- Thread starter ELL
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You need to saw box section. An ironworker will just crush it flat
ELL
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Damn, thought as much.
sako243
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Just a thought if you're always cutting the same profiles could you machine up a die that sat inside the box to support it on either side to prevent it from being flattened.
@ELL if its paid work and time is money I'd seriously consider a semi-automatic bandsaw. One of our neighbours who's a shed builder got one a while back and the arm and clamp are hydraulically controlled. Makes things a lot faster being able to just push a button to make it clamp and then initiate a cut, retract the blade and release the clamp.
My bandsaw will take the same capacity as his rather ironically (an old Forte bought off here) but with the handwheel at the far end from where I need to support material it's a bit time-consuming clamping things up.
If you were just trimming the ends that could work but if youre cutting a 7m length right in the middle that centre die would have the be slid all the way to the cut line and if you get it wrong even by a little bit you either crush the box section of damage the die. Better to cut it with a cold saw. Probably quicker anyway.
What size box are you trying to cut?
ELL
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40x40x3
michealjohn
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You’ll probably want a cold saw or bandsaw rather than a shear for box section. A shear will crush or distort the tube, especially on thicker wall material.
hotponyshoes
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Shear it with a triangle shaped blade.
Then re-shape it back to square by driving a pyramid shape wedge into the end of it.
Or make up a square expander tool to go onto an impact gun a bit like those exhaust pipe reformers.
I've got a semi-automatic cold cut saw that works on the same principle, if you fit a sping to the backplate on the offcut side it automatically clamps up, cuts, then ejects the cut piece into a tray.
Quick and a very precise clean cut.
Only issue with hollow section is the cutting fluid and swarf both end up inside the tube (and on solid sections to some extent) so it makes for extra clean-up especially if you want to weld or paint it afterwards.
Then re-shape it back to square by driving a pyramid shape wedge into the end of it.
Or make up a square expander tool to go onto an impact gun a bit like those exhaust pipe reformers.
I've got a semi-automatic cold cut saw that works on the same principle, if you fit a sping to the backplate on the offcut side it automatically clamps up, cuts, then ejects the cut piece into a tray.
Quick and a very precise clean cut.
Only issue with hollow section is the cutting fluid and swarf both end up inside the tube (and on solid sections to some extent) so it makes for extra clean-up especially if you want to weld or paint it afterwards.
Plasma cut them slightly longer, use a simple slide over shoe as your mask / guide , then use a 6mm edge grinder in a 4 inch machine to trim back precisely to the scribed line.?
I recently cut the sides of two big rectangles at 45 degrees on 50x50 x6 mm equal angle , welded up the ground to size sides getting 1mm difference on the diagonals so both finished rectangles almost exact to the other
I recently cut the sides of two big rectangles at 45 degrees on 50x50 x6 mm equal angle , welded up the ground to size sides getting 1mm difference on the diagonals so both finished rectangles almost exact to the other
