Hello all,

Started this evening cuttin side rails A1 and A2 - took me 90 minutes.

Oh yes, am using a hacksaw. Found that my biggest problem is getting the ends truly sqaure - always off by a fraction of a millimetre.

It's the round edge of the tube that throws me when I'm marking - using a piece of angle iron to align marks across the faces also is'nt 100% accurate.

A1 is out by a huge 1mm on one face. A2 is very accurate but that probably took me 40 minutes.

Any advice/help/hints will be appreciated.

Thanx.

Cutting straight with a hacksaw is an aquired skill....and it doesnt necessarily come easily... (they used to get apprentices to practice it over and over until they could do it!)

It just takes lots of practice. Hold the saw right, dont use too much pressure and you are halfway there. Choosing the right type of blade helps too. Its harder to cut straight with a coarse blade...i reckon anyway.

If you can afford one buy a cut off saw. If not just practice cutting straight on offcuts.

Use a sqaure to mark off the tubes. Engineers ones (all metal) are best. That will make sure your marking is square.

David

Mark all 4 faces and then cut them one at a time, turning the tube over if you need to be so accurate.

Another option could be to use one of those cheap skirting/coving mitre boxes from DIY stores.
The ones that are U shaped and have several slots in them for the saw.

I cut most of my tubes a fraction long and then used a bench grinder to get them true and the right length.

quote:

---

cut off saw

---

quote:

---

if you need to be so accurate.

---

quote:

---

cheap skirting/coving mitre boxes

---

For marking round tubes for square cuts, wrap round a peice of gum tape. gum tape does not stretch or deform like most other tapes do.

Personally i had three practise cuts with a hacksaw and gave up an went and got a lone of a cut off saw. imho only way to go unless your experinced with a hacksaw.

Welder is master of gaps!!!!

"" welder is master of gaps "" I second that.

I find a vice with big jaws are good for straight edges.. Run the hacksaw down the jaws.

quote:

---

Originally posted by DanozemanI find a vice with big jaws are good for straight edges.. Run the hacksaw down the jaws.

---

1 mm is close to nothing mate
If you can keep that standard for the entire frame than you probably have a car with closer tolerances than most production cars.
Dont worry about it.

I used Peteff's method (mark the four sides and turn the tube for each cut) and it works a charm.It's time consuming yes but it's accurate and easy.
Invest in a good saw blade,it makes a big difference.

[Edited on 4/3/05 by Cita]

I cut all the tubes for my chassis with a hacksaw because my daughter sleeps in the room above the garage. I found I got better with time and just cleaned up with a file.

Buy decent hacksaw blades, mark all round the tube with a square and a scribe, lie your index finger down the saw and keep watching where the blade is going.

I tried a guide box from B&Q but it was pretty unhelpful. Never tried a cut-off saw because of the noise.

Mark

Wow, I cant belive you guys have made all those cuts with a hand saw!!

The first tool I got when I knew I was gonna build this was a cutoff saw. Such a time saver!

Thanx for all the replies guys - you've given me new hope.

It surely doesn't take that long to cut a bit of 16g tube witha hacksaw, does it?

Cutting is actually the easy part and I'm reasonably accurate.

BUT I do take it very slow - most of the time is spent measuring, checking with the square, filing a bit.

Probably get better with time; we'll see.

Cutting certainly is not to hard, but the better the cut the less work needed trying to get it to fit all together.