# Forum Home Renovation Metalwork & Welding  Ideas for cutting at an acute angle with a cold saw.

## Marc

Hi there.
Just trying to gather some ideas to cut square 25x25x1.6 tube at 27 degrees. 
My saw has a vice at 90 degree with the blade, and the blade can be moved up to 45 degree both ways. 
I need to cut a good number of sections at odd angles. Anything from 90 to 45 is straight forward, but when it comes to more acute angles I have a problem. 
For one off I can always clamp some offcut to one side of the vice and secure the pipe at an angle and work out a one off cut, but for repeat cuts, I want something that give me a head start of say 30 degrees that I can rely on either way so that I can cut at 30 or 25. 
I thought to make a jig to put inside the vice so that I can clamp the jig and the tube at once in a particular angle but that involves a bit of mucking around and may be you have done this before and there is an easy solution. 
Your ideas are appreciated.

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## PlatypusGardens

I have a couple of angle guides I've made for my cutoff saw so I don't have to adjust the vice, which is a pain to do.
(guessing your saw will be a bit.....fancier than my noisy dry-cut Makita)  
I would make a wedge that can be secured to the back of your vice plate, with a threaded part attached so when tightened it's clamping down on the piece your're cutting to hold it in place....if that makes sense....?    :Unsure:

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## PlatypusGardens

Here's my 45 guide   
Bolts on to the back vice plate          
22.5 degrees   
The pin sits in a hole in the saw table.             
But I'm guessing you're going this way as you said acute angle   
So I would make a wedge that can clamp down on the piece, where the bolt is and imagine my hand is part of the wedge and has a threaded bit at my index finger. 
Of course the wedge itself would need to either bolt to the back plate of the vice or the saw table itself.  
And I would still use the saw's vice to hold it in place   :Smilie:

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## Uncle Bob

I'd just cut it with an angle grinder

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## PlatypusGardens

Accuracy might be an issue....

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## Uncle Bob

> Accuracy might be an issue....

  Easy to fix though, with an angle grinder  :Smilie:

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## PlatypusGardens

> Easy to fix though, with an angle grinder

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## Marc

> Here's my 45 guide   
> Bolts on to the back vice plate          
> 22.5 degrees   
> The pin sits in a hole in the saw table.             
> But I'm guessing you're going this way as you said acute angle   
> So I would make a wedge that can clamp down on the piece, where the bolt is and imagine my hand is part of the wedge and has a threaded bit at my index finger. 
> Of course the wedge itself would need to either bolt to the back plate of the vice or the saw table itself.  
> And I would still use the saw's vice to hold it in place

  
Yes, thought of something like it. Just that my vice has no swivel it is just a parallel vice, so I'll need two wedges, one fixed to a plate, one that can slide against the tube but without sliding sideways, and the lot has to fit inside the vice with two lugs outside the vice to keep in position.  
That would be a proper jig.
What about something less permanent. Something only for one size tube, something that does not slide, like a channel you put the tube in and you close the vice on a pin that keeps the tube fixed .... aaaaaah can't think today.... it's bacon withdrawal

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## r3nov8or

Carefully marked steel, thin blade in grinder and flap disc to tidy up.  
I don't have a cut off saw

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## PlatypusGardens

> bacon withdrawal

   :Sneaktongue:

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## Spottiswoode

> it's bacon withdrawal

   Or this one?

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## PlatypusGardens

6 degrees on the shirt 
nice   :Wink:

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## PlatypusGardens

Anyway, back to cutting.......what are you building, Marc....?

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## Marc

Stairs balustrade, lots of angle cuts. Not practical to do with a grinder even when possible. Set up the cold saw and cut away. Will have to make a proper jig, don't think I can come up with an improvised one that works properly ... unless .... a block of hardwood with a trench cut in it with the router ... if I clamp it with the vice it should close up and release when open ... mm worth a try.  :Smilie:

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## PlatypusGardens

Well....gotta do what ya gotta do.
As I've said before...sometimes I seem to spend more things making things to make things than actually making things...   :Unsure:

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## PlatypusGardens

What does the saw look like anyway....?
is it more like a timber SCMS kinda setup?

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## Marc

> Well....gotta do what ya gotta do.
> As I've said before...sometimes I seem to spend more things making things to make things than actually making things...

   Yes ... I know ... that is what I like to avoid if I can. Blacksmith are forever making their own tools because well you can't buy them.
The cold saw is ... well ... here is a picture    
YOu can see that the vice is fixed yet the motor and blade can turn 45 each way. the bar on teh right of the vice can be removed to cut with the blade open towards the right, although I usually use it turning it towards the left since the jaw nearest to the operator slides left to make room for the cut.
To have a tube in the vice at 30 degrees the vice will have to open a fair bit. May be I can get away with just 20.
To cut the tube at 27 degree, if I start with 20 in the vice and turn the head 45 I have 65 minus 90 that is 25 cut, so a few less and I have 27. 
I think it is duable. I have to consider that the cold saw takes some pressure downwards and so the piece needs to be clamped right, can not be loose or it will move back.
My original idea was to make a plate with the jig on top and weld a flat bar under it to slide in the vice and clamp it on top of the vice. Since it is only 25x25 tube, it should fit under the saw no problem, but that means making another little vice and it gets more complicated. 
I could use a post drill vice one of those flat ones bolted to a plate and under the plate a 50x8 flat bar to hold it in the saw vice ... mm may be that's the go.

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## PlatypusGardens

Oh I see....yes different setup alltogether.   :Smilie:  
I'd need to see it in person to work out what to do hehe.
Post pics of what you come up with though.

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## Marc

You're welcome anytime you're in Sydney ha ha. 
I am thinking now that a plate with two flat bar on the edge on it, making a channel for the pipe at an angle. The edge of the flat bar supported by a plate triangle on each side to give the vice a surface to press against may work If I go leight with the compression and the walls of the channel keep a bit of spring to release the tube.
If I get it to work I'll post a picture.

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## Marc

A bit like this but in steel and with two side parallel

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## PlatypusGardens

Been thinking of making a swing-out plate, hinged and attached to the back plate on the saw for quick angle adjustment...... 
Might get to that one day.

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## PlatypusGardens

You know, Marc, considering the elaborate solutions you often offer to other people's problems......it's kinda funny how you're trying to get away from building a simple jig   :Wink:

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## Marc

Well that's the thing, I often get into building a machine or a jig way more elaborate than it has to be and spend more time on the jig than the job.  
Other times I want to get away with holding the tool with my teeth and get the job done.  :Whatonearth:

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## PlatypusGardens

Haha I know what you mean. 
As long as it gets done right it's ok, sometimes the simplest thing is best.
Other times.... _she'll be right_... turns in to spending 3 times as long fixing the mistakes from rushing it and then building the jig you should have done in the first place    :Rolleyes:

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## ringtail

Got jiggy with it yet Marc ! Job should be done by now  :Tongue:

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## Marc

True, but when you work one or two days a week on a project the time stretches out a lot. 
And I have thrown out more jigs than I care to remember, usually after 20 or 30 years of not using them ha ha. 
Past weekend spend most of the time texturing the tubing with a mallet on a 40k little anvil, should have enough stock to get a few grills up next weekend. 
Will need to convert back from the diaspora to solid wire and gas for the 1.6mm material.

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## ringtail

What ! 1.6 is heaps thick. You should learn to weld the thin stuff with fluxcore. Just turn it down  :Biggrin:

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## Marc

What do you mean turn it down? I have it at 4-2 and 18wire speed ... is that too high?  :Shock:

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## PlatypusGardens

> I have it at 4-2 and 18wire speed ... is that too high?

  
Meh, it either works or it doesn't.  
I had a look at the guidelines as displayed on the inside of the lid of the welder.....tried it once, the  moved on.
I often have the volts as high as possible then adjust the Amp/wirespeed to suit.  
Of course,as I found recently, different brand of wire makes a difference.
I reckon there's differences between each gas refill/bottle sometimes as well....heat, humidity......etc probably also has something to do with it who knows

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## ringtail

Bwahahaha. Depends on what those numbers mean. 4-2-18.  I assume 4 is coarse voltage, 2 fine voltage amd maybe 18 inches/minute wire feed. In which case I would go 1,4 and adjust wire speed to suit.

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## Marc

Only kidding, that set up would be OK to cut the pipe not weld it ...  :Smilie:

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## ringtail

Hmmm, I wonder if long arcing fluxcore would cut

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## PlatypusGardens

> that set up would be OK to cut the pipe not weld it ...

  
But....wasn't this thread about cutting....?  
What is it with these threads......they always end up being about welding and fluxcore   :Runaway:    
I blame ringtail   :Slap2:         

> fluxcore

  
SEE????!!!      :Fit:

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## ringtail

Bwahahahahaha. Just give in and get on it you stubborn bastard  :Biggrin:

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## PlatypusGardens

*never!!!*

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## ringtail

Fluxcorefluxcorefluxcorefluxcorefluxcorefluxcorepg  lovesfluxcore

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## PlatypusGardens



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## ringtail

Bwahaha. I remember that episode too.

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## Marc

Crude but effective. 6mm plate bits and a good clamp.

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## PlatypusGardens

Holy crap mate....could you take some better pics.....?   :Unsure:

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## Marc

Mm ... not my best shot, but you get the idea ... here, I did this today   :Smilie:

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## Marc

Gone back to solid wire and gas this week too .... aaaaaah bliss, had forgotten how it feels to weld soft and smooth ... well sort of, bought a new kind of wire and it is hard to start  :Frown: 
Works well when the weld is hot but starts bad. 
What is a good brand of wire?  
I'll still use the fluxcore though for thick stuff. Would like to use thicker flux core wire for 19mm plate. What's the next one up from 0.9? 1.2?

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## ringtail

Hmmm, 1.2 I think. Still need 4 passes at least on a butt join though. Get away with 3 on a fillet depending on application. I want to see close ups of those welds. Top right looks a bit manky or is that the grinder marks  :Sneaktongue:   :Biggrin:  .

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## PlatypusGardens

> What is a good brand of wire?

  I like this one

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## PlatypusGardens

> Mm ... not my best shot, but you get the idea ... here, I did this today

  
did you make the inserts and leaf as well?

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