# Forum Home Renovation Metalwork & Welding  DIY tube notcher

## PlatypusGardens

Seems easy enough   :2thumbsup:    DIY Tube notcher | NSJC Message Board  
Pretty sure I have all the required components right here.   :Cool:

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## PlatypusGardens

Well....I was expecting a few comments like "just use a grinder" or "you can buy them ready made"    :Unsure:

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## Uncle Bob

I just use a grinder  :Smilie:

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## PlatypusGardens

Blaaaaah   :Wink 1:

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## BRADFORD

I just use the bandsaw and cut an angle each side (I have been using 40 deg.) which creates a notch.
I have been doing a lot of that lately making frames from thin wall 38mm tube, works very well.

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## PlatypusGardens

Yeh but say you want two holes about 35mm dia going in one end and out the other in a piece of 90mm tube...... On an angle...  
Or just oval holes cut in round tube......or even square tube....

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## BRADFORD

Point taken, looks like I'll just have to have one to add to my tool hoard.

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## PlatypusGardens

Made a start. 
18-ish mm shaft.
Just went with whatever shaft fit whatever bearing fit whatever else....   
Rather than cutting threads or trying to weld half a bolt to the shaft I made it fit the holesaw threaded bit and welded it on. 
Tacked it on, then put it in the lathe and trued it up as i went. 
All good  :Smilie:    
Plan A:
Tube welded to steel plate with shaft sliding through bearings    
Plan is to weld a socket to the other end of the shaft and use socket driver on drill.     :Smilie:

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## PlatypusGardens

Getting a bit done today. 
keeping everything adjustable until it's lined up and good.   
Making it big enough to take a 100mm holesaw and pipe.       :Smilie:

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## PlatypusGardens

Progress

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## ringtail

Looking good PG. you need a much bigger workshop now. Maybe time to chuck the landscaping in for good eh?

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## PlatypusGardens

> Looking good PG.

  cheers, yeh coming along nicely.   

> you need a much bigger workshop now.

  Always did    

> Maybe time to chuck the landscaping in for good eh?

  Nah still enjoy going out doing jobs.
Done a couple of paving jobs recently.
Been a while since I did that... 
Rediscovered a bunch of muscles I hadn't used for some time...   :Shock:

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## ringtail

> Rediscovered a bunch of muscles I hadn't used for some time...

  yep, odd how that happens eh  :Tongue:

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## PlatypusGardens

Forearms, thighs and....um....buttcheeks were a bit sore there for a while   :Unsure:

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## ringtail

That's paving for you. Horrible.

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## PlatypusGardens

I actually like it, for the most part.  :Smilie:  
Depends on the site though.
Ideally, good access to get machines in to prep, pavers delivered close to area, not too many different levels to work with.
A few teicky angles and corners with lots of cuts can be a bit annoying but also makes it interesting. 
I like the part just before I start laying and everything is screeded and flat and ready to go.  
Haunching the edges and tidying up all the offcuts etc is the worst part.
By that time you just want it to be done and go home.
Then wait for the edges to go off so you can whack it and get the gap sand in.
And hope you got enough sand.
Always seems there's not enough, but usually ends up being too much in the end haha.   
But looking back at the finished job once everything is done gives me a great deal of satisfaction and sense of having achieved something.
I like jobs where there's a big change.
Walking away thinking "I did that" and knwing the customer is happy is always nice.   :Smilie:

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## PlatypusGardens

This was a fun job, for example  http://www.renovateforum.com/f212/sm...ng-job-100529/

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## PlatypusGardens

After spending most of the day setting up the threaded rod for clamping the tube in place, I ditched that idea   :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):  
Too many forces in play, and everything was flexing like crazy.  
So, I sacrificed a G-clamp, which made everything rock solid  :2thumbsup:      
Just wish I'd cleaned up that jagged cutout BEFORE I welded the clamp on haha. 
Ah well.
Should be able to get in there and tidy it up a bit.

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## ringtail

> I like the part just before I start laying and everything is screeded and flat and ready to go.

  oh, you mean like a concrete slab  :Biggrin:  :Tongue:

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## PlatypusGardens

> oh, you mean like a concrete slab

  
Same same but different

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## Marc

> I actually like it, for the most part.  
> Depends on the site though.
> Ideally, good access to get machines in to prep, pavers delivered close to area, not too many different levels to work with.
> A few teicky angles and corners with lots of cuts can be a bit annoying but also makes it interesting. 
> I like the part just before I start laying and everything is screeded and flat and ready to go.  
> Haunching the edges and tidying up all the offcuts etc is the worst part.
> By that time you just want it to be done and go home.
> Then wait for the edges to go off so you can whack it and get the gap sand in.
> And hope you got enough sand.
> ...

  I built a shed under the house (on stilts) and lifted the pavers inside the shed and concreted the area. The pavers I saved to fix the rest of the paved area under the house and called in a local guy to do it. He quoted a reasonable price to patch up a place that had an old sunken spa, redo the edges and pave all the way to the fence line. 
When he came to do the job I was there and noticed he was struggling to make things fit, however I had trouble of my own making a new wrought iron balustrade so did not pay much attention to his grunts, putting it down to his young age.
When he finished and he did a good job, he left in a huff mumbling something like this was his worst job ever ... (?)
As I cleaned up a few offcuts and left over pavers, I picked up two pavers and discovered that when they looked identical they were actually different size. Not by much yet enough to give you a world of trouble. 
I called him back later that month to do a parking area on the front road shoulder with some 200x200x50 concrete pavers I have piled up at the back (all the same size) but despite repeated messages he never replied. i wonder why?   :Smilie:

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## Marc

That setup will notch a galvanised 3" water pipe no problems!

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## PlatypusGardens

I'll be replacing the part the pipe clamps on to with a piece of this, now that I have worked out where everything goes.   
100x75x10mm angle.   
Marc, re: pavers.
I did a job with brand new 200x200x50 pavers.
There was up to 15mm variation in width on some of them.
They were all 200mm one way but not the other. 
I went to the local supplier complaining about this after I had finished the job, saying they should let the manufacturer know.
He rang them right there and then, and the reply was that they cast them "standing up" so sometimes the mold doesn't get "filled right to the top" 
SOMETIMES?!?!?
I don't think a single paver was actually 200x200 
The manufacturer reckons "Just check each paver as you go and adjust the gaps accordingly when laying"
 Basically saying "the product is not as described, just work around it"   :Unsure:

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## ringtail

Tis why I hate pavers

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## PlatypusGardens

That's the only instance I've had of such a variation.
Never used those pavers again. 
The job I just did was with Bunnings 300x300x50 pavers, bought by customer.
There was a little variation in size but not THAT bad, and it's to be expected with those cheap ones. 
The ones I mentioned earlier were not cheap.

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## Marc

That's right, the 200x200x50 are not cheap at all. As far as size variations however, in this particular case it wouldn't matter because what I have in mind is paving the footpath/shoulder/whatever with a one inch gap so the grass grows between the pavers. 
Who is keen to do it?  :Smilie:     

> "Just check each paver as you go and adjust the gaps accordingly when laying"

  What a joke.  
That piece of steel will do it PG, what do you have in mind? Notching a cast iron sewer pipe?

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## PlatypusGardens

> That's right, the 200x200x50 are not cheap at all. As far as size variations however, in this particular case it wouldn't matter because what I have in mind is paving the footpath/shoulder/whatever with a one inch gap so the grass grows between the pavers. 
> Who is keen to do it?

   
put some beers on ice, I'll be there on Wednesday    

> That piece of steel will do it PG, what do you have in mind? Notching a cast iron sewer pipe?

  Haha, nah not quite, but as I said, I want it to be big/solid enough to take a 100mm pipe and holesaw.
(Maybe even at the same time....) 
Also thinking of adapting this gearbox from an old circ saw for further rpm reduction 
(about 5:1)

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## Marc

Yes, that will work. You need good quality holesaw.

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## PlatypusGardens

> You need good quality holesaw.

  
What's a good one? 
Sutton?

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## PlatypusGardens

Actually....won't matter now "good" it is. 
I'll still manage to flog it..  :Rolleyes:

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## PlatypusGardens

Yip yip  :2thumbsup:        
I could never do this with a grinder haha.

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## PlatypusGardens

Closed the ends and top in.
Probably didn't need any more bracing, but looks better       :Biggrin:

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## notvery

I assume i can pick up the NotchMaxX 3000tm at bunnings soon?

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## PlatypusGardens

Haha. Probably not

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## ringtail

Interesting weld profile there PG. Filling big gaps ?  :Tongue:

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## PlatypusGardens

> Interesting weld profile there PG. Filling big gaps ?

  There were a few gaps here and there.
And different thickness steel. 
Did a series of quick spots rather than solid weld so I wouldn't burn through the edge.   :Wink:  
Went off the rails a bit on the vertical too...   :Unsure:

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## ringtail

I thought you might have stumbled on the ultimate " mig like tig " technique   :Biggrin:

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## PlatypusGardens

Well it notches tube as intended anyway, so....   :Wink 1:

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## Marc

Did you actually notched that massive tube? What's the measures of that one?

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## ringtail

Yeah, come on PG, that thin walled stuff doesn't count. Hook into that chunky pipe. I reckon a cutting fluid recirc system will be required

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## PlatypusGardens

It's about 40mm OD with 5mm wall.
No I did not have a go at that yet   
I need to work out how to power this thing before I move on to thicker stuff.
Don't think my little cordless would like it and the big DeWalt drill is too fast and strong.
Ideally I would like to mount a motor (of some sort) permanently....somehow. 
Maybe a drill motor with further reduction, like the circ saw gearbox I posted earlier.   
Also need to get some decent holesaws.     :Smilie:

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## Marc

An old pedestal drill with two set of multiple pulleys would be good. Nothing in the tip?

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## PlatypusGardens

> An old pedestal drill with two set of multiple pulleys would be good. Nothing in the tip?

  
Yeh......would like it to be a bit more compact than that though....  :Unsure:

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## PlatypusGardens

Although....  
Just having a look at my BIG drillpress.
Might be able to mount my contraption to it and just use that  
hmmm

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## ringtail

Tradetools low speed drill is awesome. $89 and a real wrist breaker

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## PlatypusGardens

> wrist breaker

  
Mmmmmmm

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## ringtail

Bwahaha. Hold on properly. But you need a better solution than the cordless which is soooo not fit for purpose

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## PlatypusGardens

Well I know, I said that already.
preferably I'd like not to have to "hold on" at all and have everything fixed.
Might have a bit of spare time to investigate the drill press option tomorrow. 
Maybe make something to mount on the base

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## ringtail

That'll work. Do some bodging.

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