Looking for a small saw for car bodywork

[Neilj]

I'm working my way through a bodyshell restoration at the moment and I have a donor shell that I will be cutting plenty of bits of metal from. The cuts need to be neat and precise so a plasma (I have one) is a bit messy. I currently have a small air body saw just like this one but I find it very noisy, not just the saw but also having to run the compressor all the time to feed it. Are there any similar sized cordless or corded electrical saws out there, than any of you can suggest or recommend?

 

[James1979]

Hackzall?

M18 FUEL™ HACKZALL™ | Cordless Reciprocating Saw M18 FHZ | Milwaukee Tool UK

M18 FUEL™ HACKZALL™. With a 22 mm stroke length for controlled cutting wand a no load stroke rate of 3000 spm. Patented FIXTEC™ clamp for quick and efficient blade change.

uk.milwaukeetool.eu

I have no experience of it.

I have the Sawzall which is the big brother. Handy thing. But huge.

 

[toddy]

Hackzall?

M18 FUEL™ HACKZALL™ | Cordless Reciprocating Saw M18 FHZ | Milwaukee Tool UK

M18 FUEL™ HACKZALL™. With a 22 mm stroke length for controlled cutting wand a no load stroke rate of 3000 spm. Patented FIXTEC™ clamp for quick and efficient blade change.

uk.milwaukeetool.eu

I have no experience of it.

I have the Sawzall which is the big brother. Handy thing. But huge.

i have the m12 version of that.
it is a very nice little tool, and would recomend

 

[Mart63]

I've got a Fakita one like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/40358884...xoFHhPQKfg+MdKBgbTWbKaOirB|tkp:Bk9SR4SJrebPYQ
Cheap and cheerful, but works well. I haven't worked it super hard, but if I got a year or two out of it I'd be happy at that price.

 

[Chippie]

I’ve used angle grinder with a metal disc with great success…..had to graft an inner wing section in on 81 Fiesta after I pranged it….

 

[Keithmac]

Milwaulkee M12 Cuttoff tool is excellent with some small thin grinding disks, nice and light.

The disks are cheap as chips too, Silverline (iirc) are what I use in it.

 

[tom2207]

I've got a Fakita one like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403588849585?hash=item5df7c51fb1:g:TLwAAOSwBoxjmXKB&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAA4AqfJ8H1ZOYJj+xEBClp8sndRG3XMVcGcNhkm8+wpYTmdJgrDvlr2Q9awSUfOJbBxbP8/ihOMH8DW/92KBOn6BP82PUqFSAnjoX/xYGB4TBnRSS/bxHNvBJ/ZAX9ZbISf/Sq/2dnfrYhoOPCpx0LKtWP5ZGpi1P5hgAXfUZgW9Dx1e3J9pf7A6OFugWREmqHl0DVkyCnML+ovCOwXSs0njxYf+3BEi/hfSdVnKQu43x7IODZHAuHszlZftjbY8Nja4s4L50MJpU9ILdlTtxoFHhPQKfg+MdKBgbTWbKaOirB|tkp:Bk9SR4SJrebPYQ
Cheap and cheerful, but works well. I haven't worked it super hard, but if I got a year or two out of it I'd be happy at that price.

I paid more than that for my hacksaw ,, and it didnt have a battery either ,, or a blade .... the worlds gone mad.

 

[Neilj]

I've got a Fakita one like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403588849585?hash=item5df7c51fb1:g:TLwAAOSwBoxjmXKB&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAA4AqfJ8H1ZOYJj+xEBClp8sndRG3XMVcGcNhkm8+wpYTmdJgrDvlr2Q9awSUfOJbBxbP8/ihOMH8DW/92KBOn6BP82PUqFSAnjoX/xYGB4TBnRSS/bxHNvBJ/ZAX9ZbISf/Sq/2dnfrYhoOPCpx0LKtWP5ZGpi1P5hgAXfUZgW9Dx1e3J9pf7A6OFugWREmqHl0DVkyCnML+ovCOwXSs0njxYf+3BEi/hfSdVnKQu43x7IODZHAuHszlZftjbY8Nja4s4L50MJpU9ILdlTtxoFHhPQKfg+MdKBgbTWbKaOirB|tkp:Bk9SR4SJrebPYQ
Cheap and cheerful, but works well. I haven't worked it super hard, but if I got a year or two out of it I'd be happy at that price.

I'm liking this, presumably Fakita = Fake Makita?. I've got quite a few DeWalt XR tools and although I've been tempted by the Milwaukee M18 stuff in the past it means starting from scratch again with batteries, the usual problem. I have a couple of Makita batteries and a charger though, so this one might be an option. Cut off disks are ok for some of the stuff I want to do but a lot of it is intricate shapes rather that the straight lines that a cut off disk gives you.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Cut to, say, 5mm with plasma and then use angle grinder for trimming to final size ?
Have you tried a nibbler ?

 

[8ob]

Nobody still feeling the love for the good old air Cengar?

Bob

 

[James1979]

Nobody else still feeling the love for old enough to remember the good old air Cengar?

Bob

There ya go

 

[500e]

Good tool @8ob grind back of blades to cut tight radius,
Bi-metal best you can find
JP901

Specialist Motor Trade – Cengar

cengar.com

 

[gaz1]

you can use a slitting saw and a small circular saw

but you will need it to variable speed

variable speed small circular saw - Google Search

 

[Neilj]

The small air powered saw I've got nearly ticks all the boxes; it's light, small, has thin blades for a small radius and I only need to drill a 7mm hole in a panel to start a cut. The only bad points are noise -especially cutting a bodyshell as it amplifies it- and it gets pretty cold after a few minutes running. Plus it doesn't have a lot of guts so it's always jamming. I think one of the Fakita's with a ground back blade could work if I can find 32tpi blades.
Still plenty of Cengar saws knocking around offshore where I work and that JP901 linked to above looks very nice, bet that won't be cheap!

 

[Neilj]

Have you tried a nibbler ?

Got a nibbler but it's a bit slow, I have cuts over a metre long to do and quite a few of them.

 

[Neilj]

Is this on body panels (thin steel). A katsu mini is great and cheap.

Yes, relatively thin stuff like inner wings, seat pans etc rather than thick box section type stuff. My air saw uses 30tpi blades, anything coarser is going to struggle I think.

 

[Onoff]

I've got a Fakita one like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403588849585?hash=item5df7c51fb1:g:TLwAAOSwBoxjmXKB&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAA4AqfJ8H1ZOYJj+xEBClp8sndRG3XMVcGcNhkm8+wpYTmdJgrDvlr2Q9awSUfOJbBxbP8/ihOMH8DW/92KBOn6BP82PUqFSAnjoX/xYGB4TBnRSS/bxHNvBJ/ZAX9ZbISf/Sq/2dnfrYhoOPCpx0LKtWP5ZGpi1P5hgAXfUZgW9Dx1e3J9pf7A6OFugWREmqHl0DVkyCnML+ovCOwXSs0njxYf+3BEi/hfSdVnKQu43x7IODZHAuHszlZftjbY8Nja4s4L50MJpU9ILdlTtxoFHhPQKfg+MdKBgbTWbKaOirB|tkp:Bk9SR4SJrebPYQ
Cheap and cheerful, but works well. I haven't worked it super hard, but if I got a year or two out of it I'd be happy at that price.

I have one of those too.

 

[500e]

The Cengar we bought is over 40 years old and still works was in a body shop for the first 20+ it started off expensive and got cheaper as the years went by

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I cut the back off a Nissan Figaro with a DeWalt reciprocating saw...it did an amazing job. With a fine blade I reckon it would have no trouble cutting out patch panels.

 

[Jack_K]

The small air powered saw I've got nearly ticks all the boxes; it's light, small, has thin blades for a small radius and I only need to drill a 7mm hole in a panel to start a cut. The only bad points are noise -especially cutting a bodyshell as it amplifies it- and it gets pretty cold after a few minutes running. Plus it doesn't have a lot of guts so it's always jamming. I think one of the Fakita's with a ground back blade could work if I can find 32tpi blades.
Still plenty of Cengar saws knocking around offshore where I work and that JP901 linked to above looks very nice, bet that won't be cheap!

Wouldn't an electric one make just as much noise? I use a cheap (not the cheapest - Sumake) air saw and it is noisy but I assume most of the noise is the cutting process, not the tool itself. It hasn't failed yet so I haven't had a good reason to buy a quality (Shinano) one to see if there is a difference.