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.

[TravisNeff]

I just got a rigid metal chop saw, accuracy is what everyone says. My first welding project was a work table, had to do several cuts on angle stock from 1" to 2.5" doing miter cuts. Did it with an angle grinder and metal cutoff blade. Worked fine and actually you can get decent cuts if you work at it slowly and carefully. I did the 45 degree cuts on the angle stock then found another (and supposedly the correct way to do miter joints on angle iron) way to make the cuts. Just do regular 90 degree straight cuts, on the piece that intersects the other, cut off the bottom of the "L" about the width of the opposing "L" lay it up, jig it and mig it. Very quick if you are doing this with an angle grinder, if you have a chop saw the 45 degree cuts are quicker.

Don't expect it to be absolutely perfect, the heat will bend the metal from welding so you will have to clamp the parts down really well when welding and let them cool for a minute or two to reduce the distortion. When welding the angle stock together, buzz 3 tacks one at each corner of the joint, then one in the middle, that will also stabilize distortion over running a bead from one corner to the other.

My 2nd welding project was to make a corner jig out of 2.5" angle stock and a piece of strap for reinforcement. I could have spent less on buying a corner clamp, but it was fun non the less. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/welder.gif)