Yeah, metal fab -it's a pretty good hobby to get into. Some times it goes over the top. But I will tell you, working square tubing with decent cuts and a little bit of knowledge and practice is a beautiful thing. You could spend your cash on worse things. Your thoughts on a bandsaw, if your good taking your time, probably have a home shop so it will be quieter and more civilized. Set up your weld table. It will be great. Don't pay us old farts any mind at all. (removed) makes some good points that really you don't here anymore. We're in a society of deposable income, but it wasn't always that way and probably we'll see those times again.
Chop Saw Reccomendations
- Thread starter JohnnyMX
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WranglerX
Elite Member
Actually I have a abrasive chop saw and a horizontal band saw.... The band saw is a Craftsman Professional, it actual cuts on left side where as most saws cut on right side.... Fellow I got it from for ragingly large amount of $20 said it "did not cut".... Got it home plugged it in, motor would not spin up, after clean about 5 pounds of "mud dobber" nest out of motor it ran fine... Looked at blade, teeth are running "backwards" ????... Have to turn a standard blade inside out to get teeth to run in correct direction.... Cuts fine....Eventually had to replace "rubber bands" (tires) and a bevel gear but still into it about 1/3 of what cheapest new costs.... Its my go to for more precision or long duration cuts as I can set it up start it up and walk away and it just does its thing....
Not mine, but identical to mine....
Dale
Not mine, but identical to mine....
Dale
Big Barn
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^^ If you read saw reviews, but more often the blade reviews, there is an occasional '1 star' rating because "the blade was build backwards and the teeth are going in the wrong direction".
^^^ Very true. I have a bunch of them.
user.69169
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Average clown on couldesac just run longer and let blade rub thru. Probably got no idea blade is directional. Look at most hand hacksaws, 3" of blade wore out, rest still got factory paint on de teeth. Supposed to be dat way, don't it look good hanging on pegboard wall? Even spent time to shadow paint all his tools. Man gets paycheck for sitting in little cube and has time to moderate internet board from his device at work too. Spent a lot of time in school stuffed in hall locker when he was Hall Monitor. Switched to dat job from Crossing Guard after girls hooked his belt to flagpole rope & hauled him up.
crazyal
Super Member
Probably the same crowd that finds half the nails have the points on the wrong end when they take them out of the box.
user.69169
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I given up tellin dem guys dey sposta set dem nails aside cause dey fer other side of building.
Used to be "home center" here dat catered to large collection of medical doctors on Saturday morning. OK, dese are educated men, possibly some benefit to world, altho some I wondered about. Dozen or so of dem sitting on little bleacher contraption watchin demonstration of sanding floor wid rental machine.
(removed) bein de man he is gotta participate. I feel I belong, dey all got equipment hats so I fit right in wearin genuine Ancorage CAT hat.
Barely got comfortable when man offers to buy my hat for $50- Nope, cold outside (removed) needs hat.
Instructor fellow talkin about paper to strip old finish. I ask why not just throw sand and water on floor and use Skotchbrite. How de he!! I know profit to store in selling paper?
Nother doctor offers 75 for my hat. Nope, got it as christmas gift, Auction went to $150 and (removed) walked out werin de hat. Emailed my bud in Ak see can he get more.
Best part was doc who stood der runnin sander while instructor answered questions.. Machine sure was loud when it got thru fake floor and fell onto concrete floor.
UPDATE: After going through all the comments on here and assessing my holiday gift card situation, I ended up getting the HF horizontal bandsaw. I also took some of the price difference between a dry cut chop saw and this option to get a couple of Fireball Tool minion squares. For the saw and a couple of their cheap blades, I spent about 250 in total. Contrary to most of the reviews online, the setup was pretty easy, and my saw ran great out of the box. A couple of quick tweaks and it was cutting perfect 90s with no vibrations, squealing, etc. The saw cuts almost silently (no ear protection needed), is fast through mild steel, and leaves very little mess to be cleaned up. The cuts were also clean enough that I didn't need to do much clean-up before welding. The footprint is also reasonable and the saw wheels out of the way. The cart it comes with does give me some reservations, but it is functional for now.
I am doing all my work on a cheap HF portable welding table and my concrete floor for now, so this combo really stepped up my game on my first project.
I am doing all my work on a cheap HF portable welding table and my concrete floor for now, so this combo really stepped up my game on my first project.
Glad to hear you found a solution that works for you. I had my HF saw cutting steel yesterday, and it continues to impress me with it's accurate and clean cuts. I get a smile on my face every time I see it running almost silently.
sd455dan
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The china units are getting better a quote from WW member (Brand X)
Fine tuned my $92.00 120 volt plasma. The IGBT in these little units do a good job in them.. 1000 times better than a older mosfet unit,, Key is buying the correct/decent consumables for the torch..
Here are some cuts on a good 20 amp breaker(pulls more amps) 1/2 down to 10 ga..
https://weldingweb.com/vbb/attachment.php?attachmentid=1721621&stc=1&d=1608860812
How cheap can you go?? - Page 3
post 62- Pretty amazing 1/2 cut quality for what the machine cost.
post 64 how he achieved those quality cuts with a sub $100 plasma cutter Swirl ring seems to be a key item.
Another quote:
Cheap China stuff, but I've always had the best luck here..A few things that matter.. Correct .039 nozzles/electrodes, and most important thing is the swirl rings. Most China made ones are drilled at random. If you put ones that spin the air correctly, it will make a huge difference when using the .039 nozzles (30 amp nozzles/ 70 psi flowing) Really the 1/4 inch cut quality/speed is much improved, and overall sever is too.. The life on these consumables is very good too.. This machine blows away the performance of the original Esab Handy Plasma 250 (120 volt only 18 amp machine) imported from Italy years ago.. Herocut is made by Arc Sonic, and has stepped up the low cost Plasma machines.The pierce is really good too.. Punching throw .250 really fast. That was with the older non upgraded consumables. Bet it does 3/8 without issues now. Another test though.
His 1/2 " cuts are better than with my 50 amp MOSFET on 240 VAC
What I have and use use- Rage chop saw for most tubing that i need a clean cut and the abrasive when it isn't as critical
long cuts time for the plasma cutter or the Oxy acet.
Overall Very happy with my 5 year old 3 in 1 50 amp (Arcsonic-Lotos) pilot arc plasma cutter, HF 14 " cut off saw and the Rage saw
the horizontal band saw is still on the wish list
ps. For what brand X paid for his plasma ($91) Can No longer see a Good reason for most not to give an inexpensive Plasma cutter a try, it is now a very,very affordable option.
That is if he isn't pulling our legs. trying to verify the cuts were made by a dirt cheap plasma cutter.
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