Cutting angles on a Cold Saw

[grunt58]

Not sure where else to post this. If you have a better forum point me to it.

Here is my question.
We have a Dake cold saw for cutting extruded profile. The problem is it can only cut 45 deg in either direction. Occasionally we need to cut say a 65deg angle. Currently we ship it to our other facility and they cut it on a band saw. Unfortunately we don’t have a band saw at this facility. Also I was not the one who purchased the cold saw. It's a nice machine for straight and up to 45 deg cuts but I would have gotten a band saw instead much more versatile....

I was wondering if anyone has made a jig or fixture to be able swing the part to cut beyond 45 deg? Maybe someone manufactures a low swivel vise we could cold clamp in the cold saw then clamp the part into.

Here’s what we have.

http://www.dakecorp.com/products-detail.asp?section=models&page=Automatic-Pivot

Thanks



Grant
Certified SolidWorks Associate
SW2009 X64 SP 1.0
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[CorBlimeyLimey]

From what I can see in the image, it shouldn't be too difficult to add a swivel plate to the table. More detail would be needed though.

Have you asked Dake if they know of a workaround?

 

[racookpe1978]

On my home band saw, I mounted a rotating machinist vise with xy traversing screw drives: Lets me clamp a piece of steel in the vise, rotate the vise to the needed angle, then adjust the vise until the blade path is crossing at the needed saw cut line.

Just a rotating vise didn't work as well because then I had to repeatedly loosen the vise and try to (manually) slide the steel back and forth until the saw path matched the scribe line.

The vise and screw drives raises the clamp surface "up" away from the original (as-bought) clamping surface of the original saw, but it works well.

 

[NomLaser]

Is it possible to flip the part and cut it say...at 30°?

 

[grunt58]

No I have not contacted Dake. I just assumed they would be like "we don’t recommend clamping other than with the stock vise" but maybe they have an accessory.

What do you mean a swivel plate? Machining something on our own is not a problem. Looking for advice on a jig or fixture, I just don’t know where to start.

Ya I have looked at rotating mach. vises but I think they'll raise it to high. It is an option if I can find a low profile one.

Pretty sure flipping wouldn't work you can only clamp one side but maybe a custom clamp job would work....I hope it's not that easy or I need to take a vacation and recharge my brain....

My next thought is to rotate the part parallel to the blade. That would require some sort of custom clamping system which I don't think we have room for.


Thanks


Grant
Certified SolidWorks Associate
SW2009 X64 SP 1.0
Dell Precision T5400
Nvidia Quadro FX 5600
Xeon 2.5GHz Quad Core, 4GB RAM
XP Pro X64 SP2.0

 

[williedawg]

Cold saws are great, but as we've found out, not extremely accurate. For instance, after making adjustments and tweaking everything we could think of, we'd still be out-of-square by about .003 in 4" vertical cut. As long as everyone knew this, they'd cut on the plus side, then mill to size.
On the plus side, they're much more accurate than a band saw and will give a much better finish.

Most all Cold Saws are maxed at 45deg, and usually in only one direction.

If this is a repeat job, you might consider making "wedges" or angled temporary jaws and bolt them onto the existing vise to get the 65deg.

If you need adjustable angles above 45deg, it's gonna take some thought, and as was suggested, a swiveling vise.

You didn't say how long your parts are; this may narrow your choices or methods.

Keep us informed.

BTW, I designed an 18" digital stop for our cold saw if anyone would like to see a picture.

 

[griffengm]

IIRC, threre is at least one brand that will do what you want. I searched for at least a year to find one on the used market but that was maybe eight years ago. I believe it would do it in one direction only so check the specs pages closely.

Griffy

 

[grunt58]

we are cutting extruded aluminum profile and acuracy is not critical. We stock profile in 1000mm and 2000mm lengths. So a piece could be around 2000mm long. I dont think we'd ever use something that long in one piece but it's a possibility. I would get some sort of roller to help support something that long though.

No it's not a repeat job. Yes, my goal is to make it adjustable above 45deg. We build custom framing with the profile so it could be any angle depends on what is being designed.

Attatched is a picture of our setup.

Grant
Certified SolidWorks Associate
SW2009 X64 SP 1.0
Dell Precision T5400
Nvidia Quadro FX 5600
Xeon 2.5GHz Quad Core, 4GB RAM
XP Pro X64 SP2.0

 

[hydtools]

Build an auxilliary table 90deg to the existing table. Add a secondary fence to the auxilliary table. Position the stock perpendicular to the standard fence.

Ted

 

[racookpe1978]

Ah. My error: I didn't recognize your term "cold saw" would be equal to what I call a "chop saw".

In that case, for cutting members for wrought iron gates, fences and decorative blacksmithing - where accuracy of +/- 1/32 can be made up by the welding process but a straight cut is important - I bought a commercial 10" (wood) miter saw with 60 degree right angle and 54 degree left angle limits.

Replaced the wooden saw blade with a 10 inch x 1/8 cutoff wheel and used the saw "as-is" (Full face shield, glasses with side shield, gloves, and apron of course!)

The commercial miter saw works fine: The plastic "dust collector" burns/melts somewhat until the accumulated steel debris is thick enough to sield the collector, but there have no othe rproblems. (This is a part time use - NOT evry hour, every day service.)

Debris, metal particles did cover up the fine angle markers on the front, so after several weeks, setting the angle itself when the tool wasn't matching with the indented stops at every 15 degrees, but other than that, it has worked fine.

 

[NomLaser]

I could be wrong here but it looks like your table will swing out past 45° (looking at the photo on the right) or can you explain what the dial is indicating

 

[grunt58]

Deddie yes the dial does go past 45 deg but there is a stop and then the outfeed table would stop your swing a few degrees later. Plus the jaws would only allow a 45 deg cut.

Grant
Certified SolidWorks Associate
SW2009 X64 SP 1.0
Dell Precision T5400
Nvidia Quadro FX 5600
Xeon 2.5GHz Quad Core, 4GB RAM
XP Pro X64 SP2.0