Robinhood150

I think he was refering to zedex's method, not miter cuts.


I think a chop saw works fine, I've never had a problem (of course it's not like I build things for a living). You can get a better cut from a horizontal band saw.

ravencr

Yeah, I was thinking they would be better, but what about angled cuts with them. How does that work?

Chris

zedex

If your using a chop saw. Notching will work best in my experience.. You can cut perfect 90 degree cuts with a chop saw. The problem with cutting miters is , The blade flexes, your cut starts off course, and continues off course. Getting worse as you cut. Notching is really easy. The saw has an easy time cutting straight. You save in blade wear. fitting is easier. welding is easier because your welding a corner which is twice the thickness as the flat tube. You just have to try it out and see whats best for you. Band saw chop saws work really nice for any angle but not many guys have one sitting around. If you can get your hands on one definitely get it. Then do all miters. You just adjust the fence to 45s. 101 ways to skin a cat.

ravencr

Is there one company that makes some nice pipe benders an notchers that don't cost an arm and a leg? I'd like to be able to get wat I need to bend pipe, both round and square tubing, notchers and whatever else I would need for under $1000. Would that be possible? Who makes the products?

Chris

Cebby

Only two "home" tubing bender I know of. I'm figuring out which one to do. There is some tremendous reading over on Pirate about Tube Benders.

JD2 - Model 3 and the Pro Tools - Model 105

If doing round tubing, a notcher makes life a bit easier. They both carry them.

You can do it for under $1000 with you don't buy a lot of dies. If you buy one or two dies, you can probably do a homebrew hydro setup for around $1000. There is a guy on Pirate that has autocad drawings he made of a similar design to the JD2 bender parts that you could duplicate and have laser or hydro cut locally saving some big $$$.

Shane

M-Tech is another one, pretty much a copy of the JD2 bender with some improvements. I'm also looking to buy a bender, must be contagious...

Note: it appears alot more expensive but the price includes a degree ring which the other two charge extra for so if you want that then it's pretty much a wash between the three.

ravencr

All of those look to be pretty nice, that's for sure. Plus the price isn't that bad either. I'm wanting to develop a small but effective list of tools I'll need to begin fabricating things on my own. Here's what I've got so far:

1) Tube Notcher
2) Tube Bender
3) 210 Welder
4) Welding Helmet
5) Gloves
6) Not sure on what cutting machines to have?? Chop saw? Band Saw(vertical or horizontal?), Plasma cutter?
7) What about a sheet metal bender of some type?

What else would I need? I want to be able to make my own skid plates, bumpers, sliders, and possibly roll cage for my 4runner. Anybody have any comments or suggestions?

Chris

stonedxdj

hey guys thanks for all the tips. I think me and bob are just gonna go halfs on that tube notcher. But i really appriciate all the feed back. Anyways take care

erik

slooney

Ravencr-

I am in the process of tooling up for a metal shop (ornamental iron, and truck parts for myself, of course) and have been spending a lot of time researching cutting tools. Instead of buying a carbide bladed chop saw and a bandsaw, as they have some pretty significant functional overlap, I chose to combine my budget for these items and get a tool called the Dewalt Multisaw (DeWalt DW872R Reconditioned 14" Multi-Cutter Saw) from a company named Tyler Tool Company (you can Google them). I paid $330 for it, with no shipping charges. Tool King also carries them in reconditioned form, though at a slightly higher cost. I understand the list price is over $800. Essentially a high-tech chop saw, the Multisaw is supposed to give very clean, burr and spark free cuts in significantly shorter time. It's also supposed to be far more accurate than other chop and bandsaw options because it doesn’t suffer from deflection anywhere near as badly as other cutting options. The blade, as it doesn’t wear away like a carbide blade, is said to last much longer (if you take good care while using it) but costs a ton of money ($125) to replace. Mine is not here yet, but I am anxiously awaiting it's arrival.

I too am looking at a bender and a notcher, though I haven’t arrived at a decision on which tools to purchase. If you have time,l and beat me to the purchase, let me know what you bought and what you think of it (quality, effectiveness). I’ll share the same info with you, should I arrive there first.

Heck- I may even offer to write up my tool purchases for the site- Something Corey may be interested in seeing? Anyway, good luck with your shopping- as my granddad always used to say, “Research heavily and spend once.”

Steve

Shane

I hate mine. The blade does indeed deflect if cutting anything other than 90° the blade will deflect very easily, and even when doing 90 it will tend to flex to the right as you go through the cut. To keep it from doing this you have to use less pressure, which is murder on the blade. I got mabye 50 cuts out of the blade and it needs to be sharpened already, doesn't bite in any more and throws sparks. It did cut great when new though. Setting the fence square to the blade is nearly impossible too, it seems like it's always off a little bit. Also I've heard of a lot of problems with motors burning out, though mine has been fine in that regard.

I plan to pick up a couple bandsaws (vertical and horizontal) over the next year or so. A bandsaw will give you the straightest cleanest cut possible, there is no contest. For something like the dewalt multicutter you'd be better off buying a true coldsaw.

slooney

Sorry- don't mean to hijack the thread here, but...

Shane- your feedback is definitely appreciated- I'll keep my head up for the problems you mentioned. It's interesting, as I got the idea to get this thing off a metal working forum, where several members were raving about their Multicutters. I'm wondering if you got a lemon?

If you would, tell me more about the fence, as well- you think setting it is less accurate than setting the fence on a "good" chopsaw?

Also, what size stock have you been cutting?

thanx-

Steve

Cebby

Check PBB, not too many people like them over there either.

Shane

The fence has no real indexing for 90°/60°/45°, you have to use a square against the blade if you want it true. The lever for locking it down is difficult to set and can throw the fence off while operating it. I've used it mostly for 1/8"-1/4" plate and some .120 wall tube, nothing too terribly difficult. I don't think I got a lemon at all, I just think the blade type isn't quite up to the task and the overall quality of the unit leaves alot of room for improvement.

zedex

I found what works pretty damn good is a sawzall.(reciprocating saw) I bought mine from sears. With a metal blade it cuts through anything. Is completelty portable. And you use it for construction as well as steel fabrication. Its very fast and like i said you use it all around the house. One hell of a usefull tool. Blades are cheap as well. Chop saws make a big mess cutting with abrasive blades. They wear out fast. Dont cut straight. pretty much suck.A sawzall will notch anything you like. $150 Can. for a good ball bearing sawzall and your laughin.

slooney

OK- so I read all of the posts on Pirate regarding the Dewalt Multicutter- it seems there are a number of points to consider-

1- flat stock is going to work harden, when using this saw, if the stock is cut in the flat position. So, if you can, put your stock up on edge, so you're cutting on the short dimension

2- it's really easy to bugger the saw up right out of the box- so maybe reading the manual is critical (one would hope the manual is worthwhile).

3- there seems to be significant quality control issues, at least from the reconditioning shop. Inspect your tool carefully before cutting anything with it (the saw, I mean).

I'm trying to make the best out of a situation that seems hard to reconcile- many people love this saw (both on Pirate and on other fab. boards) and a pretty fair number of folks think it's a worthless piece of crap. In any case- thanks again for the heads up- I'll let ya'll know how it goes when mine is delivered- I've got a pile of square tube, plate strips, and angle to cut sitting in the garage- should be able to test it pretty thoroughly.

Cheers-

Steve

stonedxdj

yeh man i got a sawzall aswell, and if i tried to count the number of things i've used it for, and things it can still come in handy for i'd be sitting here for an awfully long time. love the saw. Am basicly going to be using it for all my metal cuts until i get better equipment.

ravencr

So it sounds like for the most accurate cuts having a horizontal and vertical band saw would be best, right? Does anyone make a reasonably priced one that combines both a vertical and horizontal, or is this not possible?

Chris

Shane

Depends how big you want, the most basic one available can be bought at harbor freight but there's many similar models out there. For around 500-600 you can get one with a larger throat opening and coolant system.

For a production shop here is what I'm looking at:
http://www.southern-tool.com/store/3580t_bandsaw.html
http://www.southern-tool.com/store/t...n_bandsaw.html

ravencr

So for the avid hobbyist like myself, would the one from Harbor suit me just fine? Also, in your opinion, what the heck is the primary differences between it and other two to have such a large price difference?

Chris

Shane

For occasional light use, sure there's many people out there building rigs with that same saw.
Size and quality. They range all over inbetween those examples. Poke around that website for ideas, they also have a similar model to the HF one.