cutting structural steel

[Ed Harrow]

Given that I may be doing a bit of this soon, any thoughts on the best way (other than having the steel guy do it).

Cut-off wheel or sawzall? We're talking S4x9.5 I beams. Thanks, gotta go Zach is calling

[Concordia..41]

Hot hack saw – (acetylene torch)

Dave

[John Bell]

In a past life I used to cut a lot of steel angle with a sawzall. While I think the Sawzall is a marvelous invention and certainly capable of cutting your I-beams, you would not to do it very much. You'll get real tired and burn through a fe blades. Oxy-acetylene is easier, but I never learned to make a clean burn. A cutting disk may be the way to go, at least what they use in my local steel supplier. But the one they've got is BIG, bigger than you'd want to own, probably. Can't you just order the sizes you need and work out the fiddly stuff with either your Sawzall and or a torch.

What are you building anyway?

[Bill Perkins]

I was involved with the renovation of an old warehouse last year that required the cutting of a large I beam . The contractor thought about subbing this out, but in the end rented a power hacksaw and did it himself. This was a hand held band saw , I've seen it in the Portercable catalogue . You can rent them in cities at least , and they do the business .

[brian.cunningham]

We used a cutoff wheel in my grinder to cut 2x2 steel tubing. But getting it into the web, even with a large diameter wheel and a skillsaw, may be tricky.

If you don't care about the finish on the ends, I'd use a torch.

[imported_Conrad]

A sawzall will cut it much faster than you think, a couple of minutes at the most. Spend the money up front for a good bi-metal blade, sawzall or milwaukee brand, and move the saw around so you're using different parts of the blade to keep it from getting too hot in one area and taking the temper out of it. Go with 14-18 teeth per inch. Easy.

[cmtacking]

From a "steel guy", my first choice would be a Victor wrench(torch). From there I'd go to a PortaBand handheld bandsaw and then to a grinder or sawsall. If you use a grinder, go with a thin (1/16-1/8") metal CUTTING blade, of which you'll need several. Personally, I'd save the sawsall for a last resort. Good Luck.

Riley

[bobkaschak]

Go to the local bar, find a guy with a set of torches, ensure he is sober, offer him a case of cold ones, and let him cut away. PS: give him the beer after the job is done, ha ha. A porta-band would work well also. It sounds like a good job to justify spending $225-250 for one.(you would use it a lot in the future) Seriously, if you use a porta-band, cut slowly, as they will "wander" if you don't.
Good luck,
Bob

[Ian G Wright]

Gas Axe, the only way,,,,,,,,
Measure and mark then take it to a fabrication shop five mins before lunch. Ask the guys sitting outside in the sun who of their number cuts the neatest. Offer the man cash to work during his break time.
A steel 'I' beam 1ft by 2ft, and 3/4 thick will take less than five mins to cut.
Or bring it to me. I'll do it free, once. + or- one mill or your money back. ;)

IanW.

[Adam C]

You have got to use a torch. This is a structural member, S class I beam that is 4" tall nominally and weighs 9 1/2 pounds per foot. It's not thin wall tubing. Use the torch, or rent one. It's easy. Once it's lit you just depress the handle, holding it 1/4" inch away from the metal, and let the torch do the work.

[Donn]

Thermite cord, with a ribbon magnesium fuse/initiator.

[imported_Conrad]

You guys are nuts- I've cut railroad track with a sawzall without breaking a sweat, or putting my life and the surrounding territory at risk of explosion or fire. But you've got to get the right blade. Try it, you might be surprised. And yes, I also own a great torch set (that hasn't been used in years) and a variety of cut-off tools, both electric and pnuematic, that certainly do the job, but with a lot more noise and commotion. But hey, I didn't believe it at first either!

[cs]

Ed give us some more details. Is this a one time cut, is it in place or can you carry it around, does it need to be clean, and what tools do you have laying around?

First you say S4x9.5. That is a pretty small beam the flange is only 2-3/4" wide and has a average thickness of 5/16" and the web is also 5/16" thick. As you get into the K dimension (top of the flange to the bottom of the radius where the flange and web come together) you will hit 3/4" thick.

With that said this is doable with a sawzall with good blades and plenty of lubrication. The cut-off say the Billy Bones shows would also do the trick. I don't think that I would use cut-off wheels on a side grinder myself. If you have a metal cutting bandsaw that would be your best choice. If neatness is not an issue using a cutting torch. Some folks can cut a neat line with a torch, but not me.

If I was doing it with the tools I had in my shop I would use the sawzall (even though mine is made by Mikita) ;) and than use the side grinder to round off any sharp edges.

Chad

[Rich VanValkenburg]

bobkaschak is right. Find a building site that has a good burger bar close by and barge right in. Tell him you're brother-in-law is in Local 25 in Detroit and they'll give you a little respect. (if you need a name, email me) Beer and lunch, or lunch and beer will get your job done, but talk fast. These guys don't get much of a lunch break. Most will be happy to help you out.

I wouldn't do it with a cutoff wheel unless you're real steady. It's easy to snap a wheel and the imbalance can pull the tool out of your hands.

Rich

[T.KAMILA]

You guys make everything so hard! Ed get yourself a half dozen seven and a quarter inch metal cutting blades. Use an old skill saw guided by an angle iron clamped to the I-beam. What it can’t reach finish off with a sawzall. If you have a torch than use the same technique to guide the torch without the offset. In either case you need a good right angle grinder to finish it off.

[Ian G Wright]

Originally posted by T.KAMILA:
In either case you need a good right angle grinder to finish it off.Some might, but a good welder would be admitting a mistake if he 'cleaned up' with an angle grinder.
Sad to say that their are not that many fully skilled, time served welders around. The trade has been de=skilled the last 20 odd years.

IanW.

[T.KAMILA]

Well I guess you could remove that razor sharp burr from the cutting wheel or the slag from the tourch with a file.

Tom

[NormMessinger]

Hey, Ian. I thought a welder was the machine and a weldor was the person. In any case, wielding a torch isn't as easy as was made out above.

--Norm

[cmtacking]

Forgot about the abrasive saw Billy Bones. If you use one of those watch, out for the razor sharp edges around the cut. And wear all the eye protection you can get on! smile.gif Riley

[paladin]

...a little ferrous oxide, some aluminum powder and.................. ;)

[Gary Bergman]

Ed, Ya didn't even call me. I'm crushed. How many beams? What steel grade? Wait, let me blow up my ego....there. Providing that the grade isn't harder than A-36, my 35 years as a card-carrying journeyman Ironworker says sawzall and leave the torchwork for us pros. Gary

[Ian G Wright]

Originally posted by NormMessinger:
Hey, Ian. I thought a welder was the machine and a weldor was the person. In any case, wielding a torch isn't as easy as was made out above.

--NormWeldor? Only in America! smile.gif
No, it's not easy, it's a skilled trade That was the point I was hoping to make... a good man with a good torch can produce edges smooth enough to weld without the need to grind and with any profile. How about a solid billet of steel 2ft dia. Cut a 1 inch thick disc off the end? A good man can.He might do a smoother job with a plasma cutter though. smile.gif Then walk across the shop and continue tig welding the 0.5mm ally job before getting on with the pipe work contract with Low H mma. A real tradesman. Too many 'welders' only know a fraction of the trade. Mig has a lot to answer for,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,but all that is no longer my problem.
These days I sits or I sails, sometimes I sits AND sails,,,,,,,,, but mostly I just sits,,,,,(sniff).
IanW.

[Ed Harrow]

Gary, I like to cast a wide net, especially if it happens you're not on-line, tho I'm interested in whatever advice you've got to offer...

"They" took my C2H2 permit away some years ago, something about too many loud noises from my neighborhood, LOL. Actually I'm joking, but getting bottlers to hand out gas cylinders, these days around here, to civilians ain't easy. Small one's can be purchased, but if used for cutting those little O2 tanks don't last very long. Yes, I have all the accutraments for a gas saw, but for the gas.

I have (at least I hope I still have, LOL) a couple of friends/acquaintences who are accomplished welders, so one way or another I can get this thing stuck together, but I'd like to limit their time to "constructive" use, if I can do the cutting, etc, on my own. I'll check into the little metal-cutting bandsaw, either rental or maybe I can "borrow" one from work as we have at least two. I do sort of fancy a cut-off wheel in Dumpster Sally, however smile.gif .

[Gary Bergman]

Yeah, the security thing makes bottles of anything suspect. Can you beleive that even when crossing the Golden Gate bridge with my 450 super duty with 75 year old company logo, the boys with the humvee's still stop me fo a look. Oh yeah, and I went DSL onboard.

[NormMessinger]

Weldor, Ed. Weldor.

See, Ian they don't even get it right in America.

--Norm

[Ian G Wright]

Originally posted by NormMessinger:
Weldor, Ed. Weldor.

See, Ian they don't even get it right in America.

--NormNot to worry Norm, since I retired I'm a weldee,,,,,,,(?) Or an ex-weld inspector? What's an ex-weld?
Oh, never mind, any skill I once had at *anything* has long gone, apart that is for irritating SWMBO.

IanW ;)

[BradW]

Among other things, I run Test Engineering for a specialist mech/aero mfg. For a task requiring the cutting of several lengths of large stainless pipe, one of my techs wangled a demo unit from the local welding shop of a portable plasma cutter. I think it was either Miller or Hypertherm. It was very slick. You needed 208/230 volt, single phase power and a compressed air source. Put on the goggles, put the tip shield on the metal, pull the trigger, drag and cut...fast! It left a clean edge and you could use it like a scroll saw on plate. I started looking around for other stuff to cut. Even a project engineer could make a clean slice in stainless, carbon steel, or even aluminum. Cozy up to a friendly welding supply place and you might get a demo too! Not very expensive either. I really wanted to get one for the lab, but didn't have enough projected use for the *&#@$ bean counters. And get one of the auto-darkening shades for your helmet and there is no more flip up/down of the helmet to see where you are starting.

[formerlyknownasprince]

Geez - four hours worth of typing in ideas for a two minute job - and probably one thousand hours of people reading it. I thought PCs were here to improve productivity.

Ian

[NormMessinger]

Right. And paperless offices save paper.

--Norm

[Ed Harrow]

Well, anyway, I hope I know what I'm doing next week - those guys want $18 per cut! :eek:

Also, SWMTMH, Zach, Finbar, and I are going up to East Boothbay to visit the Proses (some of you will remember when Rick graced us with his wit and whimsy) this weekend, then, Tues til whenever it's cut,cut,cut.

[Ed Harrow]

The truck is loaded and enroute, and I'm going to get fixed up with a big-butt cut-off saw I'm borrowing from the salt mine. I'll let you know how it goes (tho the weather isn't looking to hot for tomorrow..., and I have a date with the dentist to interfere.

[Ed Harrow]

Whew!!! 20' lengths of 9.5 lb I-beam weigh 190 pounds! Why didn't somebody tell me ;) Now I gotta catch my breath, do a couple errands, and start cutting...

[Gary Bergman]

Bah! Mere tinker toys........Hey! Did you just sneak across the border?... Hell no! I built a bridge and walked across!

[Concordia..41]

Ed
How was the trip to East Booth Bay? Margo and I stayed there when we went to the boat show. Hope you all had a good time.
Are you getting any cutting done? The world awaits the results along with Margo and I. Hope you will soon be able to post some pic’s of the progress.
I had a real bad day as I went car shopping, rather get a root canal but it has to be done. No matter what I buy Margo will not like it as she did not get to pick it out for (her, I mean Me.).
Keep us all posted of the progress.

Dave

[Ed Harrow]

Dave, for Boothbay, check out people and places.

As for cutting steel, dreadful weather today, certainly not a day to be working outside with borrowed electrically-powered saws. Tomorrow the sparks fly in earnest. Hopefully a picture showing a bunch of what were long pieces of steel cut into shorter ones for the next status check.

I'll see if I can get Zach in the pict along with Finbar.

[Ed Harrow]

Well, progress made! Still problems with the website so I can't show you all the sparks flying however. A chop saw with a 14" cut-off wheel goes through that stuff almost like a hot knife thru butter. smile.gif

I have all the pieces for the ladder frame cut, we excavated a trench for the foreandafters , and the cross piecse are in place and ready for the welding. I'm still deliberating on the vertical pieces and cross bars for under the ballast.

I expect to finish the cutting Friday. smile.gif

[brian.cunningham]

wooden boats and iron men :cool: