Cutting Railroad Track

[clemsonfor]

for lack of knowing where this should be, either welding or rural living etc, i settled on the welding forum since this is read by metal guys.

I have a piece of modern CSX railroad track i want to cut down. Any suggestions, i have been told a torch and others have said that it would take a whole bottle of gas and you probly couldnot get it hot enough to cut. I though about one of those metal rental cutoff saws like stihl makes but the rental and disk were going to be like $40. A big plasma? A logger i know might have a cutter that will cut that size but not sure. What about an angle grinder i made an 1/8 cut in it testing it out and it seemed to cut with my 4'' grinder, i just think once i get to the thick part there my grinder wont have the oomph to get it, that and i will probly use up 20 disks or so.

So any suggestions besides getting CSX to use the hydraulic nippers on it.
Better yet any that have actually cut it?

 

[mustangsallysdad]

for lack of knowing where this should be, either welding or rural living etc, i settled on the welding forum since this is read by metal guys.

I have a piece of modern CSX railroad track i want to cut down. Any suggestions, i have been told a torch and others have said that it would take a whole bottle of gas and you probly couldnot get it hot enough to cut. I though about one of those metal rental cutoff saws like stihl makes but the rental and disk were going to be like $40. A big plasma? A logger i know might have a cutter that will cut that size but not sure. What about an angle grinder i made an 1/8 cut in it testing it out and it seemed to cut with my 4'' grinder, i just think once i get to the thick part there my grinder wont have the oomph to get it, that and i will probly use up 20 disks or so.

So any suggestions besides getting CSX to use the hydraulic nippers on it.
Better yet any that have actually cut it?

I've made a couple of anvils out of rail using an O/A torch and a #6 tip...cut fine...regulators set at 6 psi and 52 psi.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

It should cut through fine.

Most any medium size torch will cut through that fine with a 5 tip or even smaller.

As for the gas settings, that is going to depend on your torch and torch model. My Smith will require about 10 psi and 40 psi on Acetylene and Oxygen respectively.

A Oxy fuel torch doesn't cut necessarily by getting something hot and melting it. Rather the torch rapidly oxidizes the carbon steel, once the metal has reached the ignition point. The can be done quickly at a localized point if the flame is held quite close so that the inner cone is washing down onto the metal.

 

[Egon]

Cutoff saw will work quite well. That's the same as the angle grinder.

 

[Bill_C]

14 inch abrasive cutoff saw ("chop saw") was gonna be my answer too, if I had to do it. Used mine a while back to easily cut a hardened steel shaft that just laughed at my bandsaw (and dulled the bandsaw teeth).

But I've seen 'em cut with a torch.

 

[sweettractors]

I made a anvil several years ago and used my acetelyne torch. It seems the hardest part to cut, was the first 1/4 inch on the top part of the track. I dont remember having any real problems cutting. 3 other guys in our shop made anvils the same day I made mine with no problem. Ken Sweet

 

[yomax4]

Most any Oxy Fuel Torch will lop off the RR track. I use a Victor Straight Cutter with the New Edge Regulators. I use Propylene Fuel Gas and have made dozens of cuts on RR Tracks at Shows. No Problem here, Just Cut it!!:thumbsup:

 

[gauthier]

Yeah,crank it up a little and have at it,if that don't work well crank it up some more,never tried to cut a rail before,but its all about preheat,you'll need to spend some time preheating cut area.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

If you start on the edge on the bottom of the rail, you won't need much more than normal preheat. If you do, you don't have your flame right.

 

[firefighter jim]

Take it to a steel warehouse and have them cut in on a power hack saw. It will render a perfect clean and square cut. I've had several cut this way years ago.

 

[CharlieS]

I've cut several pieces of rail for myself and others (small anvils mainly) using both torch and port-a-band. Both worked ok, both take some time.
Cutting with a 4" angle grinder would probably work but i forsee attacking the rail from several different angles because of the limited cutting depth of the small grinder, and as mentioned it will probably take several cutting wheels.

 

[FlaDon]

14 inch abrasive cutoff saw ("chop saw") was gonna be my answer too, if I had to do it. Used mine a while back to easily cut a hardened steel shaft that just laughed at my bandsaw (and dulled the bandsaw teeth).

But I've seen 'em cut with a torch.

I use the chop saw also. I do have an O/A torch than can cut straight thru the rail from the head to the base but it is slower and burns a ton of gas.

 

[clemsonfor]

This may be an excuse for me to get a 7" angle grinder or a metal chop saw from harbor freight. I havent needed one yet but after i call around and get a price to cut it it may be just as cheap to buy something from them to do it and then i have the tool for other things in the future. Any hey if i buy it and use it and it burns up, you have the 90 days no question return on it so i will just get another. Like i said i have made it all these few years with out a heavy dudy metal saw so i think i will be fine with a HF model. After all im new to welding and with a HF 120v unit in not burning heavy dudy metal or much of anything just little fixes on equiptment and trailers (nothing like springs or toungs though).

As far as the 4" grinder i had questioned weather i could actually get it as i have the limited depth. but i think i could from multiple angles and if not all the way through enough to hit it with a sledge and open the cut up a little maybe to get some more depth.

Thanks for the responses.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

Personally,

I think cutting through such a thick piece of metal with a chop saw is quite dangerous. Chop saws are designed for light gauge metal. If you have a torch, it should zip right through that. You're talking about cutting through metal that is over 2 inches thick and high tensile at that. Although it will cut/grind, the issue is that it will rapidly destroy a grinding and cutting rock rapidly to the point the whole stone will disintegrate and launch projectiles from the blade at high rates of speed. It would take quite some time to cut down through it.

A torch would make the cut in a fraction of the time. Then you could grind the rough cut up, but I wouldn't try to cut anything that thick without some serious protection.

 

[clemsonfor]

I see your point, im new to the metal thing and will head that advice. A torch will work but i dont have one. A rroung cut will work, im useing this as a weight on my disk harrow and the long piece is just to heavy and the front of the tractor is off the ground when i pick it up and i have to either let it drag a little or use the steering brakes to turn. I was going to cut my 6ft piece to a 4 ft and 2 ft, the 4 ft being for the harrow and the 2ft for the front of the tractor with the 3 '' round stock thats up there now that weight s 80lbs.

 

[wvpolekat]

Hacksaw!

 

[Dargo]

This may be an excuse for me to get a 7" angle grinder or a metal chop saw from harbor freight. I havent needed one yet but after i call around and get a price to cut it it may be just as cheap to buy something from them to do it and then i have the tool for other things in the future. Any hey if i buy it and use it and it burns up, you have the 90 days no question return on it so i will just get another. Like i said i have made it all these few years with out a heavy dudy metal saw so i think i will be fine with a HF model. After all im new to welding and with a HF 120v unit in not burning heavy dudy metal or much of anything just little fixes on equiptment and trailers (nothing like springs or toungs though).

As far as the 4" grinder i had questioned weather i could actually get it as i have the limited depth. but i think i could from multiple angles and if not all the way through enough to hit it with a sledge and open the cut up a little maybe to get some more depth.

Thanks for the responses.

LOL, you're looking for some really frustrating times! A HF chop saw does well to cut through 1/2" rebar! As I've mentioned before, I've burned up their junk chop saws so easily that they aren't worth the gas money to exchange them. I bought a real chop saw and gave the junk HF to my dad. He gave it back!! LOL What's really, really bad is that when I put it out with the trash, the trash man wouldn't even take it. He said he picks them up almost every week on his run. Trying to cut railroad track with a HF chop saw would be something you'd want to record and put on youtube. It will be a bad joke at best!

 

[Travelover]

HF sells three grades of chop saw. I bought this one (the best of the 3) for $80.

3-1/2 HP 14" Industrial Cutoff Saw

I've cut some pretty beefy (1/4") channel with it and it worked great once I put on a better cut off blade. Not sure I'd want to cut through a rail road track with it, though. :laughing:

 

[mustangsallysdad]

I really DON'T recommend using a chop saw on a piece of rail...any way you can get it to someone with a torch or a large, horizontal bandsaw (slow & lot's of lube)?

 

[Dargo]

HF sells three grades of chop saw. I bought this one (the best of the 3) for $80.

3-1/2 HP 14" Industrial Cutoff Saw

I've cut some pretty beefy (1/4") channel with it and it worked great once I put on a better cut off blade. Not sure I'd want to cut through a rail road track with it, though. :laughing:

The review on the site you posted is pretty accurate. Even their best is extremely poorly made with the cheapest materials. Their cheapest isn't worth the cost of the box it comes in. Sorry, but of everything I've ever bought at Horrible Freight, their chop saws rate dead last with me. Really, it's pretty bad when the trash man won't even take one for free and says he picks them up almost weekly in the garbage.

Now, I do like their yellow handled hammers for $1.99 though.