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Circular saw to cut frames???

5K views 33 replies 17 participants last post by  TechnTool 
#1 ·
I heard a friend say that he used a circular saw with a metal cutting blade to cut his frame. Any truth to this?
 
#3 ·
I cut frames all the time with a air cut off tool. Its a Cambell Hausfield I got at Wall Mart for about 25 bucks. It uses abrasive wheels. It works good, its a little slow and uses a lot of wheels but it will cut frames and is easy to control etc.
 
#4 ·
Henry, He has me wondering about how well that saw would work on something like a frame seems like it would be kind of awkward but maybe it might work pretty good. I have used these things to cut rod and small angle iron but I mostly keep one around to cut hydraulic hose, works really good for that. The blades can be found at most any hardware and I think they can even be found at Wal-Mart. Might be worth a try if there is no other method handy :)
 
#6 ·
It can be done I suppose but I think accuracy would be a real problem. Also blade depth. A circular saw with a 7 1/4" blade is only going to have about 2 1/2" of cutting depth - which means you COULD make it through 2x4 rectangular tubing. But after a couple of cuts, that composite blade is going to wear down to the point it will no longer make it through both sides of the tube at once, so you'd have to replace blades quite often.

Frame building usually requires quite a few angle cuts and these would be quite difficult with a circular saw. You would have to follow a drawn line or else create some sort of guide plate to make your angles correct. Of you've ever Z'ed a frame, you know the importance of accuracy in your angles. This also becomes a real safety issue in terms of getting good welds for the structural integrity of your chassis.

A much better, and not too costly solution, is a metal chop saw. These have a 14" blade, the blade makes perfect 90 degree cuts from top to bottom, and an angle cutting guide plate is built in. My roadster frame (click my Project journal to see details) was cut almost exclusively using a chop saw.

I would not, however, recommend trying to put a metal cutting blade in a miter saw. These might LOOK like a chop saw but they are made for cutting wood. They do not stand up well to the heat, force, and vibration created when cutting metal.
 
#7 ·
I have the DeWalt 14" Metal chop saw (with the Factory Carbide Blade), and it does a great job of cutting-no burrs, no abrasive dust everywhere, no sparks. I would not use a Metal Blade in a regular chop saw-they turn too fast and don't have enough motor.

At work we have a Circular saw type Metal Cutting saw (Hitachi) with the Carbide blade on it, and it does pretty well-we have used it to shorten a couple of Freightliner Frames (which are pretty thick), and it cut right through them without burrs-the down side is cost-they are around $200-250-
 
#8 ·
Thanks for your input guys. The idea of using a tool designed to cut wood, to cut steel seemed rather strange to me. But then again, how many of us have used a claw hammer instead of a ball-peen hammer. Hey, you can teach an old dog new tricks.
 
#9 ·
Hold on a sec...

A friend of mine has a circular saw DESIGNED to cut metal. Yep. Metal. He cut 12" Channel like it was 2x12 douglas fir. i was seriously impressed. Carbide blade, motor turns slower than its wood counterpart. Cut through fast, clean, and accurate. I'm looking for one, myself!
 
#13 ·
35WINDOW said:
I have the DeWalt 14" Metal chop saw (with the Factory Carbide Blade), and it does a great job of cutting-no burrs, no abrasive dust everywhere, no sparks. I would not use a Metal Blade in a regular chop saw-they turn too fast and don't have enough motor.
is this a wet saw or dry saw?

i saw one of the hand held ones at a local airgas tent sale that cut through 1" square stock. guy said it had a 10 amp motor, but geared. it was nice and even had a metal collection chamber to collect the scrap metal. carbide blade, i think just the blade was $80 and the saw with the blade new was close to $300. super clean cuts though.. and no fiberdisc material all over hte place. :thumbup:
 
#14 ·
If you use a circular saw blade turned backwards, it WILL cut sheet metal or roofing "tin". But let me tell you, it makes one hell of a racket! Also be careful using carbide tipped blades -- the tips can come off.

I have a heavy duty Rockwell contractor's circular saw -- one of the most powerful you can buy. I've used it to cut sheet siding steel, about 18 gauge, with an abrasive blade. Went though it like hot butter, but the blade wore fast! Go slow and don't force it -- light pressure. Takes a bit of time, but doesn't eat the blade up so fast. A circular saw is great for straight cuts, especially if you can clamp a piece of 1x4 on the frame rail to use as a guide.
 
#15 ·
jvsapp said:
is this a wet saw or dry saw?

i saw one of the hand held ones at a local airgas tent sale that cut through 1" square stock. guy said it had a 10 amp motor, but geared. it was nice and even had a metal collection chamber to collect the scrap metal. carbide blade, i think just the blade was $80 and the saw with the blade new was close to $300. super clean cuts though.. and no fiberdisc material all over hte place. :thumbup:
It is a dry saw, with a Carbide type Blade-they say you can get about 600 cuts out of it (I still haven't had to resharpen it yet)-

Here's the link:(hope it works)

http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail.asp?productID=159
 
#16 ·
35WINDOW said:
It is a dry saw, with a Carbide type Blade-they say you can get about 600 cuts out of it (I still haven't had to resharpen it yet)-

Here's the link:(hope it works)

http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail.asp?productID=159
thanks for the info... hmm... got me thinking if that blade will work on my current chop saw. even if the blade is $100... it will still be worth it... 600 cuts... compared to 10 cuts and the $15 blade is wasted... but i am not sure if the RMP are the same... also if the arbor is the same... now i gotta do some more research... :thumbup:
 
#18 ·
Beenaway2long said:
Hold on a sec...

A friend of mine has a circular saw DESIGNED to cut metal. Yep. Metal. He cut 12" Channel like it was 2x12 douglas fir. i was seriously impressed. Carbide blade, motor turns slower than its wood counterpart. Cut through fast, clean, and accurate. I'm looking for one, myself!
The steel fab shop my dad works in has a rather large one thats (worm drive???). They use it to cut (saw) bar grating. It like an overgrown curcular saw, but for metal. I have seen them cut 1/4" plate with it. I don't know how thick of material it will cut.

Definately not an inexpensive home use tool! :nono:
 
#19 ·
Brian_B said:
The steel fab shop my dad works in has a rather large one thats (worm drive???). They use it to cut (saw) bar grating. It like an overgrown curcular saw, but for metal. I have seen them cut 1/4" plate with it. I don't know how thick of material it will cut.

Definately not an inexpensive home use tool! :nono:

i think that is the same one i saw at airgas... worm drive sounds like it... nice unit, but pricey... if i used it every day then i would think about getting one...
 
#20 ·
OK This Might get off topic but I have to stick my $.02 in

I worked for 2 Limo Co. & the one had this HUGE circular saw that after they pinch clamped the car onto a rail they would wack the car in half ! one pass across the roof the next across the floor frame & all then push the 2 pieces apart

I never got to do it but it looked like lots of fun :thumbup:

#2 In the Bone yards we used those Gas powered saws 14" abrasive{like the masons use to cut control joints} for front cuts or top & tails... same thing across the roof or posts & across the floor more gruesome in the bone yards there we didn't take out all the stuff like brake lines & fuel lines just cut it :D

WACK! WACK !WACK !

NEXT!!! :evil:

R :thumbup:
 
#21 ·
I would try a Sawzall first with a long metal cutting blade. I cut up a boat trailer for a friend with my sawzall and he doubted it dcould do it at all. It probably took an hour to cut it to pieces. I used cutting oil on the blade and took my time it worked great.
 
#22 ·
a sawzall is cool. i cut up a 71 nova that was totaled after i took the drivetrain and other parts i needed. took 2 days and about 8 blades. love those dewalt bimetal blades by the register at homedepot... hit something and keep going with the blade bent and all.. still cutting.... :thumbup:




if it wasn't hit soo bad and rusted through soo bad i would have saved it...
 
#24 ·
I've used a sawzall for exhaust work, and it worked well, making clean precise cuts in hard to reach areas. BUT, we used one blade per job. In one year we wore out the saw also. Too bad they don't make a super duper industrial unit with super duper blades. We then changed to a torch. If you are using plain 4" stock, and need to cut on the floor, then uses something like this:
http://www.aktoolsandequipment.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=28302
But if you are cutting apart a whole frame that you are going to rebuild, then use a torch. The torch will cost you more but it will cut anything, and I mean anything and it will get into little nooks and crannies that will be harder for a sawzall. All in all, tanks, gasses, hoses (30') and tips and regulators cost me about $500.00. I recently cut up a 76 blazer that was mostly rust. We used 20 sawzall blades, my tanks were out of gas (Duhh on me). BTW, I have the rear glass and fibreglass cap to the blazer for free pick-up to anyone that wants it. Southern NH.
 
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