On 1/17/2021 1:48 AM, Puckdropper wrote:
I'm installing a railing and need to cut the metal. I've got a
hacksaw and
a portable circular saw, so naturally which one do I grab? The circular
saw.
I found out why they say not to cut steel with most blades. It
throws hot
chips all over and dulls the blade pretty quick.
Lesson #2: Safety glasses aren't the end-all of safety. A chip found its
way past the glasses and while I'm ok it's a little sore there. I should
have been wearing a full face shield but I didn't have one on site.
Learned something else... Sanders are awesome at deburring steel. I
tried
doing it with a file, then switched to the sander and wow what a
difference! Got the piece deburred, rounded, and cleaned in a minute
rather than taking 5 or more with the file.
Puckdropper
I've got a hand held 9 inch circular saw that is supposed to be for
cutting steel. I have used it on stainless sheet. That is hard on
blades. Its been used for pieces of aluminum plate to big to put on the
horizontal bandsaw. For that it works a treat. I haven't yet used it
for cutting plain steel. I'll report back when I do. I've got a 4x8
sheet of A36 on my welding table that really should be cut down to 3x7.
Maybe someday.
For years I had a cheap Black & Decker circular saw from K-Mart. I kept
an abrasive blade on it for cutting steel all the time. I don't know
that I cut miles of steel with it, but it was my primary cutting tool
for steel for a long time. Even after I got a torch the abrasive saw
was often the better tool for the job. It cut the parts for hundreds of
small satellite dish roof mounts.
Somebody mentioned a reciprocating saw. I've got two of those. An old
Sears that I used as needed for 15-20 years. I bought it because I
needed one to finish a job, was broke, and had a Sears credit card. Its
cut a lot of things including a little bit of steel. When the blade
holder broke I bought a Super Sawzall. Then I found a replacement
holder for the Sears one. I never thought they were great for cutting
steel. Sure with the right blade they do the job, but they are rarely
my first choice if I can get another tool into the space. They are like
the Swiss Army knife of cutting tools in my opinion. Capable of a lot
of things, but not really the best tool for any of them. If I do use
one for steel I often start with a fresh Milwaukee "Torch" blade and
find myself finishing with one of my old Lennox bi metal blades. I
really should throw those torch blades away, but I have a whole pack of
them brand new still in the package. I hate to throw away new tools.
You know when it comes to eye protection I was terrible over the years.
I was also pretty lucky. Most of my life I grabbed a tool and tackled
the job. Its only since I changed from contracting to machining that I
have become really conscious of the dangers. Sure I always kept a pair
or 3 of the old Uvex safety glasses in my truck, but often that's where
they spent the entire week.
--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
https://www.avg.com