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Chop Saw for steel recommendations

Heavyleft said:
Curious where your going to be cutting. Your location says Campbell. You'll get heat from the MPs whether in the barracks parking lot or post housing neighborhoods....lol. I guess I'm lucky that my motor pool has a sweet horizontal band saw, tube shark, drill press and a welder if I want to knock something out during lunch or even on a weekend.
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I bought a house in Clarksville this past October. Would definitely like to get together with a local CK5er!
 
Thanks for all of the suggestions guys! I want to buy quality tools that will last and do the job right but financially I only have so much to work with.

I don't know the term for this kind of cut but I'm going to need to cut the rectangular tube at say a 45* angle height wise because the frame rails will be wider under the tub area than it will be in the front. I don't know if I would be able to do that with a chopsaw.
 
I believe it is called a compound angle cut.

I've heard of people making these cuts by marking and using an angle grinder.

Would the Portaband and Swag table be capable of pulling this off?
 
I bought a taiwanese horizontal band saw used for 600 bucks. Very little use. I have done a lot of cutting with it. From 1/4 inch round bar to 4x3 1/4 wall tube. As long as I keep everything tight, it cuts nice and straight. Biggest problem I have is keeping the coolant thawed.

New blades from Detroit saw blades made a huge difference also.
 
The Portaband and Swag table together seem like they would be able to do what I need + I'd have a portaband that I could use for other projects.
 
I have the corded portaband with table setup and the Milwaukee chop saw 14". I hardly use the chop saw compared to the portaband setup. I even have a cordless portaband for work since I like portable band saws so much...

Cuting a 45degree into .250 wall rectangular tubing is maxing the limits of a Portaband imo...I'd defiantly be patient, I did a couple cuts like that and considered it beating on the tool but it did make the cut fairly straight eventually.
 
wow.. it's on sale now... $99 less than i paid last year....


http://www.grizzly.com/products/7-x-12-Metal-Cutting-Bandsaw/G0561



I know it's out of the OP's $ range, but I'll just say, between this and some modded $400 HF POS, no comparison... the coolant system is sooooooooo much better than a dry...

I've been flogging this thing for a year, and the blade cuts the same as new cuz it's liquid cooled...

it's made Mutt's tubebed gig so much more fun/easy to build... I've done some off the wall cut's with it too, beyond just loading tube, or rect in it...
 
Damn Ryoken that is Awesome wish my garage was bigger!! Thanks for link there drill press at $425 is pretty nice and has lower RPM's like Stomis was telling me to look for in a drill press. Wish saw was a smaller size or I had a bigger garage.
 
handloader90 said:
The Portaband and Swag table together seem like they would be able to do what I need + I'd have a portaband that I could use for other projects.
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My advice would be hold off for something worth while. I wish I could have my $200 back from my hot saw to put towards a different better tool. The band saw will serve you well in other ways too. So mark the tube on all 4 sides and chop each face with the band saw. Or hell even a grinder.
 
Stomis said:
Thats a good size for that price! I was checking out the Hem Femi one linked above and said to myself "man the throat size isnt bad for the size and cost" then I saw the 45* capability and said ughhh nope.
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Yep, a big, heavy traditional band saw is a much better bang for the buck, if you have the space. That is what I would have done for a big shop.

The Femi is portable like a miter saw and it sits on a bench in the garage or goes outside and gets setup on the miter saw stand.

I just broke the first blade on the Femi, today. Yesterday I made 20 45 degree cuts in 3" sq tube steel 3/16" wall, and 40 cuts in 11 gauge steel sq. tube. Last weekend we made 30+ cuts in 3" 1/4" wall pipe, and cut a bunch of flat bar, plus other small projects. That was a lot of cutting and I may have had the bearings a bit tight as well. I can't complain about getting all of that from a $20 blade. Hopefully I can make the next one last even longer. It has saved me a ton of time in grinding and having to deal with inaccurate cuts. It only hurts once to buy the tool. :haha:
 
CGT80 said:
Yep, a big, heavy traditional band saw is a much better bang for the buck, if you have the space. That is what I would have done for a big shop.

The Femi is portable like a miter saw and it sits on a bench in the garage or goes outside and gets setup on the miter saw stand.

I just broke the first blade on the Femi, today. Yesterday I made 20 45 degree cuts in 3" sq tube steel 3/16" wall, and 40 cuts in 11 gauge steel sq. tube. Last weekend we made 30+ cuts in 3" 1/4" wall pipe, and cut a bunch of flat bar, plus other small projects. That was a lot of cutting and I may have had the bearings a bit tight as well. I can't complain about getting all of that from a $20 blade. Hopefully I can make the next one last even longer. It has saved me a ton of time in grinding and having to deal with inaccurate cuts. It only hurts once to buy the tool. :haha:
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Nice. The 45* capacity on the thing was advertised as terrible though :dunno:
 
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