Clarke bolt cutter or other

[bogmonster]

Hi,

First post. Hobby blacksmith and trying not to make to much noise to upset neighbours. Want some advice on cutting round and square stock. Most of my stuff is 16mm round / square or less. Angle grinder is very noisy. Best option when practical is a hot cut hardie tool (quick and quiet) but this is pain for long stock. Cut off tools make a lot of noise Hacksaw is quiet but I get enough exercise at the anvil (and have health issues so need to conserve strength). A bandsaw looks great but also have room issues. So I was looking at the Clarke 36" bolt cutters. Anybody tried these? Look very cheap. If the cut is rough no bother as I can tidy up using hot cut when a sensible length. Will be mild steel so low tensile. Alternatively I could try a portable bandsaw. Are the cheapo Woodstar ones, well, cheap and nasty? Rather fancy non-electrical solution really though.

For bigger stock and when I need accurate angles I will accept the noise and go for an evolution saw.

Thanks in advance, BM.

 

[Welderpaul]

Record or Irwin bolt cutters are better than Clarke ones. Even the better makes will need you to have arms of steel to cut 16mm round. I would have thought 16mm would be too big to cut and the closing action of the jaws would push the bar out rather than cutting it. Maybe bench/floor mounted shears would be better. They usually have a hole in them to accept round bar and quickly and quietly snip them off as well as being able to cut flat and square bar.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Shedendman]

You will need arms like popeye
If you going for the evolution saw for bar that thick then go for the top one
http://www.evolutionpowertools.com/uk/steel/evo355.html
Not cheap though
Those smaller ones will just about manage 3mm,and believe me they're not quiet.
Check out fleabay see if you can pick up a small old donkey saw

 

[Hitch]

I tend to use a 30" pair of bolt croppers for cutting some stock at home.
12mm round is about the most i can cut with them reasonably easily.

Not sure about bench mounted shears doing 16mm round, likely it would need to be a proper old industrial one, not a machine mart special.


Welcome to the forum btw. Feel free to post up a brief intro and share a few project pictures.

 

[stuvy]

power hacksaws can be very small on storage and will suit your needs much better

 

[Pete.]

If you have a hydraulic press you could make some cutting jaws to fit in it.

 

[Welderpaul]

Not sure about bench mounted shears doing 16mm round, likely it would need to be a proper old industrial one, not a machine mart special.

True, the old ones would do the job no problems. Machine Mart stuff.. I doubt it.

 

[bogmonster]

Thanks, lots of replies. Maybe I will look out for some shears in flea bay. I don't have popeye arms

I don't have a hydraulic press - looking out for a 5ton fly press for other duties but doubt that would be up to this task.

I will post some projects Hitch, just about to go to the US for work so it wont be for a couple of weeks. My projects are all very basic at the moment, just starting out. Most of what I have made is tools, leg vice stand, gas bottle coke forge, spring fullers, tongs, bending forks, hot sets etc. It's good fun though. Next project will be a better forge.

Cheers, Chris.

 

[Jim_gsxr1000]

Machine mart stuff is ok, they ahve vat free offer on justnow so you would get a 16% discount untill the 28th of jan

 

[gavuk]

Never used one myself but at £50 I'd give portable bandsaw a go unless anyone has experience with these ,makita do a much much more expensive version.....link is for example only ,I would be looking into warranties though

 

[bogmonster]

Ah Hitch, just noticed your another Somerset member. What sort of woodwork do you do? My main hobby is wood turning, I know, not real woodwork. Also like my cider, made a batch last year and worked out well. Is your interest in making as well as drinking?

Jim, can't see that VAT free offer, I think they sometimes do a random post offer for existing customers. Not used them in ages as I have been focussing on woodwork for the last few years and there are more specialist suppliers for that sort of kit.

 

[tomb]

Baileigh do a Manual Steelworker SW-22M,
Shear Capacity Angle Iron
60.32 mm x 60.32 mm x 6.98 mm
Shear Capacity Flat Bar
88.9 mm x 14 mm
Shear Capacity Plate
9.98 mm
Shear Capacity Round
22 mm
Shear Capacity Square
20 mm
Shear Capacity T Bar
60.32 mm x 60.32 mm x 6.98 mm
£425
It seems cheap for the versatility. I've never used any of their stuff so can't comment on quality or accuracy of capacity.

 

[DrNik]

get a bottle jack, cheap as chips and knock up a square frame and make something up, nice and quiet and easy to operate

 

[bogmonster]

I have think I have found a solution and I like the price

The problem I had with hot cutting long stock (well 3m ish) is that it is unwieldy in a coke forge as the ends sag to the floor and very unwieldy in my gas forge as it has a roof. Also unwieldy on the anvil.

I am borrowing a bullfinch LPG torch at the moment with the standard nozzle (15,000 BTU). I have been using it to heat up finished items before applying an oil finish. I need to give this back and buy my own but I thought I would see if I could made a tiny forge using 3 fire bricks on the garage floor and to see how long it would take using the baby bullfinch to get it hot enough. By positioning bricks to make slot about 25mm to lay the stock in I could hand hold the torch and get 12mm round hot enough to hot cut in about 90 seconds.

So plan is to get myself a torch and get a bigger nozzle (the 43,000 BTU will work on my 19KG bottle). Make a metal tray with handle to hold the bricks so I can move then when hot. Make a hot cut tool that can be used on the ground. I hope to be able to cut 16mm in about 60 seconds with this set up. All I need to buy is a torch I was going to buy anyway and maybe a bigger nozzle. Now should I really be buying an oxy propane torch.... I know this is now the wrong thread but I must look to see if I can run one of a small medical oxygen concentrator as we have one of those my wife uses for jewellery making.....

Thanks, Chris.

 

[madkayaker]

You could run oxy propane set up that would allow you to cut stock and would save you a fair bit of propane as the bullfinch torches are hungry

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

I would have thought an oxy/propane setup would be the most logical thing too. You can cut stuff far thicker than you normally would should the need arise

 

[Hitch]

We tried a portable bandsaw years ago, next thing since sliced bread the salesman said..... not impressed, never bought one.
I can see that they would be useful for a few woodwork tasks, but not great for steelwork imo.

Yup, South Somerset, not far from Wincanton. I do the odd bit of simple woodwork now and then, and the odd bit of turning, mainly into doing pens at the moment.

 

[Country Joe]

... I know this is now the wrong thread but I must look to see if I can run one of a small medical oxygen concentrator as we have one of those my wife uses for jewellery making.....

Thanks, Chris.

I wouldn't have expected one of those medical concentrators to work, as it doesn't really come out at any real pressure. I'd think you'd at least need to use a cylinder/regulator setup.
All the Best,
CJ

 

[Wallace]

What make of Oxygen Concentrator are you using?

 

[bogmonster]

Wallace, the oxycon is way too small

Oxy / propane ordered from Weld Equip. Also bought some used Record 36" bolt cutters. Been doing lots of research on how not to kill myself with the oxy / propane. I have some questions but will put those on the correct forum.

Thanks, Chris.