Best tool for the tasks at hand....

[morpheus83uk]

Hello,

I am currently looking at doing a few tasks and I am wondering what the best tool or tools for the job are. I currently have the following (and others but relevant for the post):

14.4V Combi Drill
Jigsaw (with metal and wood blades)
Sander
Stanley Mitre Block (With 14" back saw)
Work bench (http://www.screwfix.com/p/keter-folding-workbench/56566)

Which all work perfectly fine but I am looking at going forward I may need a table saw, mitre saw or circular saw... Now I don't know much about them in the way they work or what they are mainly used for.

I will be using them for getting various angles such as 22.5 degrees, 45, 90 off the top of my head currently. Now I will be working with wood and metal as I will be making some long and some short metal guards for animal cages. These have been done previously with a jigsaw but with difficulty due to the vibration and being unable to stay accurate and then having to hand file them down was knackering. The metal will be around 0.5 and 1mm I will be working with at this moment but I will be purchasing it in 1m x 1m sheets.

I will also be using wood and creating angles down the longer side of the wood of 22.5 degrees to make wooden tunnels for animals as well as just taking a few corners off the edges .

I am unsure what to go for with my needs and also I would not like to make any of my current tools obsolete if I can help it.

I think that's about everything I can think of as I cant think of a way of doing it with my current tools .

Can anyone help?

Many Thanks

James

 

[Dave54]

You're not very specific about what you are using them for. Are these jobs you are doing regularly for pay, or are they occasional hobby jobs? Is the metal steel or aluminium or something else?
Whatever, if you need to make long cuts along the length of wood (ripping it's called) then you want a table saw. Cross cuts can be made on the table saw with a mitre gauge for short pieces, or a sliding table. You would want a saw with a tilting blade for the angled cuts. If you want them really "furniture" accurate you would need to plane them somehow after cutting in my experience. You can also use a mitre saw or chop saw for cross cutting.
22.5 degree cuts will give an octagonal tunnel incidentally.
Sheet metal, whatever it is can be cut on a small scale with hand or power shears or a jigsaw.
If you want nice square flat pieces to work with then possibly the best way is to pay to get them sheared by someone who has a guillotine.

 

[morpheus83uk]

Oh sorry it will be for a hobby initially however that could change at a later date. It will be galvanised steel for the metal and various woods.

Yes the tunnel will be octagonal which is how I would like it when its finished. So long cuts on the sheet metal would need to be done via the jigsaw?

Thanks

James

 

[Dave54]

"Tin snips" type hand shears will cut to a marked line on material up to about 1.0mm thick with reasonable accuracy. You do tend to get a bit of bending at the edge though. The jigsaw doesn't distort the metal, but is more difficult to use accurately. A lower speed helps. You also, as you have found, need to find a way to support the sheet while cutting. As I said before the way to get accurate pieces with straight, square edges, is to get it guillotined. The people you are getting the sheet off may well have the facilities to do it. Otherwise look for local sheet metal workers and go and ask nicely.
A lot of the art of making things is to find the easiest way to do it with the kit you have available, and to know when to farm out bits of the job (if possible) to someone with the right kit.

 

[morpheus83uk]

Yeah I can see that its just people have enquired so I was wondering if I needed to get another piece of kit to do the job better and faster. If it does take off then I will obviously look at improving something at that point.

Thanks

James

 

[Burnerman]

May I suggest a trip to your local Machine Mart.....they have some good guillotines and also folding bars - essential to fold a safe edge.
For other metal sections, go for some 1mm discs in a 112mm angle grinder.
You dont say how you intend to join the metal?
John

 

[morpheus83uk]

I won't be joining any metal that I am aware of. I will have a look at a guillotine and the angle grinders. Also I just learned that my jigsaw can do angles so I maybe able to do what I need with a jigsaw. I think I will give that a go first before doing anything else.

Thanks again

James

 

[Dave54]

A jigsaw isn't that accurate really. A good jigsaw with a good blade isn't too bad used carefully for cross cuts, but little use for long cuts.
As John says a metal folder is useful.

 

[Burnerman]

I won't be joining any metal that I am aware of. I will have a look at a guillotine and the angle grinders. Also I just learned that my jigsaw can do angles so I maybe able to do what I need with a jigsaw. I think I will give that a go first before doing anything else.

Thanks again

James

I don't think you'll enjoy using a jigsaw to cut metal, James.....sure, with the right blade it will get there but there will be lots of filing afterwards.
As Dave says, some large tinsnips and a grip like a gorilla will help there.
A tip with the tinsnips.....put one leg in the vice, then you can exert more pressure when cutting, i.e pressure downwards.
John
Edit - thats the tinsnips leg of course
J.

 

[morpheus83uk]

Lol thanks for that I will try to remember to not let my leg and vice meet ☺. The tunnel will be made out of wood so that's where the jigsaw will come in handy. However it's more the cutting of the galvenised steel I am finding a nightmare. It vibrates a lot even when I have it clamped as much as I can on the qork bench. Would the metal folder just fold the metal as the name suggests or can it cut as well? As I would be needing to cut the sheet. So are you saying I should fold the metal and then cut it so it's smaller?

As for the tin snips I do have some but I find it hard doing longer pieces of metal and it's 1mm thick. Any tips as well as the vice suggestion?

The filing is also a nightmare anything which can help there is greatly appreciated...

Thanks

James

 

[Burnerman]

Guillotines cut the metal James, and the folder just folds - nothing else.
So long as the sheet metal fits within the folder jaws, its tickettyboo. If it doesn't, then the metal can be clamped between lengths of timber or metal bar and folded then.
Tinsnips are fine, even at 1mm thick material but when deep into the cut the metal has to be pushed out of the way by the tool jaws.....therefore its a guillotine needed for this.
If you don't have a guillotine, a 1mm slitting disc in an angle grinder will work, but again it takes a bit of practice to get it right.
John

 

[Dave54]

If you use the tin snips in a vice as John suggests, you can extend the other leg with a piece of tube to give you a bit more leverage, although you may have to modify the leg to do it.
Cutting sheet metal cleanly and accurately in a straight line is one of those jobs that there is no real DIY type solution for, at least not that I know of.

 

[Norcon]

An angle grinder will do an OK job if your not doing a lot.
We have a guillotine in the work shop. It weighs 17 ton and is rated for 13mm thick by 3.6m long plate in one drop of the blade which takes about 4 seconds.
It's a beast.

 

[Dave54]

An angle grinder will do an OK job if your not doing a lot.
We have a guillotine in the work shop. It weighs 17 ton and is rated for 13mm thick by 3.6m long plate in one drop of the blade which takes about 4 seconds.
It's a beast.

I need one! (I'd never use it!)
Has to be a great tool if you're cutting a lot of plate for fabrications!

 

[Burnerman]

An angle grinder will do an OK job if your not doing a lot.
We have a guillotine in the work shop. It weighs 17 ton and is rated for 13mm thick by 3.6m long plate in one drop of the blade which takes about 4 seconds.
It's a beast.

My local Metals Supermarkets has such a machine....when its cropping 6mm plate, the bloody thing doesn't even slow down
John