# Cutting Stainless Steel Strut



## chenley (Feb 20, 2007)

I've always used a PortaBand to cut it.


----------



## nap (Dec 26, 2007)

depends on how much I have to cut. anything from a hacksaw to a ssawzall to a portaband to a horizontal band saw.

chop saws work fine but they leave a real bad burr and you wear out the blade fast.


----------



## randomkiller (Sep 28, 2007)

If it's a 316 or stronger type I only use the chop saw, if it's the lighter stuff a hardened band saw is just fine.


----------



## dawgs (Dec 1, 2007)

Reseman said:


> Hey all,
> 
> 
> We were standing near the gang box this morning discussing the best way to cut 1 5/8" Stainless Steel Strut. "The company bought a chop saw", said the foreman.....We chuckled......We thought a band saw or table saw would be the way to go with a certain type of special blade. Does anyone else have any better solutions? Please let me know.
> ...


 Why would you laugh at that? thats exactly the tool I would be using. Perfect square cut.


----------



## HighWirey (Sep 17, 2007)

nap said:


> depends on how much I have to cut. anything from a hacksaw to a ssawzall to a portaband to a horizontal band saw.
> chop saws work fine but they leave a real bad burr and you wear out the blade fast.


Reseman, good post.

Pretty much always used a portaband regardless of the composition of the strut. Less clean up and fewer tools to babysit, whether on a large project or small. I always insisted on marking the strut _with a square _prior to cutting. A square cut kinda gives your project that 'professional look', versus that 'wacked off look' that some men insisted was OK :no: And 'zinc-it' goes on every A-36 strut cut. I even insisted on 'cap nuts' on the end of each drop rod on a trapeezed strut run, under 10 feet AFF. How is that for being an A-hole? We were always invited back to those bid openings, for some reason.

If you men are interested, I'll reveal Heloise's secret for 60 second cuts on 4" GRC, or 4" anything.

Work'in For That Free Tee . . .


----------



## gilbequick (Oct 6, 2007)

HighWirey said:


> If you men are interested, I'll reveal Heloise's secret for 60 second cuts on 4" GRC, or 4" anything.
> 
> Work'in For That Free Tee . . .


If doing it by hand, here's what I do: Take your tape measure and bend it around the pipe and use that as your straight edge. Take your pencil or sharpie and trace the line around the pipe. 

Take your hacksaw and cut a groove (not all the way through) around the pipe exactly on your line. After your groove is cut go ahead and cut through the pipe, your hacksaw will follow your guide grooves and make a perfectly square cut with your hacksaw.

For a 4'' it's more than 60 seconds I'm sure. Doesn't take long though and you don't have to cut it more than once to try to get a square cut..


----------



## randomkiller (Sep 28, 2007)

gilbequick said:


> If doing it by hand, here's what I do: Take your tape measure and bend it around the pipe and use that as your straight edge. Take your pencil or sharpie and trace the line around the pipe.
> 
> Take your hacksaw and cut a groove (not all the way through) around the pipe exactly on your line. After your groove is cut go ahead and cut through the pipe, your hacksaw will follow your guide grooves and make a perfectly square cut with your hacksaw.
> 
> For a 4'' it's more than 60 seconds I'm sure. Doesn't take long though and you don't have to cut it more than once to try to get a square cut..


 
One of the benefits of having fitters in the same company is you can borrow a wrap-a-round, it's like a leather belt they use to lay out cuts on pipe, some are leather and some composite, they work well on large pipe. I usually mark it out and cut it with a porta band.


----------



## randomkiller (Sep 28, 2007)

HighWirey said:


> Reseman, good post.
> 
> Pretty much always used a portaband regardless of the composition of the strut. Less clean up and fewer tools to babysit, whether on a large project or small. I always insisted on marking the strut _with a square _prior to cutting. A square cut kinda gives your project that 'professional look', versus that 'wacked off look' that some men insisted was OK :no: And 'zinc-it' goes on every A-36 strut cut. I even insisted on 'cap nuts' on the end of each drop rod on a trapeezed strut run, under 10 feet AFF. How is that for being an A-hole? We were always invited back to those bid openings, for some reason.
> 
> ...


 
We have had some 3/8" threaded SS rod that just burns up blades (sawzall or porta band) no matter how slow you go or use lubricant. They cut fairly on a chop saw but slowly just the same.

Let's hear the hint from Heloise. Cooking spray as lube?


----------



## BryanMD (Dec 31, 2007)

Bi-metal 18 teeth per inch blades and slow speed (heat); no lube.


----------



## HighWirey (Sep 17, 2007)

randomkiller said:


> We have had some 3/8" threaded SS rod that just burns up blades (sawzall or porta band) no matter how slow you go or use lubricant. They cut fairly on a chop saw but slowly just the same.
> Let's hear the hint from Heloise. Cooking spray as lube?


You sure do run into some wierd material between that 3/8 rod and the aluminum pipe where "the outer skin seems harder than normal".

Heloise's conduit quik-kut hint only works on a larger project where there is a little extra money for 'small tools', and a fab shop.

I bought a small (1/4" capacity) plasma torch. It worked so well on our NEMA 4X stainless panel KOs (those punch killers) that I built a ten foot long 'roller table'. The torch head was mounted on a 10' length of strut and was quickly adjustable throughout the length of a stick of pipe. The whole thing was driven by a Grainger gearmotor via a 'fan speed' controller. Really sweet. 60 second cuts or less in any pipe, guaranteed.

No blades, no lube, no pipe vise, no wrap-a-rounds, cuts _any _conductive material, very little kerf cleanup, and cheap, less than $3K. Payback came quickly. Try it, you'll like it. Sorry no pictures.

Work'in For That Free Tee . . .


----------



## nap (Dec 26, 2007)

randomkiller said:


> One of the benefits of having fitters in the same company is you can borrow a wrap-a-round, it's like a leather belt they use to lay out cuts on pipe, some are leather and some composite, they work well on large pipe. I usually mark it out and cut it with a porta band.


if you have some sheet rockers around, you can use some of their paper tape. Works just as well.


----------



## randomkiller (Sep 28, 2007)

HighWirey said:


> You sure do run into some wierd material between that 3/8 rod and the aluminum pipe where "the outer skin seems harder than normal".
> 
> Heloise's conduit quik-kut hint only works on a larger project where there is a little extra money for 'small tools', and a fab shop.
> 
> ...


We do get some wierd jobs, it's a part of the design build that my company loves to bid. Some of us say "if it was easy they would have had another bid".


----------

