutting outside curves.
I also have these https://www.sitebox.ltd.uk/product/gsc28/bosch-gsc-28-sheet-metal-shears-110v-240v/ a bit over budget but a superb bit of kit, will cut radiuses down to about 60mm inside and out.
Chunko'.

 

[tflnemesis]

Thanks for the advice guys, I have decided to go for the saw as it falls within my budget and i do most of my work solo so would struggle manhandling a sheet in the manual shears.

I managed to borrow a saw to have a play with for an hour or so to see if it would do what i wanted and it did a decent job so i know it will be worth my money.

 

[bloke]

Rage 3

Hi 'tfl' (Buses in the big smoke?)

If you do go for the rage 3, there is a small plastic lense over the laser guide, I found out yesterday it gets mullered by metal debris. Tape it over before cutting metal then saves the lense. After thought from my part now need to get new laser guide cover.

Mike

 

[Engineer]

These are great and cheap.
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/p...ter/path/metal-cutters-shears-folders-formers
Can cut a very straight line but on whole sheets it can be a laugh, though with two people a whole sheet can be accurately cut in half. Also good for cutting outside curves.
I also have these https://www.sitebox.ltd.uk/product/gsc28/bosch-gsc-28-sheet-metal-shears-110v-240v/ a bit over budget but a superb bit of kit, will cut radiuses down to about 60mm inside and out.
Chunko'.

I bought one of those machinemart things a few years back, and after a very limited amount of use the mild steel frame holding the cutting discs had sprung, making the tool completely useless!

However a mate of mine has something along similar lines made by Record back in the 1950s, but properly made using the correct materials. He has been using it regularly for more than 20 years with no problem!

After the machinemart rubbish failed I tried Ebay for a Record tool, and astonishingly after a couple of weeks I found one that had never been used (ex MOD), which came with the original box and instructions.............a real bargain at £60, and will cut pretty much any thin sheet material, and curves are not a problem!

 

[FranV8]

Using a hand held tool (like a grinder with a slitting disc, or a jigsaw, or even a nibbler) - I find clamping a thicker pirece of strip or angle to the work in the right place helps a lot. I've always found with the slitting disks it's seeing the line you try to follow.

I've ccut 3mm successfully with the jigsaw (tend to use motor oil in a can to lubricate the cut) It's done quite a few meters of metal in its lifetime, and still going strong - just a normal mid range B&D one. Blades last well too. I found this more successful than using the slitting disk on thicker stuff. Of course you ahve to work at the rate that the jogsaw lets you.

Apologies if this is not any help, if you've got loads to do or every second counts, this approach may be less suitable. Although it does whip through thin stuff quick.

On 1mm, an air nibbler will fly through the material. Got mine for less than £15 from Argos....

 

[Rudi McAnichal]

Last year I needed to make a lot of long straight cuts in 2mm steel, thought of getting a Rage saw, but decided to risk buying a cheap multi-saw from Aldi (about £30 if I remember rightly). All I can say it that it has worked perfectly and makes very clean cuts. I have never tried it on any material other than 2mm mild steel.

It is an unusual design. There is no adjustment for depth of cut, which is fixed at 35mm. The guard has a tab allowing it to be retracted like that of a normal woodworking saw, so a plunge cut is possible (unlike the Rage/Fury design). Blade diameter 110mm, 500W motor, no-load speed 4500 rev/min (cutting speed about 25% lower than a 185mm Rage saw at 3500 rev/min). No adjustable fence, so I clamp a length of steel angle onto the job to guide the saw. The model number is J1G-WY-500, which Google reveals to be from WuYi WuYang Tools Manufacturing Co Ltd. Obviously not the sort of thing for heavy duty professional use, but so far I cannot fault it.

 

[eil]

I bought one of those machinemart things a few years back, and after a very limited amount of use the mild steel frame holding the cutting discs had sprung, making the tool completely useless!

However a mate of mine has something along similar lines made by Record back in the 1950s, but properly made using the correct materials. He has been using it regularly for more than 20 years with no problem!

After the machinemart rubbish failed I tried Ebay for a Record tool, and astonishingly after a couple of weeks I found one that had never been used (ex MOD), which came with the original box and instructions.............a real bargain at £60, and will cut pretty much any thin sheet material, and curves are not a problem!

Would that be a record 500 or 5000 by any chance ?. as I could really do with getting the instructions as how to properly set it up for cuts

 

[Wedg1e]

For sheet I use a Lesto GEG-1 electric shear that I inherited from my dad (and he got it given about 30 years before that!).
Goes through car bodywork thickness steel like cutting cloth and can do pretty tight corners too.