On Mon, 10 Sep 2007 07:00:56 -0700, djenyc wrote:

On Sep 9, 2:34 am, JohnM wrote:
djenyc wrote:
The consumables are easier to calculate for the oxy-acetylene just look at you gas card for the tip size and pressure and it will give you the flow rate.

starbolin, that was a good idea. I just looked at port-a-torch manual
online, that 20cf oxygen cylinder it comes with will only last me half-
hour cutting 1/8".

John, 42etus, thanks for heads up on Plasma. I debated with plasma
before and did some more research today. It looks like a good way to
quickly cut 1/4 and under metal plates with good precision, good
finish, low head distortion and low consumables cost. For the amount
of cutting and fabrication I do, to justify the cost of $400 Homier
Speedway 30Amp plasma cutter I'd have to spread it over 10-15 years
time frame,

I wouldn't consider the $400 Homier device. I always advocate used
quality machines instead of new cheap junk.

As far as the little Chinese bandsaw, that's one of the few tools that I
exclude from my rule of not buying new and cheap. They fill a spot
that no used machines really fills, there's not enough little power
hacksaws and bandsaws to go around so new is in order.

Mighty useful little tool too, not at all just for production. If you
need to return it, no big deal- you can get another for the same money
tomorrow or next year.

John

I tried cutting some steel this weekend with jig saw, recip saw and
circular saw with abrasive disc. My experience so far:
Circ saw - medium to poor precision, way too noisy and set grass on
fire, don't think I'll be using it again
Recip saw - only good for demolition on structural components,
vibrates sheet metal too much, poor precision
Jig saw - worked ok for thin metal but it needed to be clamped well.
Sometimes blade got stuck.

I think I'll keep the 4x6 band saw and try it in a week or 2
Ever tied a cutting disk on an angle grinder?
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada