Metalworking (rec.crafts.metalworking) Discuss various aspects of working with metal, such as machining, welding, metal joining, screwing, casting, hardening/tempering, blacksmithing/forging, spinning and hammer work, sheet metal work.

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Default Miniature Chop Saw

As part of my mold making business I often have to make insert pins for
various custom projects. Sometimes those pins are odd sizes making them
either hard to find or expensive to buy as pins. Frequently I can buy wire
of some form or another that is exactly the perfect diameter, but then I
have to cut it to length and clean up the ends. One of my common sizes is
3/32. 10lbs of 3/32 stainless tig wire makes a lot of cheap pins for the
price. I just finished a mold that requires an insert pin thats a little
over 1/16. I found some straight lengths of .064 stainless wire at McMaster
that will do the trick.

If I use a clipper of some kind the end requires a lot of dressing on the
grinder and/or bench sander. If I use a cut off wheel in a rotary hand
piece the cut is straighter with just a burr that needs to be polished off,
but its awkward and a little hazardous with sparks going everywhere. Also,
its hard to get lengths just right when length is important. The answer is
to make them a little long and grind them to length. YUCK! Huge time suck
ensues.

I debated making a little chop saw using a rotary hand piece, and setting it
up with a chute (for cut pieces to slide down into a catch box, and a length
stop of some kind so I could dial in once for a particular project and cut a
bunch of insert pins at once. I may go that way. When I was first learning
about CNC machining I built a couple setups to use rotary hand pieces as
spindles. One was an adjust dual head setup to cut two molds plates at the
same time.

ANYWAY, after spending some time thinking about I did a search for miniature
chop saws to see if there was anything out there. It looks like there
might be a few. Even if I have to modify one or make a tool to go with one
for a length stop its got to be faster than making one from scratch. I
could, but then instead of using my tools... well if you actually do your
craft to make a few dollars you see where I am coming from. I'm looking for
a solution. Not a project.

So, here are the questions:

Do you have a miniature chopsaw or know somebody who has one?

If you do (or know somebody who does) how well does it work?

If you do (or know somebody who does) how well does it hold up?

Is it home made or factory manufactured?

If it is factory made what make and model is it?

Does it use an abrasive blade or some other type?

How easy is it to change blades?

Do you (or the person you know who has one) cut metal with it?

I also make a few teflon pins. It would be nice to be able to cut them
quickly and easily to specific lengths as well. If such a saw had a toothed
metal cutting blade or could be quickly changed to a toothed blade it might
serve a dual purpose.


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Default Miniature Chop Saw

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message news
As part of my mold making business I often have to make insert pins for
various custom projects. Sometimes those pins are odd sizes making them
either hard to find or expensive to buy as pins. Frequently I can buy wire
of some form or another that is exactly the perfect diameter, but then I
have to cut it to length and clean up the ends. One of my common sizes is
3/32. 10lbs of 3/32 stainless tig wire makes a lot of cheap pins for the
price. I just finished a mold that requires an insert pin thats a little
over 1/16. I found some straight lengths of .064 stainless wire at McMaster
that will do the trick.

If I use a clipper of some kind the end requires a lot of dressing on the
grinder and/or bench sander. If I use a cut off wheel in a rotary hand
piece the cut is straighter with just a burr that needs to be polished off,
but its awkward and a little hazardous with sparks going everywhere. Also,
its hard to get lengths just right when length is important. The answer is
to make them a little long and grind them to length. YUCK! Huge time suck
ensues.

I debated making a little chop saw using a rotary hand piece, and setting it
up with a chute (for cut pieces to slide down into a catch box, and a length
stop of some kind so I could dial in once for a particular project and cut a
bunch of insert pins at once. I may go that way. When I was first learning
about CNC machining I built a couple setups to use rotary hand pieces as
spindles. One was an adjust dual head setup to cut two molds plates at the
same time.

ANYWAY, after spending some time thinking about I did a search for miniature
chop saws to see if there was anything out there. It looks like there
might be a few. Even if I have to modify one or make a tool to go with one
for a length stop its got to be faster than making one from scratch. I
could, but then instead of using my tools... well if you actually do your
craft to make a few dollars you see where I am coming from. I'm looking for
a solution. Not a project.

So, here are the questions:

Do you have a miniature chopsaw or know somebody who has one?

If you do (or know somebody who does) how well does it work?

If you do (or know somebody who does) how well does it hold up?

Is it home made or factory manufactured?

If it is factory made what make and model is it?

Does it use an abrasive blade or some other type?

How easy is it to change blades?

Do you (or the person you know who has one) cut metal with it?

I also make a few teflon pins. It would be nice to be able to cut them
quickly and easily to specific lengths as well. If such a saw had a toothed
metal cutting blade or could be quickly changed to a toothed blade it might
serve a dual purpose.
================================================== ==============

How about starting with the littlest wet abrasive tile saw from
harborfreight?
https://www.harborfreight.com/power-...saw-69230.html,
$55, 4.5" cutoff wheel, 5300 rpm. I haven't used it but it's rated 3.7/5
based on 142 reviews. They also have a couple of larger models you might
want to step up to, one still under $100.

--
Regards,
Carl Ijames


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Default Miniature Chop Saw

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
news
As part of my mold making business I often have to make insert pins
for various custom projects. Sometimes those pins are odd sizes
making them either hard to find or expensive to buy as pins.
Frequently I can buy wire of some form or another that is exactly
the perfect diameter, but then I have to cut it to length and clean
up the ends. One of my common sizes is 3/32. 10lbs of 3/32
stainless tig wire makes a lot of cheap pins for the price. I just
finished a mold that requires an insert pin thats a little over
1/16. I found some straight lengths of .064 stainless wire at
McMaster that will do the trick.


I cut the TIG rod needles and rollers for homemade bearings on the
lathe, holding the rod in a 5C collet and cutting cleanly with an HSS
cutoff blade, very close to the collet face. That may not be the
fastest way to cut them but the lengths are accurate and the end
cleanup is minimal and easy.
-jsw


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Default Miniature Chop Saw

On Fri, 23 Jun 2017 16:32:32 -0700
"Bob La Londe" wrote:

snip
Do you have a miniature chopsaw or know somebody who has one?


I have a new HF 6 inch Chop Saw. It's still new in the box, never got
around to setting it up. Thought it would be nice for roughing out
lathe bits. HF has blades for it but they rarely go on sale. I think I
bought some but was really planning on just using the 4.5 inch blades
which you can get deals on. I have the older version of this, it was
shaped differently:

https://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-5...saw-61659.html

Sorry I don't have any usage info but it probably don't matter
seeing they don't carry that version anymore...

They also have a 2 inch mini model, which sounds more like what
you are interested in:

https://www.harborfreight.com/2-in-m...saw-62136.html

I'm pretty sure you can get a version of that from Micro-Mart too...

That being said you could probably use a cable nipper. Like a Greenlee
722 Wire Rope & Wire Cutter or the HK Porter version.

https://www.amazon.com/Greenlee-722-...dp/B00125KG9C/

https://www.amazon.com/Porter-Pocket...dp/B0009Z88OQ/

These are pretty tough cutters and have a scissors action which
shouldn't leave much of a burr...


--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
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Default Miniature Chop Saw

On Fri, 23 Jun 2017 16:32:32 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

As part of my mold making business I often have to make insert pins for
various custom projects. Sometimes those pins are odd sizes making them
either hard to find or expensive to buy as pins. Frequently I can buy wire
of some form or another that is exactly the perfect diameter, but then I
have to cut it to length and clean up the ends. One of my common sizes is
3/32. 10lbs of 3/32 stainless tig wire makes a lot of cheap pins for the
price. I just finished a mold that requires an insert pin thats a little
over 1/16. I found some straight lengths of .064 stainless wire at McMaster
that will do the trick.

If I use a clipper of some kind the end requires a lot of dressing on the
grinder and/or bench sander. If I use a cut off wheel in a rotary hand
piece the cut is straighter with just a burr that needs to be polished off,
but its awkward and a little hazardous with sparks going everywhere. Also,
its hard to get lengths just right when length is important. The answer is
to make them a little long and grind them to length. YUCK! Huge time suck
ensues.

I debated making a little chop saw using a rotary hand piece, and setting it
up with a chute (for cut pieces to slide down into a catch box, and a length
stop of some kind so I could dial in once for a particular project and cut a
bunch of insert pins at once. I may go that way. When I was first learning
about CNC machining I built a couple setups to use rotary hand pieces as
spindles. One was an adjust dual head setup to cut two molds plates at the
same time.

ANYWAY, after spending some time thinking about I did a search for miniature
chop saws to see if there was anything out there. It looks like there
might be a few. Even if I have to modify one or make a tool to go with one
for a length stop its got to be faster than making one from scratch. I
could, but then instead of using my tools... well if you actually do your
craft to make a few dollars you see where I am coming from. I'm looking for
a solution. Not a project.

So, here are the questions:

Do you have a miniature chopsaw or know somebody who has one?

If you do (or know somebody who does) how well does it work?

If you do (or know somebody who does) how well does it hold up?

Is it home made or factory manufactured?

If it is factory made what make and model is it?

Does it use an abrasive blade or some other type?

How easy is it to change blades?

Do you (or the person you know who has one) cut metal with it?

I also make a few teflon pins. It would be nice to be able to cut them
quickly and easily to specific lengths as well. If such a saw had a toothed
metal cutting blade or could be quickly changed to a toothed blade it might
serve a dual purpose.

Greetings Bob,
Years ago I had a similar job. I had to cut hundreds of springs that
were just a straight rod about 4 inches long. The spring stock came in
36 inch lengths. I had to make rods from two different diameters, 2 mm
and 2.5 mm. An abrasive cutoff saw was needed but they were expensive.
What I ended up using was a chop saw made for wood. The saw was made
for 7 inch saw blades but I put an abrasive blade on it. I put a
little air vise on it. I mounted a switch on the saw that controlled a
solenoid valve that caused the vise to open when the saw was raised.
This setup made for very fast cutting of the spring steel.
Eric


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Default Miniature Chop Saw

wrote in message
...
On Fri, 23 Jun 2017 16:32:32 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

As part of my mold making business I often have to make insert pins
for
various custom projects. Sometimes those pins are odd sizes making
them
either hard to find or expensive to buy as pins. Frequently I can
buy wire
of some form or another that is exactly the perfect diameter, but
then I
have to cut it to length and clean up the ends. One of my common
sizes is
3/32. 10lbs of 3/32 stainless tig wire makes a lot of cheap pins
for the
price. I just finished a mold that requires an insert pin thats a
little
over 1/16. I found some straight lengths of .064 stainless wire at
McMaster
that will do the trick.

If I use a clipper of some kind the end requires a lot of dressing
on the
grinder and/or bench sander. If I use a cut off wheel in a rotary
hand
piece the cut is straighter with just a burr that needs to be
polished off,
but its awkward and a little hazardous with sparks going everywhere.
Also,
its hard to get lengths just right when length is important. The
answer is
to make them a little long and grind them to length. YUCK! Huge
time suck
ensues.

I debated making a little chop saw using a rotary hand piece, and
setting it
up with a chute (for cut pieces to slide down into a catch box, and
a length
stop of some kind so I could dial in once for a particular project
and cut a
bunch of insert pins at once. I may go that way. When I was first
learning
about CNC machining I built a couple setups to use rotary hand
pieces as
spindles. One was an adjust dual head setup to cut two molds plates
at the
same time.

ANYWAY, after spending some time thinking about I did a search for
miniature
chop saws to see if there was anything out there. It looks like
there
might be a few. Even if I have to modify one or make a tool to go
with one
for a length stop its got to be faster than making one from scratch.
I
could, but then instead of using my tools... well if you actually do
your
craft to make a few dollars you see where I am coming from. I'm
looking for
a solution. Not a project.

So, here are the questions:

Do you have a miniature chopsaw or know somebody who has one?

If you do (or know somebody who does) how well does it work?

If you do (or know somebody who does) how well does it hold up?

Is it home made or factory manufactured?

If it is factory made what make and model is it?

Does it use an abrasive blade or some other type?

How easy is it to change blades?

Do you (or the person you know who has one) cut metal with it?

I also make a few teflon pins. It would be nice to be able to cut
them
quickly and easily to specific lengths as well. If such a saw had a
toothed
metal cutting blade or could be quickly changed to a toothed blade
it might
serve a dual purpose.

Greetings Bob,
Years ago I had a similar job. I had to cut hundreds of springs that
were just a straight rod about 4 inches long. The spring stock came
in
36 inch lengths. I had to make rods from two different diameters, 2
mm
and 2.5 mm. An abrasive cutoff saw was needed but they were
expensive.
What I ended up using was a chop saw made for wood. The saw was made
for 7 inch saw blades but I put an abrasive blade on it. I put a
little air vise on it. I mounted a switch on the saw that controlled
a
solenoid valve that caused the vise to open when the saw was raised.
This setup made for very fast cutting of the spring steel.
Eric


I've used a cutoff wheel in a table saw for pieces large enough to
hold safely.

The burrs that it leaves prevent cleaning up the ends on my collet
lathe. I put a 1/2"-20 mount Jacobs chuck on an AA/Sears lathe and use
it for tasks like that which need high RPMs but not accuracy.
-jsw


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Default Miniature Chop Saw

On Sat, 24 Jun 2017 10:15:43 -0400
Leon Fisk wrote:

snip
They also have a 2 inch mini model, which sounds more like what
you are interested in:

https://www.harborfreight.com/2-in-m...saw-62136.html

I'm pretty sure you can get a version of that from Micro-Mart too...


Here is the Micro-Mark version:

http://www.micromark.com/MicroLux-Mi...er-Cut-Off-Saw

They have abrasive blades in the listing which I didn't find for at
HF. If you really want to blow some bucks they have a Proxxon model
too:

http://www.micromark.com/Proxxon-Min...-for-Hobby-Use

Looks like that one uses a 3.25 inch blade. Best be sitting down though
when you see the price

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
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Default Miniature Chop Saw

On Fri, 23 Jun 2017 20:26:39 -0400, "Carl Ijames"
wrote:


If it is factory made what make and model is it?

Does it use an abrasive blade or some other type?

How easy is it to change blades?

Do you (or the person you know who has one) cut metal with it?

I also make a few teflon pins. It would be nice to be able to cut them
quickly and easily to specific lengths as well. If such a saw had a toothed
metal cutting blade or could be quickly changed to a toothed blade it might
serve a dual purpose.
================================================= ===============

How about starting with the littlest wet abrasive tile saw from
harborfreight?
https://www.harborfreight.com/power-...saw-69230.html,
$55, 4.5" cutoff wheel, 5300 rpm. I haven't used it but it's rated 3.7/5
based on 142 reviews. They also have a couple of larger models you might
want to step up to, one still under $100.

--
Regards,
Carl Ijames

http://www.ebay.com/sch/items/?_nkw=...=&r mvSB=true


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Default Miniature Chop Saw

Thanks guys. All good suggestions. Still not sure which way I will go with
it. Have some .065 pins to cut today though. Probably have to improvise to
get these done.


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Default Miniature Chop Saw

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
news
Thanks guys. All good suggestions. Still not sure which way I will
go with it. Have some .065 pins to cut today though. Probably have
to improvise to get these done.



I bought this tool to deburr cut brake line evenly all around before
double flaring it:
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/38...deburring-tool

The inside cone is truncated too large for 0.065" pins but the design
is simple and looks promising for a home made tool.




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Default Miniature Chop Saw

"Gunner Asch" wrote in message
...

On Fri, 23 Jun 2017 20:26:39 -0400, "Carl Ijames"
wrote:


If it is factory made what make and model is it?

Does it use an abrasive blade or some other type?

How easy is it to change blades?

Do you (or the person you know who has one) cut metal with it?

I also make a few teflon pins. It would be nice to be able to cut them
quickly and easily to specific lengths as well. If such a saw had a
toothed
metal cutting blade or could be quickly changed to a toothed blade it might
serve a dual purpose.
================================================= ===============

How about starting with the littlest wet abrasive tile saw from
harborfreight?
https://www.harborfreight.com/power-...saw-69230.html,
$55, 4.5" cutoff wheel, 5300 rpm. I haven't used it but it's rated 3.7/5
based on 142 reviews. They also have a couple of larger models you might
want to step up to, one still under $100.

--
Regards,
Carl Ijames

http://www.ebay.com/sch/items/?_nkw=...=&r mvSB=true


That is an interesting variation of the Microlux/HarborFright design saw
paired with a measuring jig. It wouldn't work for my application, but it
does give me some nice simple ideas for cutting wire pins as needed.
Thanks.

(Well, and some other saws depending on which one.)


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Default Miniature Chop Saw

On Tue, 27 Jun 2017 09:20:51 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

"Gunner Asch" wrote in message
.. .

On Fri, 23 Jun 2017 20:26:39 -0400, "Carl Ijames"
wrote:


If it is factory made what make and model is it?

Does it use an abrasive blade or some other type?

How easy is it to change blades?

Do you (or the person you know who has one) cut metal with it?

I also make a few teflon pins. It would be nice to be able to cut them
quickly and easily to specific lengths as well. If such a saw had a
toothed
metal cutting blade or could be quickly changed to a toothed blade it might
serve a dual purpose.
================================================ ================

How about starting with the littlest wet abrasive tile saw from
harborfreight?
https://www.harborfreight.com/power-...saw-69230.html,
$55, 4.5" cutoff wheel, 5300 rpm. I haven't used it but it's rated 3.7/5
based on 142 reviews. They also have a couple of larger models you might
want to step up to, one still under $100.

--
Regards,
Carl Ijames

http://www.ebay.com/sch/items/?_nkw=...=&r mvSB=true


That is an interesting variation of the Microlux/HarborFright design saw
paired with a measuring jig. It wouldn't work for my application, but it
does give me some nice simple ideas for cutting wire pins as needed.
Thanks.

(Well, and some other saws depending on which one.)


Thought it might be of interest.

Btw..these are just about the best ferris cutting blades Ive found.
They can be had cheaper if you look around

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Norton-47767...-/162093130999

This may be of interest as well:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...lades&_sacat=0



Gunner

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