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26th Nov 2017, 10:00 AM #1New Member
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The best metal cutting powertool for a small work place?
Hi!
I'm new to this forums. Greetings from Mexico for everybody.
I love metalworking, but my work place is fairly small (i live in a flat). 4' x 8' aprox. I've got, over time, some welding machines, but i'm lacking of something nice to make precise cuts; a power tool that could fit in my small workbench and work place. I will work with square and round tubing, 2'' in diameter maximum, but primarily for small projects where i need to build boxes and small structures with 1'', 3/4'' or even 1/2'' square tubing, 14 gauge at most.
When making miter joints on thin tubing, if the cut isn't precise enough, the gap between pieces is fairly big, and too is the chance of blowing a hole through. I have a little lincoln mig machine and an everlast for tig, but my welding skills aren't good enough yet to weld bad matching joints without piercing the material. I make all the cuts with my small angle grinder and my hacksaw.
I've seen a vast diversity of metal cutting power tools, from chop saws to band and cold cut saws. However they're, generally speaking, too big to work comfortably in a place as small as mine is. So i'm looking for your advice to find which bench or portable power tool fits best under small space circumstances, that can make cuts precise enough to make joints with decent welds without being too skillful.
Thanks for your attention and advice. I wish you joyful welds.Last edited by spyro; 26th Nov 2017 at 11:45 AM. Reason: Yeah, sorry. The size of the work place is given in feet and not inches ;)
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26th Nov 2017, 10:33 AM #2Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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Firstly welcome to the forum.
Given the size of your workshop its a wonder you can get anything into it
Assuming you meant ft instead of inches it sounds like you need something like this.
//metalworkforums.com/f65/t1967...tachment-bench
This is a home made machine but you can achieve a similar effect by using a thin kerf cutting wheel in a small bench top table saw.
Most bench top table saws have plastic bodies but this is not suitable for metal cutting so you will need to look for one with a metal body.
Recently I put a diamond wheel on this saw and this significantly reduces the amount of dust produced since there's no resin from in the abrasive binders.
This wheel also reduces wheel wander so it make straighter cuts.
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26th Nov 2017, 11:56 AM #3New Member
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Wow. That is an amazing invention. I'll check it out for sure. Thanks for sharing the idea!
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26th Nov 2017, 01:58 PM #4
Welcome to our forum spyro,
Grahame
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26th Nov 2017, 02:18 PM #5Most Valued Member
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Welcome to a top forum spyro.
I think you'll find this piece of machinery will fit into you workspace. I run its big brother, best of all it has very little noise, very little dust/mess and I found mine to be quite accurate after a little tweaking. To save shifting the fence, for cutting 45 and 90 degrees, I made a 45 degree block which saves a LOT of time.
https://littlemachineshop.com/produc...ory=1170090132Overall Dimensions (W x D x H) 22.8" x 11.6" x 25.2" (580 mm x 295 mm x 640 mm)
Hope this helps,
KrynTo grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.
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26th Nov 2017, 04:01 PM #6New Member
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Thanks Kryn. I think a band saw is one of the best candidates to fit in. This one you are showing me is quite interesting.
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26th Nov 2017, 05:19 PM #7Most Valued Member
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You're welcome spyro, best of all it comes from across the border, Little Machine Shop so if you know anyone coming over they may bring it for you.
KrynTo grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.
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27th Nov 2017, 07:04 AM #8Diamond Member
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27th Nov 2017, 03:40 PM #9Most Valued Member
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After 10 minutes searching, found one similar at Hare and Forbes
https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/B004 $594.00 including Grab Snatch and Take (GST ;-))
Order Code: B004
BS-5V - Portable Swivel Head Metal Cutting Band Saw (240V)
130 x 125mm (W x H) Rectangle Capacity
Compact Design, Only 23kg
Hope this helps
KrynTo grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.
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28th Nov 2017, 12:42 PM #10Senior Member
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- Feb 2016
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- NSW
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Yeah if not one of those mini bandsaws, I'd look at some of the DIY conversions of Portaband type powertools to fixed/semifixed bandsaws.
Before my bandsaw broke I was increasingly using it in the vertical mode unless sawing very heavy stock. Watching Stefan Gotteswinter and Tom Lipton on YouTube shows the flexibility and time savings a vertical metal cutting bandsaw can give you - and it's way more than just cutting stock to length.
A lot of people are converting them to fixed vertical bandsaws for metalworking. Makes for a very versatile tool, and can easily be adapted to do tube miter cutting using a miter jig, which sounds like the problem you're trying to solve. Some examples:
Brian Oltrogge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2uWx7xl1go
Jimmy DiResta's concept is interesting as it combines features to get both a vertical metal bandsaw, and a horizontal metal bandsaw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf8So17o8oU
There's many other great examples on YouTube if you just go looking for 'portaband stand'. I think if the portaband units weren't so expensive here' that's probably the route I would have taken instead of a full 4x6" horizontal saw.
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29th Nov 2017, 06:46 AM #11New Member
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Thanks Mettle. I agree with you. A band saw seems to be the best option to do clean, and acceptably precise cuts without doing so much mess as it's done with abrasive discs. Also, when equipped with an induction motor (instead of a universal one), band saws can be relatively quiet, which i find desirable too 'cause i won't be freaking my neighbors out as i do with the grinder.
I think that's the tool to go. However, as you pointed, portabands are quite expensive, at least the quality ones as makita's or dewalt's. I found a really interesting project in a youtube channel named "Made in Poland": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0s6MVtsISU
This guy builds his own band saw using basic tools, a grinder gearbox and a drill. It would be nicer, in my opinion, to power a saw like this with an induction motor, although it had to be constrained only to the vertical position, which in general seems to be the most used position to make precision cuts.
If you watch the video, let me know what you think. Thanks for your advice!!!
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29th Nov 2017, 07:25 AM #12
Hi Guys,
That video shows just what can be done with a few tools and some hardware, quite impressive.Best Regards:
Baron J.
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