Cutting metal
 

What do yall mainly use to cut metal? I'm talking normal metal like 1/8" to 5/16" or so and also tubing. I'm just curious as to what everyone uses and to see the variety out there. I wish I could afford a plasma or even oxy-acetylene with a bench grinder but i cant have it all...

I got one of those Dewalt handheld 3" angle grinder/cutters and it has been very useful. I use that and an oxy/act torch as well.. REALLY want plasma though and I will probably get a metal blade for my miter saw soon.

does the angle grinder work well to do actual cuts instead of grinding? do you have to put a different "blade" on?

I was previously partial to the sawzall spraying wd40 on the blade when it gets hot to make it last a little longer. As of late I use my angle grinder much more its good for a variety of tasks. Just always have extra blades/discs u never know when ur truck is in pieces and u run out of blades.

A die grinder with a cutoff wheel works well too.

If i'm at work, I'll use the plasma cutter to carve peices out. A cuttting torch as a last resort, lot's of grinding involved.

Yeah, you have to swap the disc. It makes nice, clean, quick cuts with the right disc though.

and practically speaking, what do you use to hold the metal? bench mounted vise? what about for cutting small stuff say a 5"x5" square or something?

for cheap get a 4 1/2" angle grinder and cutting wheel, or a chop saw both are better

I use a 4" and a 4.5" angle grinder for 90% of the stuff I cut. I also have a rigid chop saw and a simple jig saw with metal cutting blades. But if you want a plasma there are some cheap ones on ebay that have gotten really good reviews. PM me if you need a link.

i use the wet bandsaw to get the clean cut, mainly depends on the situation

If I'm fabbing something up out of the vehicle, a bandsaw works very well, nice clean straight cut's. Tubing, flatbar, roundbar, angle any of it.

I've got a cheapo harbor freight saw at home but it only accepts up to 4' material. If I need to, I'll haul whatever I'm fabbing to work and use the bigger bandsaw there. It will handle up to 12" material, round or square, rectangle whatever.

For thinner stuff, 1/8", 3/16" I'll sometimes use the diegrinder with a cutoof wheel, for curved peices, or other oddball angles.

Muriatic acid.

Horizontal/Vertical bandsaw works great for me. Started with a 4"x6" unit then a few years ago went up to a 7"x12" saw with coolant pump and hydraulic downfeed.

Even the litle saw did some really big jobs:
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri....shtml#HySteer

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri.../HySteer01.jpg

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri.../HySteer02.jpg

And I do have a plasma cutter, 14" chop saw, cutoff wheels for the 4-1/2" grinder, a SawzAll and a portable bandsaw that I will use for some instances. For example chop saw for cutting spring steel, and the hand held tools for cutting stuff off under the truck.

I use a chop saw, sawzall, and the last resort is the wizwheel.

mikita chop saw w/ a dewalt blade, Checker sawzall, and a checker grinder, it sucks, i wont sas till i have my own plasma. but i did my sliders no problem and will build other bumpers and sliders w/ what i have i wish i could get a plane and break? to build some plate schtuff.

i got an angle grinder so ill get some cutoff wheels and see how i do. im sure without a bench vise cutting small pieces will suck

Ya cutting small pieces with the grinder and cut-off discs sucks, but its doable. Just be very carefull. Once you get the disc in a cut dont turn the grinder at all or it will bind up, tear your work and disc to he11. Once you get the hang of it they're real good and fast. Good luck.