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The Official Tube Notching Thread

6K views 16 replies 11 participants last post by  ogre 
#1 ·
Hey guys, I'm going to start a tube notching thread, so.....

If you have any questions, input, tips or tricks or horror stories about notching tube. The good, the bad and the ugly, here is the place for it.

Hole saw notchers......good or bad?
Best hole saw?
Abrasive notching vs. end mill style notching?
How many notches do you get from an abrasive belt?
Notching with a chop saw?
Best way, worst way to notch tube?
Software to help with tricky notch angles?
Notching schedule 40 pipe.....best way?
Home made notchers, lets see em!
 
#8 ·
Me too, my red X has a nice border though.

I notch tubes on a Bridgeport EZTrac X-Y CNC. They're usually too long for the Haas CNC and the Bridgeport can angle the head

The trick is proper fixturing of thin wall tubes and of course, feeds and speeds.

For sch 40 pipe? I wouldn't even consider using the material or doing it for someone else. I'll tell the guy to use a cutting torch and a grinder.
 
#11 ·
I'm with cboy on this. Good idea and cboy's idea of the tech article is even better.

While there may be a thin line being approached, it's being done in a tasteful and acceptable manner. Yes Paris, it's my opinion.

I would consider this thread to be marketing reserch, the purpose of such is to look towards building a better product or new products. New products are something this country could use more of.

I'm rather pleased to think Baileigh thinks enough of the experience and capabilities of members of this forum to post here.
 
#12 ·
Old Rotor Flap said:
For sch 40 pipe? I wouldn't even consider using the material or doing it for someone else. I'll tell the guy to use a cutting torch and a grinder.
This might be a stupid question, but how would a plasma cutter work on something like this? The tool amazes me sometimes with the quality of cutting a guy can do.
 
#13 ·
dinger said:
This might be a stupid question, but how would a plasma cutter work on something like this? The tool amazes me sometimes with the quality of cutting a guy can do.
Dinger, that's not a stupid question at all. I'd think it would be much better than a cutting torch.

Of course, having said that, I admit I don't have a plasma cutter..... and for that matter, I can't worth a Tinker's dam with a torch.
 
#15 ·
Baileighs on lots of forums and yes it is a type of advertising but i actually don't care because he contributes to the various forums.
With this in mind I have question for those who didn't sleep through maths class.
How do you go about working out the load and surface area on a particular notched joint ?
Another question is,what is the ideal Angle for two tubes to join when building a space frame chassis? 45...35 degrees etc ?
 
#16 ·
tube notching

I have the hole saw, chepo type.. I drilled a couple holes in my southworth 4 x 4 lift table and bolt the notcher to it so it drills horizontal then I can use scraps of angle iron and tack to the table top to hold the tubing to get the angles that the notcher won't adjust to . My old neighbor use to build 10 to 20 circle cars a year and he used to use his chop saw make two cuts and get the angle he needed then finish it with a hand held grinder. He had a big milling machine but said the chop and grind was faster. The metal suplier had the wrap around guides, I glanced at them but most were for 1 1/2 to 2 inch pipe used to make handrails.
 
#17 ·
BAILEIGH said:
Here is a cool notch template program

http://metalgeek.com/static/cope.pcgi
very cool template program, we do a lot of turbo install and custom exhausts this will work well for Y pipes

hint: if your notching heavy wall pipe with a torch,
hold the torch parallell to the pipe your notch is going on to minimize grinding.
that's hard to visualize. don't roll the torch perpendicular to the pipe.
 
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