There's HEAVY labor charges for cutting steel

[Chuck Craven]

I bought a 9” power angle grinder from Harbor Freight for $60 and it works grate for cutting steel. It also will grind the bevels before welding parts together. It has a shatter shield and is designed for cutting/grinding steel. They have good prices on the cutoff wheels also. When cutting 45’s on tubing I do a ruff cut first then holding the two ends in a gig I run the wheel down between the two pieces to fit them together.

Chuck

[mikeschn]

I believe you can get a steel chop box from H.F. for about $99.

Mike...

[Denny Unfried]

I bought a fourteen inch $49 chop saw from Harbor Freight and it works as well as my expensive one. It comes with no blade but a metal cutting disk is only a $7 item from the Home Center.

When my metal supplier makes cuts for customers they toss the cut-off piece into a pile and sell it by the pound @ scrap steel prices. I got all the steel for my frame for less than $100 and some of it was from that pile of channel iron.

Denny

[cracker39]

When I used the term "chop saw", I was referring to my Sears compound miter saw. It is rated at 4800 RPM, no load. I have a metal blade in a circular saw and have used it to cut everything from rebar to a 5" diameter 1/4" thick pole. I'm not concerned about putting a 9" or 10" metal blade in my miter saw and using it as they are rated for a faster speed than my saw can run. I don't plan to "force" the cutting and put any more stress on the unit than when cutting wood. I already made sure that I can remove the plastic parts that will be exposed to the sparks or chips.

A miter saw should make very accurate 45 and 90 degree cuts, which are all I need. The heaviest I will be cutting will be 3/16" 2" x 2" tube and I will take my time cutting through it. I have a cheap HF 4" grinder for beveling the edges for welding, but I don't think I can make really accurate cuts with it. I make cuts on really small metal (angle brackets, for example) with a 3" air powered cutoff tool, but that wouldn't make a dent in thick stuff.

I'm glad this thread turned into a discussion on cutting. If anyone has any really good reasons why I shouldn't use my miter saw, or more success stories from using one to cut metal, I'd like to hear from you.

[sunny16]

When I built my frame I tried to use my Delta wood chop saw with the appropriate blade for metal but it lasted about three cuts, the blade that is. I then tried my 4 1/2 HF grinder with a metal cutof blade and that worked so much better and faster. I just had to be more carful when cutting the 45 degree angles. ANd yes you have to watch all the plastic parts on your chop saw. I had my windows stacked close to my saw and never noticed the sparking had hit them until I built a mock-up of the side with the windows in place. I then notice a NEW texture to the windows. But I took a clean one-sides razor blade and cleaned it off. I thought I was going to have to buy a new windo. So watch out what is around you cut-off area. Sparks fly all over and great distances if you are not careful.

[cracker39]

When I built my frame I tried to use my Delta wood chop saw with the appropriate blade for metal but it lasted about three cuts, the blade that is.

Why only 3 cuts? What happened to the blade? Did it go dull, or break? I'd like to try the miter saw at least for the 45 degree cuts. I have the 4 1/2" HF grinder as a backup plan.

[Chris C]

Dale,

I bought the HF chop saw when I built my trailer frame. It was worth every penny and did an excellent job. I certainly wouldn't put a metal cutting blade on my expensive compound miter saw. Now I have a metal chop saw to use around the farm for other jobs.

[sunny16]

Cracker39 wrote:

Why only 3 cuts? What happened to the blade? Did it go dull, or break? I'd like to try the miter saw at least for the 45 degree cuts. I have the 4 1/2" HF grinder as a backup plan.

Cracker39,

The blades I used were from Home Depot. When I picked them out another shopper walked by and asked if I planned to cut metal. He said to buy a few of them as they don't last long. So I did and they didn't last long! The 4 1/2" grinder blades have worked great. Just my experience.....

[cracker39]

I've been using one blade in my 7 1/4" circular saw and it has already cut through more metal than I'll cut with a 10" in the miter saw making six 45 degree angle cuts. I really don't see the difference in the 7 1/4" and 10" blades, doing the same jog. You'd think the 10" would last even longer. I'm going to give it a try and will let you know how it works. I'm not sure if my 7 1/4" metal blade came from HD or HF, but I think it was HD by looking at what's left of the bar code sticker. I even wore a couple of inches off the diameter cutting Hardi panel, made from concrete and cellulose fibers, then cut more metal with it and it cut fine. It keeps getting smaller, and just keeps on cutting.

[angib]

Chop saws are lovely, if noisy. But you can't beat the 4.5" angle grinder for cheapness and versatility - you need one in addition to a chop saw for that detail work. Then put a sanding cup and disc on it and you get a truly versatile woodworking tool - known in boatyards here as the 'electric spokeshave'.

Andrew

[cracker39]

I brought my steel home today on top of my truck. You don't know just how heavy a 19' piece of 3/16" 2" x 2" tube is until you take it down by yourself. The tube pieces were all 24' lengths and I had them cut off 5' so they wouldn't stick out so far beyond the ends of the truck. Those 5' pieces of 3/16" will be my chassis end rails. Part of the leftover 3/16" and 1/8" tube will be used to construct my rear bumper and to add weight to the rear so my axle will be farther back.

I have nearly all of my frame pieces now....tires, wheels, axle, and steel. I was amazed at the close clearance between my trailing arms and the mount. It is only 1/4" and my 1/4" plywood needs to extend down into that space. I asked for 1/2" clearance, and I guess they thought I meant 1/2" total for both sides. Now, I'll have to either make a cutout in my plywood for the trailing arms, or make the frame 1/2" narrower than planned, which is probably the easier way to get the clearance I need.

[Chris C]

ELECTRIC SPOKESHAVE? I'll stick with the real thing. Around here they use those "electric spokeshaves" for large carvings.

[Joanne]

Chop saws are lovely, if noisy. But you can't beat the 4.5" angle grinder for cheapness and versatility - you need one in addition to a chop saw for that detail work. Then put a sanding cup and disc on it and you get a truly versatile woodworking tool - known in boatyards here as the 'electric spokeshave'.

Andrew

I have to agree about their usefulness. A guy at work kept telling me to get one but I was skeptical. Finally I scraped together a few bucks and bought a Makita. Wow! Was he right! I used one to cut apart the welds on my old boat trailer and then cut the pieces down to size for the tear. I purchased a sanding back for it and that works great too.

Joanne

[angib]

A guy at work kept telling me to get one but I was skeptical. Finally I scraped together a few bucks and bought a Makita.

I felt much the same........., until I tried one and then I was hooked too.

I think it is one of the few tools where there really is no need to buy anything better than the cheapest. They will all suck in the dust and grit that they cut and it means their life isn't long - about six months in a working environment seems to be constant for all makes. As buying spare parts is rarely economic, you might as well throw away a cheap tool as an expensive one.

If you are going to use a grinder as a hand-held sander, you ideally want one with a narrow case so you can curl your fingers around it - not something you normally need when using it as a grinder.

Andrew

[cracker39]

FLASH...METAL CUTTING STATUS REPORT!!!

Following all of the advice to use a metal blade in my miter saw, and not following advice not to, I bought a couple of 10" metal blades from HD today, and installed one in my miter saw. I removed the dust bag and plastic cutting insert, and fashioned some deflectors from scrap metal flashing to keep the sparks away from my miter indicator that is plastic, behind the blade in the path of the sparks, and not removable.

I made two cuts so far in my heaviest metal, the 3/16" 2"x2" tube for the tongue. The first cut took several minutes to get through the flat top, 3/16" x 2", and them went faster down through the two side walls. Cutting the 2nd piece went much faster. Any guesses as to why it was slower on the first cut? Do these blades cut better once the initial edge is worn down? Well, after two cuts through the 3/16", the blade looks hardly worn away at all. It looks like I may get through all of my cutting with one blade...time will tell. Anyway, it's worked great so far. I'm going back out now and cut the 45 degree miters on the 1/8" for the frame perimeter.