Cutting brass tubes

[bhenr99]

What do you guys do to cut your brass tubes from long stock. I will have to cut about 60 tubes. Thanks for any help.

Bob

 

[hrigg]

I make a jig that's the inside diameter of the tube I'm cutting, mount that in my chuck, swing my tool rest to the end of the jig to keep my wrist steady, then use a cut-off wheel in a Dremel tool. A little more time consuming than using a tubing cutter, but there's almost no inside burr to clean up.

 

[nava1uni]

I put it in V wedge, cut into a piece of 2X4. I use a small hack saw or a cut off tool in my Dremel. There is also a small tubing saw sold by Penn State if you are going to be cutting lots of tubing.http://www.pennstateind.com/store/TUBESAW.html
You might find this helpful

 

[Monty]

I put it in V wedge, cut into a piece of 2X4. I use a small hack saw or a cut off tool in my Dremel. There is also a small tubing saw sold by Penn State if you are going to be cutting lots of tubing.http://www.pennstateind.com/store/TUBESAW.html
You might find this helpful

You can get the same saw minus the jig from Harborfreight for $27.99
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=42307
Or you can get a 6" version -
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=42307http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=41453
for $39.99

The 4 inches works good for brass tubs but is not quite big enough to trim pen blanks. I'm thinking about upgrading to the 6 inch version.

 

[MobilMan]

I've cut then with a scroll saw. A thin piece of wood as a base with a 'back stop' or fence glued behind it. Don't cut all the way thru the back stop. Cuts it easy.

 

[W.Y.]

I cut dozens of them with a 1/8" blade on my band saw.
Very slight bur can be wiped off in seconds with a piece of sandpaper.

W.Y.

 

[Nick]

I have the same set up as Monty (the smaller one) It works.... ok, I mounted it on a board along with adjustable stop for tube length. It is underpowered but if you go slow it is OK.
I should think larger one that Monty put a link for, would be a better choice.

 

[rherrell]

If you're making 60 approx. 2" long then you'll need at least 12 of the 10" tubes. I'd tape them all together every 2'' and make just 4 cuts on your bandsaw.

 

[PenPal]

I use a three wheel bandsaw with a metal cutting 24 teeth blade, they cut like butter hand held to a mark. I have made a Dremel holder for my Metal Lathe for cutting Cartridges came back to the bandsaw by chance, best way for me does not take long even one by one the safest way for mine.

Have success Peter.

 

[fernhills]

If i have a lot to do, i change blades in my bandsaw to a metal cutting blade and change pulleys to a slower speed. Cuts like butter and smooth and safe when it is backed up.

 

[Texatdurango]

You can get the same saw minus the jig from Harborfreight for $27.99
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=42307

I like this little saw as well and spent a few minutes making my own little jig. I use it to cut brass and sterling silver tubes and it works great for both. I keep a 3T resaw blade in my band saw and don't want to change blades just to cut a few tubes.

 

[rjwolfe3]

Can that saw from Harbor Freight be used to cut brass cartridges safely as well?

 

[Texatdurango]

Can that saw from Harbor Freight be used to cut brass cartridges safely as well?

While I can't answer the question directly about the brass casings, I mainly cut thickwall sterling silver tubes on mine very easily and it's a lot harder to cut than thinwall brass tubes so I'm guessing it will cut brass shell casings as well without any problems.

 

[oldcaptainrusty]

Little cutoff saw jig?

Tex what sort of jig did you build for your little cutoff saw?

 

[Sylvanite]

Can that saw from Harbor Freight be used to cut brass cartridges safely as well?

It can - but barely. It's what I use to cut mine. The cuts are slow, espeically near the case head where the walls are thicker. The blades dull sooner than I expected, and then the motor stalls a lot. I made jigs to hold the cartridges square and I still have to true up the ends on the lathe afterwards.

Regards,
Eric

 

[stolicky]

Just my 10" bandsaw. I have one of those carbide chamfer doodads that takes care of the burrs.

 

[Chasper]

I use an arrow saw, archery shops have them. I have access to one at the archery club that I belong to. It is a long jig/clamp that utilizes a cut off blade. You can see them here. http://www.cabelas.com/hprod-1/0039351.shtml
They are a little too expensive to buy one just for tube cutting. No burs to deal with, the cut is totally clean and square.

 

[Texatdurango]

Tex what sort of jig did you build for your little cutoff saw?

Rather than post photos here, I uploaded some photos I took last year of the little saw. They loaded last to first so it might help to open them #1, #2, etc. They can be seen my photo area.

 

[oldcaptainrusty]

Little cuttoff saw jig.

Thanks Tex, a picture is worth a thousand words, or in this case many thousands. Looks like a neat set up.:good:

 

[marionquill]

I have a 3" cut-off saw from HF that works well for me -

Jason

 

[Chasper]

From the pictures and discussion it appears that the chop saw does and adequate job and that is a pleasant suprise. The cutting action of a chop saw is a chop; it starts at the top and goes through and out the bottom. The cutting action of a arrow saw is to cut just through the thickness of the arrow tube wall, then the arrow is rotated. The cut off blade on an arrow saw is tapered from somewhat thin near the center to very thin at the outer cutting surface.

In theory I like the arrow saw a lot better, in price I like the HF chop saw, and it is good to hear that it gets the job done.