impala59 Posted August 31, 2018 Report Share Posted August 31, 2018 Any views on cutting steel tube (up to 5mm wall thickness) by fitting a suitable blade (210 mm I believe) on my chopsaw. I usually use a home made jig that holds the 4 1/2” angle grinder fitted with a 1mm disc while I rotate the tube to keep the cut square. I have quite a few smallish pieces to cut ,some with odd angles, so looking to speed things up with accuracy and also safety. Recommendations please for blades/discs or alternatives if this is not a practical/safe/cost effective direction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted September 1, 2018 Report Share Posted September 1, 2018 Would it not be safer and easier to send your request to a local supplier. Up here in Peterborough we outsource a lot of small jobs and with the quality and quick turn round it is not worth setting up to do them ourselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_R Posted September 1, 2018 Report Share Posted September 1, 2018 I have an Evolution chop saw which has cut though steel scaffold tube. Does a good job though noisy and lots of hot sharp chips. You might find an Evolution blade for yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haynes Posted September 1, 2018 Report Share Posted September 1, 2018 The evolution saws i have found a are quite well built for the money. There blades last well too. Iirc there blades have a 1 inch hole in them as opposed to a standard 30mm. So might not fit a normal mitre saw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnphilip Posted September 1, 2018 Report Share Posted September 1, 2018 Is your chopsaw for cutting wood or steel . If is a steel chopsaw that uses a disc .DO NOT FIT A TOOTHED BLADE. They spin at differant rates and very dangerous .its a big no no. If its a one for wood then you need to find out if your saw will take a steel cutting toothed blade . I have the Evoluction and cut ally , but not mild steel. I was going to stick a toothed blade on my metal disc cutting chopsaw till i looked on youtube , and pleased i did . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainBeaky Posted September 1, 2018 Report Share Posted September 1, 2018 I used an Evolution chop saw to cut up a load of 40mm and 50mm square steel tube a couple of years back. Works well for a small number of cuts, but you get loads of hot, sharp chippings, and the blades go blunt quite quickly, which gets expensive. If you need precise repeatable angles, then yes. Likewise for small pieces, yes, as you can clamp the job down. If you have a lot of cuts, I would suggest an ultra-thin cutting disk in your angle grinder. What are you making? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impala59 Posted September 1, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2018 32 minutes ago, CaptainBeaky said: I used an Evolution chop saw to cut up a load of 40mm and 50mm square steel tube a couple of years back. Works well for a small number of cuts, but you get loads of hot, sharp chippings, and the blades go blunt quite quickly, which gets expensive. If you need precise repeatable angles, then yes. Likewise for small pieces, yes, as you can clamp the job down. If you have a lot of cuts, I would suggest an ultra-thin cutting disk in your angle grinder. What are you making? Based on the above replies, it seems that there are, as I suspected some safety issues and I shall indeed continue to use the angle grinder with thin cutting discs, which, to be fair cut through steel like butter. I am making some magazine tube stabilisers for a number of shooting pals (as opposed to clamps which seem to bend the magazine extension) The thinking being that the threaded extension when screwed in tight, simply needs stabilising at the muzzle end but should run straight and parallel with the barrel. An m5 grub screw would take care of anti-rotation. I wanted to use steel for threading superiority but I'm leaning toward aluminium for ease of working now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
la bala Posted September 1, 2018 Report Share Posted September 1, 2018 I know a good chop saw is best for tube but they are also good money. Dont you know anyone with a bandsaw with angle vice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haynes Posted September 1, 2018 Report Share Posted September 1, 2018 I bought a titan chop saw from screwfix. Its been brilliant. No mo bending down with your foot on top of the piece your cutting and the sparks burning your other trouser leg. It was only 70quid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_R Posted September 2, 2018 Report Share Posted September 2, 2018 (edited) On 01/09/2018 at 14:02, la bala said: I know a good chop saw is best for tube but they are also good money. Dont you know anyone with a bandsaw with angle vice. To be honest I would agree with you, but the OP said he wanted something quick. I bought a metal cutting band saw over 30 years ago at a model engineering show and it has proved to be a great buy. Edited September 2, 2018 by John_R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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