Hi

I'm thinking of starting work on a McSorley design for a Locost chassis and was wondering if anyone had any advise on what tools to use for cutting the metal tubing?

I have heard of people just using a guide and a hacksaw, but this seems a bit longwinded, and the professional cutting benches are quite expensive.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks

i have 1 like this and its very very good Evolution Rage 3 Multipurpose Sliding Mitre Saw 240v | eBay UK

there are a few people around doing flat pack chassis very reasonably.

I have both a rage evo 3 and a 14" abrasive. The 14" gets A LOT of use.

A hacksaw with decent branded blades (e.g. Eclipse), and some sharp files are the best tools I found when cutting square section for my chassis. A chop saw or band saw would be faster for the straight cuts, but for the angled ones (especially compound angles) it takes just as long to set up as it does to cut the tube one side at a time IME.

[Edited on 12/7/11 by MikeRJ]

Get one of these:



They're $300 in Australia I'd expect them to be cheaper in the UK, cuts are clean with very little clean up required before fitting.

[Edited on 12/7/11 by Doug68]

"A hacksaw with decent branded blades (e.g. Eclipse), and some sharp files are the best tools I found when cutting square section for my chassis. A chop saw or band saw would be faster for the straight cuts, but for the angled ones (especially compound angles) it takes just as long to set up as it does to cut the tube one side at a time IME. "

Im with Mike, thats how i did mine, and all the suspension

Steve

I cut all my chassis rails with a hacksaw - once you've done a few, you'll be very accurate. You don't need anything else - it's just being lazy!

They'll take about 15 secs per cut!

ATB

Simon

I have a DeWalt Chop Saw (abrasive) for sale if anyone is interested? (It's been used less than a dozen times and thereforeperfect condition)

I have 9" grinders, 4.5" grinders plasma cutter and had an old power hacksaw, the best way to do this IMHO is by hand with a decent hacksaw and mitre block.

I tried the rest, its takes seconds to do the tubes by hand, then lay out, its just not worth spending the money.

The plasma cutter was great for the ali body panels but gobbles air and nozzles etc, if spending the money again I would get a decent jigsaw for this element.

Regards Mark

Awesome. Thanks for all the reviews.

I'll get a decent hacksaw and make a few parts to see how difficult it is, then maybe shell out for a decent jigsaw or cutter.

It would be cool to try out a plasma cutter as I've never used one, but I'll leave that to later iterations. Do you find it gives a good edge?

Thanks again, I didn't expect this level of response :)

I'm in the hacksaw camp - once you get the hang of it the cuts can be made accurately and very quickly.

Make sure that you get the right blades - good quality (e.g. Eclipse, Sandvik) and the right sort (bi-metal). This sort of blade has a flexible body with a strip of ultra-hard teeth welded to it - these are very forgiving of bad technique. The experts may use fully hard blades, but they will snap at the slightest twist.

quote:

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Originally posted by David Jenkins
I'm in the hacksaw camp - once you get the hang of it the cuts can be made accurately and very quickly.

Make sure that you get the right blades - good quality (e.g. Eclipse, Sandvik) and the right sort (bi-metal). This sort of blade has a flexible body with a strip of ultra-hard teeth welded to it - these are very forgiving of bad technique. The experts may use fully hard blades, but they will snap at the slightest twist.

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Get an angle grinder and a pile of 1mm gutting disks. And a hack saw for late night work

I agree with above, I've posted the below before a while ago.

Once your abrasive cut off saw is set up dead square, it is too much trouble to keep resetting it when you want to cut miters.

So, what I do:

Quick, dirty, noisy and expensive way:

Mark tube on two adjacent sides,
Clamp tube in vice so you can see the two marked sides with the cut line horizontal and the tube angling away from you,
Push thin slitting disc on small grinder through tube, just above marked line. If you brace your lower hand on the vice you can cut quite accurately.
Polish back to line and make cut face flat with a poly fan abrasive disc, checking by eye and or angle gauge.

Slow, clean, and cheap way:

Mark tube on four sides,
Clamp tube in vice.
Cut with hacksaw, turning tube over once you have cut the "top" and "front", so you can see the lines on the other faces .
Finish with file, checking with square and angle gauge.

Which method I use depends on the thickness of the material, time of day (noise factor) and if I have stock of discs.

What I find very useful is a carpenters angle gauge. This is a slotted block of plastic which has a pivoting steel blade secured with a wing nut. You can hold it into the area where you want the part to fit to set the angle, or set it with a protractor, and then use it to mark the tube and check it once cut. Stanly do a good one cheap.

Cheers

Fred WB

Awesome. I'll get cracking this week hopefully.

I'll let you know how it goes :)

I had the idea of prototyping things in wood to check measurements and angles, but i realised that it would be good practice for welding, as well as easier if I just did it in metal and then if the piece is worthy then it can just go onto the car.

Once this is sorted gotta start working on the jigs.... even more fun.

Thanks guys.

Plasma leaves a clean cut one side and a ridge of melted metal on the other side that you need to clean off with a grinder, you do not need start holes and can go around complex bends so great for ali panels.

Jigsaw tends to leave scratches and drags on ali so you need to mask where the feet run and are restricted in turns.

quote:

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Originally posted by systemshock
I had the idea of prototyping things in wood to check measurements and.....

Thanks guys.

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Not sure if you're kidding or not...

Just diving in will cost more in material, labor, and time then starting with a clearly though-out design. Think of it as building a house, in one case starting with blueprints, and in the other case just starting to cut wood without a plan. I designed my first car before building it, and did the same with the second. I can't imagine flailing around with redoing things over and over because of unforeseen consequences and half-baked ideas.

[Edited on 7/15/11 by kb58]