[skiffle]

I run a small business where I spend a lot of time cutting 1/2"-7/8" aluminum, steel, and carbon fiber tubing (1/16" wall). For 5 years I've been using the Harbor Freight Chicago Machinery Metal Cutting Horizontal Bandsaw purchased for a few hundred dollars. It is a workhorse for my easily cut materials but cuts require straightening with a sander which is as time consuming as the cutting. I am wondering what direction to go for a better saw as I am not experienced in metal work outside of producing my products. Better bandsaw? Cold Saw? Something else?

Goals:
I'd like cuts to be incredibly straight.
I'd love to spin less time sanding down edges but burs are burs and cuts must look nice

Obstacles:
Volume - this is a home business and I'm hoping to avoid loud equipment. The bandsaw was nice in this respect.
Debris - bandsaw is not too bad in this aspect either - would like to avoid worse.
Cost - I realize that the Harbor Freight budget must be increased and will do what I have to for the best solution. $1k? $2k?

Thank you in advance for any advice. I don't post here often but when I do the valuable input I get shapes decisions that have helped my business succeed.

[kdoney]

For that thin of tubing I would use a manual tube cutter like

RIDGID 151 Tubing Cutter-31632 - The Home Depot

If you have many tubes to cut, then let me know. I think I've seen an automated one of these.

[C*H*U*D]

At work we use the DeWalt DW872 Multi-cut Saw. It often gets mixed reviews because of the clamp/fence but if you're handy and mechanically inclined, this is a non-issue. Unfortunately it does violate two of your criteria...it's not cheap at $435 and it's quite loud. However it does a great job at cutting and saves us money since we don't have to cut as oversize as we did on the band saw in order to "clean up" the cut afterwards, which sounds like what you are doing. Good luck in your search.

[John_B]

You want a Haberle cold saw. Not cheap but worth it. You may find a used one in your 1 to 2k budget.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[skiffle]

I do far too many cuts to do them with a manual tubing cutter.

$435 is well within my budget - I'd be thrilled to stay under $1000 as this is one of my main tools. The DeWalt DW872 does sound like a possibility. I wonder how loud it is on aluminum tube - I cut much more of that than steel.

Haberle cold saw sounds great but I don't think I'm at that price range yet and am a bit scared of used machines - should I not be? Are there any less expensive cold saws that I could consider?

[aarggh]

At work we use the DeWalt DW872 Multi-cut Saw. It often gets mixed reviews because of the clamp/fence but if you're handy and mechanically inclined, this is a non-issue. Unfortunately it does violate two of your criteria...it's not cheap at $435 and it's quite loud. However it does a great job at cutting and saves us money since we don't have to cut as oversize as we did on the band saw in order to "clean up" the cut afterwards, which sounds like what you are doing. Good luck in your search.

I've seen there are some great reviews for the DW872, seems almost too good to be true for the price apart from noise? How does the blade last on ferrous and non-ferrous?

cheers, Ian

[xjdubber]

SteelMax BL-014 14 In. Mild Steel Cutting Saw Blade

use any 1" arbor saw, like a mitre saw for example. Same can be done with the blades for the dw872. Yes it is loud but it works great cuts are straight and the blades seem to last.

[rocketflier]

For 5 years I've been using the Harbor Freight Chicago Machinery Metal Cutting Horizontal Bandsaw purchased for a few hundred dollars.

How much tuning have you done? Good, bimetal blade?

4x6 Bandsaw Mods
Another Harbor Freight Bandsaw Thread
BandSaw Mods

First one is an 8 part series
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGVATCv54u4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z-xRzI6nEI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oImXgU3ATEk

[skiffle]

I watched all of the bandsaw tuning videos and it didn't help. I think it is all set up correctly but the pivot may be off and I don't think I have the ability to fix it.
I may watch black friday/cyber monday deals and pick up a metal cutting saw like the Dewalt and a few blades for now and think about the cold saw for a future reward.

[skiffle]

Makita Metal cutting saw Makita LC1230 12-Inch Metal Cutting Saw - Power Metal Cutting Saws - Amazon.com
vs.
Northern Industrial Metal cutting bandsaw Northern Industrial Tools Metal Cutting Band Saw

I'm familiar with bandsaws and their level of debris and volume for the home shop. But is the Makita better for my use of cutting thin tubing?