Tube Cutting

[Rainman1]

Hello all,

Looking for suggestions on steel tube cutting. I'm going to be manufacturing a tool for my industry and have everything pretty much covered with the exception of part. I need to take 1" slices of 4" round tube with approx .125 wall. What would be the most efficient and consistent way to do this multiple time? Chop saw ,band saw ect..

Thanks
Ray

[EdK]

Ray

What sort of accuracy do you need?

Oh, and welcome to the forum.

Ed

[Rainman1]

Accuracy not critical. I guess within .125 would be fine.

And thanks!

[EdK]

What about the accuracy of the angle of the cut to the tubing walls? What does that need to be?

Ed

[Rainman1]

Also not critical. Either side is not a working edge. There will be pieces welded to the sides..not the cut sides.

[EdK]

Then a chop saw would be quicker but louder and messy. A band saw would be my choice but it's not going to be as fast as a chop saw. I'm sure others will come along with additional suggestions.

Ed

[PixMan]

A cold saw with a 14" saw blade (round cutter) would be ideal, though pricey to get into one. It would also be faster than a bandsaw by quite a bit, andquieter than an abrasive chop saw but wider kerf for more loss of stock/pieces per bar.

[Roadracer_Al]

Another question is what do the cosmetics of the cut end need to look like?

An abrasive chop saw will leave a very thin, sharp flash which is hard to remove from the ID of the tube.

A cold saw and band saw are probably about equal in surface finish.

There's also an ironworker - they have a big shearing capacity. That should leave a very clean edge, but might distort the tube wall at the cut.

Also, try your tube vendor - they may do the cuts for you on an automatic feed band saw for a modest fee.

Last thought... Look at the internet for laser tube cutting service. That'll have very nice surface finish. If you can relieve yourself of doing any hand-work, it might be worthwhile.

[Rainman1]

Yes, I was just looking at that. It would cost me about $2.75 for a cut piece. I may be able to get a price break on quantities. Thats just the first place I looked at.

Seems pretty good to have the material supplied and not have to worry about time spent cutting, stocking and cleaning.

This is the place I found so far http://www.speedymetals.com/

If anyone knows of another place let me know. I am in the Long Island,NY area.

Thanks!

[Roadracer_Al]

Speedy is one of my favorite mail-order places for stuff I either can't get locally, or can't get locally in less than full stick length.

Do shop around, though.