How do you cut your tubes?

MAB11 · Sep 27, 2010

I want to start cutting my own tubes but i'm not sure how to go about it.
Do I use a tube cutter, hack saw, chop saw? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

David M · Sep 27, 2010

chuck mine up in collet chuck , cut it as neer to the chuck as you can . low speed you can use a hack saw on the lathe or with a little faster speed you can use a parting tool ...

David

rjwolfe3 · Sep 27, 2010

I bought one of those little metal chop saws from Harbor Freight but I haven't cut any brass with it yet, mostly just steel and aluminum rods for my metal lathe.

snyiper · Sep 27, 2010

http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-cut-off-saw-41453.html

29.99 awesome!!

ldb2000 · Sep 27, 2010

This what I use http://www.harborfreight.com/bench-top-cut-off-saw-42307.html it cuts the tube very cleanly and quickly and it's very small so it don't take up any room in my tiny shop , it stores in a drawer .

Wildman · Sep 27, 2010

I bought the HF saw on sale for $25 of course picked up some extra blades too.
It is a tad easier than small tubing cutter had been using but not much. Think just need more experience with the saw. I am timid tighten the hold down clamp.

JohnU · Sep 27, 2010

I use the same thing Butch posted. Just slip a 1/8" shim under the tube and go to town. I cut 30 squire tubes yesterday in about 15 minutes.

MAB11 · Sep 27, 2010

Is the shim for support to prevent blowout?

jbthbt · Sep 27, 2010

I use the $25 HF with the blades. There's less waste with it than the 6" since the blade is so much thinner. I did have problems with it a few months back. The switch burnt out, but a $3 switch I had laying around here and a little work with a dremel to make it fit solved my problems. I've had several HF motors burn up on me over the years in the small tools (never bought anything big from them) but they are usually an incredibly easy fix. I soldered the motor back together in a water pump a few months ago while in the field with nothing but a cigarette lighter. The thing is still running 8 hrs a day....

Padre · Sep 27, 2010

rjwolfe3 said:
I bought one of those little metal chop saws from Harbor Freight but I haven't cut any brass with it yet, mostly just steel and aluminum rods for my metal lathe.

+1, and use the 20% off coupon and it's really inexpensive. :wink:

holmqer · Sep 27, 2010

Does anyone know if the little $25 unit will cut 5/8" mild steel bar stock? I want to make some really clean angle cuts that will take little if any filing or sanding to get to the point where they will slide smoothly

JohnU · Sep 28, 2010

MAB11 said:
Is the shim for support to prevent blowout?

It's to be able to cut beyond the bottom of the tube instead of bottoming out at the edge.

PenMan1 · Sep 28, 2010

NewLondon88 said:
tabletop band saw with a metal cutting blade works fine for me..

Yep, that works nice. Plus use that stupid "insertion" tool you bought when you bought all the starter stuff and roll the tube instead of "pushing" it through the band saw.

Plumbers love the insertion tool. This is the only practical use I have found for it. It still clutters up my work bench because when I started, I thought it was a "must have" tool.

leestoresund · Sep 28, 2010

HF saw

I modified the little holder so I could make a more educated guess as to the length of the tube.
Took 4 popsicle sticks, epoxied them together and then epoxied that to the back of the clamp.
I put in one old tube and cut it off then removed the entire holder.
Thus i had the exact position of the blade and measured backwards.

ldb2000 · Sep 28, 2010

holmqer said:
Does anyone know if the little $25 unit will cut 5/8" mild steel bar stock? I want to make some really clean angle cuts that will take little if any filing or sanding to get to the point where they will slide smoothly

I would say no , it don't have enough power and uses a plain steel blade . The $29 cut off saw uses the composit disks and I think it has more power so would be a better choioce for cutting steel .

wolftat · Sep 28, 2010

put it in a collet and turn on the lathe, take a marking knife to it and it cuts a nice clean end.

Padre · Sep 28, 2010

leestoresund said:
I modified the little holder so I could make a more educated guess as to the length of the tube.
Took 4 popsicle sticks, epoxied them together and then epoxied that to the back of the clamp.
I put in one old tube and cut it off then removed the entire holder.
Thus i had the exact position of the blade and measured backwards.

This is a great idea!

Dave S · Sep 29, 2010

I use the same saw, I cut some blank scrap (about 1" long) and drilled them to match the size of tube I would be cutting (7mm, 8mm, 3/8" etc.) these I clamp into the saw, lining up the edge of the blank stock with the blade, slide the tube in to the blank and get a nice clean cut. If i'm cutting a lot of tubes the same size, I'll clamp a 1x to the bench as a stop. In just a few minutes I have a bunch of tubes, the same length, with nice clean cuts.
Not my original idea, Penn Ind. adds these to the HB mini saw to justify a $30 mark-up.
Dave

moke · Sep 29, 2010

I saw the original post and thought the saw looked like a toy...but then a bunch of people started saying that they used it, so I bought one. It is no joke, it works well. I do not think you will be disappointed.
Moke

Mark · Sep 29, 2010

I'm still using my band saw. I may look into one of those little HF cutters..

Andrew Arndts · Sep 29, 2010

I don't cut my own tubes yet. However if I do decide to, I have an arrow saw.:biggrin:

rsulli16 · Oct 7, 2010

ditto to the HF mini chop saw, works great!

How do you cut your tubes?

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