Best way to cut angle iron.

[Don Farr]

I am making some extra support braces for my Ridgid lathe and I found out last night that I do not want to cut them all by hand. Any suggestions on the best way to cut 1 1/4" angle iron?

Last night I tried a hacksaw and a cutoff wheel in my pneumatic die grinder. The die grinder would work if I had a bigger compressor. I had to stop and wait for the compressor to charge up to often.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Best way to cut it is to take it to someone who has the right tools...like a welding or steel fabricating shop. These are good people to know. I took my bed rails around the corner and they threw 'em up on the big bandsaw and made clean, square cuts in about 15 seconds.

I guess you could put a metal blade on the mitersaw, but only if your shop is muuuuch cleaner than mine. Too many flying sparkies and dust to catch on fire!

KC

[Don Farr]

Best way to cut it is to take it to someone who has the right tools...like a welding or steel fabricating shop. These are good people to know. I took my bed rails around the corner and they threw 'em up on the big bandsaw and made clean, square cuts in about 15 seconds.

I guess you could put a metal blade on the mitersaw, but only if your shop is muuuuch cleaner than mine. Too many flying sparkies and dust to catch on fire!

KC

I didn't think about the miter saw KC. It is only a few feet inside the big door. I could easily move it outside and make the cuts. I wonder what a 12" metal cutting blade cost.

[Jason Roehl]

I didn't think about the miter saw KC. It is only a few feet inside the big door. I could easily move it outside and make the cuts. I wonder what a 12" metal cutting blade cost.

Don, another option is to put an abrasive blade on your circular saw. The discs only cost about $2-3. Just make a quick jig to hold the metal so that you can get a square cut.

Or, use this as an excuse to get a horizontal, metal-cutting bandsaw.

[Bob Johnson]

Don, try a metal cutting blade in your sabre-saw. I've done it on bed rails with good results. Not as neat as having your own power hack saw, but much better than hacksawing by hand.

[Todd Burch]

I have a 14" Milwaukee Metal Chop Saw. That's the best tool for me!

I really considered just buying a metal cutting abrasive wheel for my DeWalt 12" CMS, but read the manual and it specifically said don't. I called DeWalt and asked why. They informed me that the blade cover, blade guard and other misc parts behind the wheel were plastic and would be damaged by the heat and sparks. Made sense to me.

One of the characteristics of an abrasive wheel is that they flex some. That being the case, a little precision is lost especially when trimming at the end - the wheel wants to fall off the edge. I suspect you could hold a better line with a horizontal band saw. Plus, with the one I'm most familiar with (the Jet), you can clamp your part in it and go do something else while it does its thing. It shuts off automatically when the cut is complete and gravity pulls it through the cut. Relatively quiet too.

Todd.

[Terre Hooks]

Like KC said, if you have a metal fab shop nearby, it would only take a couple of minutes and be much cheaper than a metal blade, no wear and tear on your tools, and a much nicer cut.

You can use your woodcutting mitersaw for a few cuts with an abrasive blade, but you don't want to cut ferrous metals with it very much.

[Lynn Sonier]

Saw a video last week in which they used a regular wood cutting bandsaw blade to cut metal. It cut quite well and smoothly. Of course, this finishes the blade for cutting wood; however, you can save the blade to cut other metal. Can't tell you the name of the video - brought it back to the library.

[Jim Becker]

A SawsAll with a bi-metal blade will cut through that mild steel quite nicely. It's also safer than the CMS 'cause you can do it outside with the metal clamped to some sawhorses. I cut some steel vent pipe with 1/4" thick walls during the kitchen renovation with that saw and it went through it somewhat quickly and easily.

[Don Farr]

Thanks for all the tips everyone. I just purchased a blade for my circular saw for $2.49 and I will give that a try first. I have an old B&D circular saw that I never use, so if I burn it up there is nothing much lost.
I thought about taking the angle someplace to be cut, but I really want to cut and fit it a piece at the time, if you know what I mean.

Thanks, Don

[David Klug]

Thanks for all the tips everyone. I just purchased a blade for my circular saw for $2.49 and I will give that a try first. I have an old B&D circular saw that I never use, so if I burn it up there is nothing much lost.
I thought about taking the angle someplace to be cut, but I really want to cut and fit it a piece at the time, if you know what I mean.

Thanks, Don

Don I've used an abrasive wheel on my RAS and that worked quite well for me. It is quick but you have to hold the carrigde back as it tends to pull itself forward.

Dave

[Bob_Hammond]

I'll second the Sawzall recommendation. It does a nice quick job of it. Everytime I reach for my hacksaw I rethink if the Sawzall wouldn't be better.

I've learnt to love the sawsall. I use it for all sorts of things -even trimming trees.

Bob

[Tim Greif]

Use a metal cutting chop saw. If you don't wnat to buy one, just rent one. I just went through this outfitting a local Boy Scout Troop trailer with steel angle shelving supports. I borrowed a chop saw from a plumber friend and it really made quick work of all the cuts I had to make. After doing it with that tool, I'd never consider putting a metal cutting wheel on my Makita miter saw. All the plastic stuff would be trashed. BTW, the one I used was a Milwaukee 14" and it was very accurate to the cut line.