dumb guy wants to weld, how to cut steel Options

[JerryP]

I'm trying to start my amateur welding career and work my way up to fixing my rusty '74 parts car. For now I just need to miter cut some 1/8 " angle iron.

I have an angle grinder, sawzall and miter saw but never miter cut steel before. Will one of these do with a metal cutting blade or should I just bite the bullet and buy a real cut off saw. If so, any suggestions on what to buy? TIA.

[airsix]

QUOTE (JerryP @ Jan 8 2005, 02:24 PM)

That's good news. I was looking at the HF chop saws but was afraid they wouldn't be good enough quality. That mini cut off saw is only 19.99 right now. I may opt for the 14" one for $59.00 or if the bandsaw is more useful, I'll just do that. Thanks.

Jerry,
How accurate do your cuts need to be? Chop saws are NOT very accurate. If accuracy isn't really an issue then a chop saw might be fine.

Something that I forgot to mention... If you are doing a small project and just need to cut a few pieces then I'd just use a $2 plastic miter box and a hack-saw. Seriously. This would be a good way to get good accurate cuts for a very small investment. Use a little cutting fluid or light oil on the blade - it'll last longer and cut faster. Don't buy cheap blades.

Do NOT expect to get accurate cuts from a chop saw. Yes, I do have the little HF chop saw. Yes, it is a POS. All chop-saws are. They weren't designed for precision work. Anything I cut on a chop saw is cut long and then ground to length on my belt grinder. Mostly I use my bandsaw. Your best bet for low investment is the miter box and hack saw. I know hack-sawing a bunch of stock does not sound like fun, but if you don't want to invest in big tools right now the hacksaw/miterbox method will give you a good end result for little money. I wouldn't use the chop-saw unless you have a good grinder you can use to trim to length and touch up the angles of your cuts - unless your project doesn't require highly accurate cuts.

Hope that helps some. I'm trying to share lessons I've learned the hard way so you don't have to. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wink.gif)

-Ben M.