[TR]

ok my links are gonna have some wierd angles and our drill mounted notcher wont notch it so what is the next best thing to do? thanks.

 

[scott-885]

Grind it out till it fits

 

[Bigger Valves]

chop saw a rough notch.. then fire up the angle grinder.. :flipoff2:

 

[Supergper]

chop saw a rough notch.. then fire up the angle grinder.. :flipoff2:

I think what bigger valves is saying is, if you cut say two 45* like this /\ then it will fish mouth the tube for a 90* connection...if one side is a smaller cut than the other then it will be at an angle...or I have a program called winmiter that you can plug different angles and tube size into and it will give you a template you can print out for your notch...I can email the program to you if you would like...it .98 mb so not too big...

 

[zachv]

One of the toolcompanies sells those round needle thingies that you stick on the tube, get it close to the joint, and it gives you the outline of the notch. Someone will post the company that offers it, but they seem like the best idea for a tight joint.

 

[couchracing]

winmiter here

 

[flimmy]

One of the toolcompanies sells those round needle thingies that you stick on the tube, get it close to the joint, and it gives you the outline of the notch. Someone will post the company that offers it, but they seem like the best idea for a tight joint.

You mean something like this.

http://www.stockcarproducts.com/constr6.htm

 

[cmk]

All those "crutches" are handy, but the more you do, the more you'll find yourself just hogging them out with a grinder.

cmk

 

[foley]

All those "crutches" are handy, but the more you do, the more you'll find yourself just hogging them out with a grinder.

cmk

Ditto,

Turn your makita grinder on its' side, and wheel away on some scrap till the end of the wheel is rounded off, then start grinding... you get a feel for it after a while, and it gets to the point you would rather listen to the grinder than the squeeling and screeching of the damn hole saw...

If you'r in love with your hole saw notcher, use it to make the biggest angle you can, then use the above method to adjust the angle. This makes it easier to do if you don't yet have the "feel" for doing it from scratch with a grinder.


On another note, if we could by 24 TPI hole saws, I'd be a LOT more likely to use them. Anyone have a source for them reasonably priced in something other then 6-8 TPI??

 

[zachv]

You mean something like this.

http://www.stockcarproducts.com/constr6.htm

Yep, these seem like the deal. They would cut down on all of the checking and have it done right the first time.

 

[Bigger Valves]

Ditto,

Turn your makita grinder on its' side, and wheel away on some scrap till the end of the wheel is rounded off, then start grinding... you get a feel for it after a while, and it gets to the point you would rather listen to the grinder than the squeeling and screeching of the damn hole saw...

amen, i'm saving up for the shear notcher, that does the same as the chop saw method except just a lot quicker, easier, and quieter

 

[withamc]

OK - so here's a couple questions I have on this subject -
How do you measure and then line up the cut so you get the right length?
I want to put spreader bars on the rear of my stock YJ cage. I need to bend the back bar so it ends up higher than the passenger's heads. How do you figure out the angle and length and cut that bent tube?

 

[AlumCJ]

in the tech section there is a great writeup on bending tube....works great!!

 

[cruiserrg]

On another note, if we could by 24 TPI hole saws, I'd be a LOT more likely to use them. Anyone have a source for them reasonably priced in something other then 6-8 TPI??

like these:

http://vansantent.com/hole_saw_cutters.htm

I haven't bought any, I find that Lennox holesaws from the local building supply does fine.

I do have one of those tubing contour guage, and they work good.

 

[4Bangler]

I'm just saving my pennies for the CNC Hydraulic tubing bender/Plasma notcher/Mig welder with the optional Vulcan mind meld attachment, that way I just suction cup an elctrode to my head and feed the tube in and *poof* the cage of my dreams pops out the other end.

 

[BadDog]

like these:

http://vansantent.com/hole_saw_cutters.htm

I haven't bought any, I find that Lennox holesaws from the local building supply does fine.

I do have one of those tubing contour guage, and they work good.

If they don't make a deeper version, then it won't work very well. I found some like that locally, but they were all too shallow. Right now I've got a coarse 1.75" Makita that works ok and it's 1.75" deep. Still have to flip the tube (or finish by hand) on almost every cut.

As a result of the limitations of most hole saw notchers, I find I use the chop-saw and/or grinder almost exclusively...

 

[Danger Ranger]

You mean something like this.

http://www.stockcarproducts.com/constr6.htm

those are cool... but what's up with only having up to 1 3/4"

 

[XJGPN2]

One of the toolcompanies sells those round needle thingies that you stick on the tube, get it close to the joint, and it gives you the outline of the notch. Someone will post the company that offers it, but they seem like the best idea for a tight joint.

Yeah, I've used those before... they really don't work nearly as well as you'd think. Great idea, but it falls short when actually using it...

 

[Tin Bender]

I guess'n that your notcher only does a 60*...
After that it's all about the good old hand grinder.....

 

[TR]

well the way we have ours mounted in the press we can only do 40 degrees, but im thinking on getting that winmiter program and print out some patterns and then transfering them to some sheet metal. thanks tho.