# Tired Of Hacksawing - Can A Slitting Saw Help Me ?



## BillWood (Oct 29, 2015)

Have run out of budget for any new toys this year so cannot get a bandsaw.

Am tired of hacksawing metal and have tried abrasive 14" saw and thin blades on angle grinder.

Have just made a slitting saw arbor, but I get the impression that I wont be able to cut significant thicknesses with a slitting saw - is that correct ?

I get the impression that although textbooks and safety officers in big companes would frown on the practice, many people use 3.5" carbide tipped woodsaw blades as slitting saws on milling machiines -  I will try this  - any known traps with doing this i.e. I'd guess 200rpm for a 3.5" carbide tipped woodsaw blade for cutting mild steel ?


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## Eddyde (Oct 29, 2015)

When I was an apprentice, my mentor a master tool and die man showed me one could indeed cut and shape steel with woodworking tools. He used a router bit to mill slots and round over edges, in a mill, not in a router of course. He said while not ideal to use such tools but in a pinch....It's  matter of feeds and speeds.


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## tertiaryjim (Oct 29, 2015)

Watch craigs list for a portaband. They'll do a lot of work for you and can sometimes be purchased for less than 100 bucks.
I too tired of using a hack saw and after getting a portaband have hardly used the old hand saw.
Cutting steel, other than sheet metal, with wood cutting blades is not familiar to me but many cut aluminum with carbide wood blades.
I have cut through a lot of unnoticed nails and screws while chopping boards.
Just wear your safety glasses!


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## Cobra (Oct 29, 2015)

200 rpm for a 3.5 inch saw in mild steel is very fast. 
Be careful with the blades intended for wood, the angles are not correct for cutting steel.
You can get away with wood cutting tools on aluminum.
You will find that the 3 inch slitting saw blades from 1/32 to 1/8 are very reasonably priced.
You will also find a slitting saw a very slow means of cutting stock.


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## joshua43214 (Oct 29, 2015)

I also chased this in circles. For cutting stock to size, there is no real replacement for a stationary saw (band, powered hacksaw, or cold saw).
A portaband is probably the best alternative as suggested.


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## cascao (Oct 29, 2015)




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## wawoodman (Oct 29, 2015)

Harbor Freight has a portaband on sale for $129.

That being said, my advice is to beg or borrow the funds to get a stationary bandsaw. You know you will get one eventually (!) so why spend extra money to "make due" in the short run?

In equipping my wood shop over the past 40+ years, I have been through 4 tablesaws, 3 shapers, 5 bandsaws, etc., to finally get the quality I wanted. Think of how much money I would have saved if I had bought the right tools up front. I certainly understand that's not always possible. Still, I really recommend doing the best you can, with an eye to the future.


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## Andre (Oct 29, 2015)

I've used slitting saws to rough out parts that were too awkward for the bandsaw to cut, chip evacuation is KEY.


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## kvt (Oct 29, 2015)

I have been thinking of making a power hack saw, or trying to convert one of my 9 inch band saws into a metal cutting band saw.
I know I would have to slow it way down without loosing power,  I was thinking something like a tread mill motor with speed controller would work for either..


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## Kernbigo (Oct 29, 2015)

this is my craftsman that i converted to metal cutting, thread mill motor and my welded up metal cutting blades, works great


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## BillWood (Oct 29, 2015)

Eddyde said:


> When I was an apprentice, my mentor a master tool and die man showed me one could indeed cut and shape steel with woodworking tools. He used a router bit to mill slots and round over edges, in a mill, not in a router of course. He said while not ideal to use such tools but in a pinch....It's  matter of feeds and speeds.



Thanks - you have verified an impression that I had from reading various old books/magazines/internet posts.



cascao said:


>



Thats a very good thing you have built - is there any possibility that it might damage or cause excessive wear to the lathe headstock and bearings ?



wawoodman said:


> Harbor Freight has a portaband on sale for $129.
> 
> That being said, my advice is to beg or borrow the funds to get a stationary bandsaw. You know you will get one eventually (!) so why spend extra money to "make due" in the short run?



Yes, I will get one eventually - am constantly scouring ebay and gumtree for appropriate tools. Australia is far more expensive than US for brand new tools and my location is a bit awkward so a lot of what I see on ebay is not accessible.



kvt said:


> I have been thinking of making a power hack saw, or trying to convert one of my 9 inch band saws into a metal cutting band saw.
> I know I would have to slow it way down without loosing power,  I was thinking something like a tread mill motor with speed controller would work for either..



One of the things I have considered is reducing speeds from a couple of motors I have 1500 &1400 rpm.

One of the giant aha ! moments in the past week has been that I don't have to do it in 2 steps which would involve something like 10"&2" = 5 times reduction x 2 = 25 times reduction

You can do it in 3 steps ie 2.9 x 2.9 x 2.9 and this means something like 3 x 6"&2" which occupies much less room and would be much easier to find/make the pulleys.

I dont know why I was so focussed on doing it in 2 steps.

I often think about those old workshops with overhead shafts and one big motor - as opposed to my shed with 4 x 1-2HP motors that spend a lot of time doing nothing at all. Drillpress, Mill, Lathe, Wood Bandsaw.

Am also aware of wormscrew reductions but dont know much about how practical this might be -  I have seen several diy wormscrews on the internet for rotary tables but not any for or power transmission - it does seem complicated with immersion in oil required for lubrication ?

The video above showing the hacksaw driven by the lathe makes clever use of the lathe reduction mechanism.

You also have a reducing mechanism in the top of an old belt driven drill press - mine goes down to 250rpm and I have wondered about cannibalising that as I no longer use it much due to acquisition of Mill/Drill. At its simplest you could just lay the drill press down horizontally and hanmg an extra belt off the drive mechanism to be reduced 4-5x before powering a hacksaw.



Kernbigo said:


> this is my craftsman that i converted to metal cutting, thread mill motor and my welded up metal cutting blades, works great
> 
> 
> 
> ...



So that is a modified Fretsaw/Jigsaw ? Interesting. Will do some further investigating - I never thought of that - could I visualise the mechanism as being similar to a power hacksaw but it goes vertically instead of horizontally ?

Many thanks for all responses.

Bill


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## Kernbigo (Oct 29, 2015)

it is a 10" 3 wheel craftsman bandsaw


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## cascao (Oct 29, 2015)

And if you use an gate motor with worm reduction incorpored. They are cheap


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## john.oliver35 (Oct 29, 2015)

I'll toss another alternative out there.  I used a sawzall with metal-cutting blades.  It is slow, but way better than a hacksaw.  I already had the sawzall, otherwise the used portaband would have been a better buy.


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## kvt (Oct 29, 2015)

I will have to check on the gate motors, as the last time I had to work with one a few years ago they were expensive as hell.  I would be able to bay a horizontal band saw for what was paid for the last one I worked with.   I'm trying to figure out what HP is needed,   and if a DC motor will work,   like a windshield wiper motor.


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## gjmontll (Oct 30, 2015)

I've tried a portable bandsaw as a better, quicker alternative to hand hacksawing on thicker pieces of steel. Disappointing - a lot of noise and not so much cutting. (HF saw with Milwaukee blades).
My preferred tool is now a reciprocating saw with Milwaukee "The Torch" blades. A lot of noise and a lot of cutting! Only downside is the accuracy. It's tough to precisely start the cut, so I usually start with a triangular file and/or hacksaw.  Angle grinder works well too.


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## petersenonmain (Oct 31, 2015)

BillWood said:


> Have run out of budget for any new toys this year so cannot get a bandsaw.
> 
> Am tired of hacksawing metal and have tried abrasive 14" saw and thin blades on angle grinder.
> 
> ...


Go to the Gringry work shop and they have a 7"x12" band saw that will cut most any thing you will run into and depending on how good a scrounger you are you can make it for very little money but that is not the time involved.


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## GaryLa (Nov 1, 2015)

Kernbigo said:


> View attachment 113327



What is the model number of your small surface grinder?

Did KO Lee make very many of those?

What sort of accuracy are you able to achieve with it?

It looks very handy.


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## Kernbigo (Nov 1, 2015)

It was a ko lee cutter grinder that i turned in to a surface grinder turicted the ways and scraped it in. The accuracy is ok but not tool room quality.


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## GaryLa (Nov 2, 2015)

I thought their cutter grinders looked a lot different than that. But, I've only seen the A600 and one of the B models. Your conversion looks like a factory-produced benchtop surface grinder!

I guess I'll be shopping for a Sanford SG48, but I was hoping there were other makers of small surface grinders.


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## bbutcher (Nov 2, 2015)

BillWood said:


> Have run out of budget for any new toys this year so cannot get a bandsaw.
> 
> Am tired of hacksawing metal and have tried abrasive 14" saw and thin blades on angle grinder.
> 
> ...



I purchased a 6 inch chop saw (item#61659) from HF a couple of years ago, and find it very handy for most small to medium size stuff.  It uses thin blades similar to the angle grinders, but larger in diameter. I also have a 14 inch HF chop saw, but I find the 6 inch will cut just as fast or faster due to the thinner blade. I have a vertical bandsaw, plasma cutter, cutting torch, and slitting saw for the milling machine as well, but find the HF 6 inch gets the most use for steel. The band saw seems to work better for most aluminum cuts. HF also has a small horizontal bandsaw on sale for about $200 and I have been tempted, but so far cannot justify it. I purchased a 6 inch metal cutting blade and tried it on the HF 6 inch saw, but found the abrasive was better for steel. I often use a HF 10 inch wood chop saw with carbide wood cutting blade for aluminum and it works OK, but can kick back and be dangerous for small stuff where your hands get too close to the blade.

Bob


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