Strouty
Well-known member
Anyone know if they make a flat blade for hacksaws? All of the blades that I am finding are wavy and it messes up the material I am cutting.
Flat?? Hacksaw blade?
- Thread starter Strouty
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raddksn
Well-known member
I think the "wavy" you see is there to help keep the blade from getting stuck.
Not so much precise, but needs to be clean.
Cutting coax, alway have used a hacksaw, but on one of the new connector instruction sheets it mentioned using a "flat" hacksaw blade. I thought maybe there was something I was missing. I could try a pull saw or flush cut saw, but they are a bit more awkward on a jobsite.
There are lots of super fine tooth razor saws, but they do not have enough depth to make the cut in one pass. The large coax is about 3" in diameter, most of the stuff we deal with is about 2" and under.
My little milwaukee bandsaw works well on the smaller coax, but the larger stuff doesn't fit and the bigger bandsaws are too unwieldy to make the cut.
The problem we have is it makes a mess of the fine copper, so then you have to clean it all up with a razor knife. We use 32 TPI blades and it looks like that is the finest you can get.
Cutting coax, alway have used a hacksaw, but on one of the new connector instruction sheets it mentioned using a "flat" hacksaw blade. I thought maybe there was something I was missing. I could try a pull saw or flush cut saw, but they are a bit more awkward on a jobsite.
There are lots of super fine tooth razor saws, but they do not have enough depth to make the cut in one pass. The large coax is about 3" in diameter, most of the stuff we deal with is about 2" and under.
My little milwaukee bandsaw works well on the smaller coax, but the larger stuff doesn't fit and the bigger bandsaws are too unwieldy to make the cut.
The problem we have is it makes a mess of the fine copper, so then you have to clean it all up with a razor knife. We use 32 TPI blades and it looks like that is the finest you can get.
neophyte
Well-known member
There is a company in France that now goes by the name Magicut Ultra Tools Co., and which used to go by the name Ultra Nova. The company manufactures cutting blades such as hacksaw blades, jigsaw blades, and bandsaw blades. Most of the time the blades are sold under the "Ultra" trademark, although they also seem to do private label manufacturing for other brands, probably including Facom, and possibly some USA companies, since some have offered hacksaw blades made in France.
Ultra manufactures several lines of hacksaw blades, made with different blade materials, different tooth materials, and more importantly for you, different types of set on the teeth.
Some if the blades used a "wavy" set, but some of the blades are acailable with what Ultra calls a "raker" set. The raker set supposedly offers a higher precision, but a lower speed and agressiveness.
The Ultra hacksaw blades with the raker set teeth are the "Ultra Record", "Ultra Bi Hard Cobalt", and "Ultra Super Rapide" series blades. All the blades are available in 18, 24, and 32 tooth per inch counts. The Ultra Record blades are also available in 14 tpi count.
If you're having trouble cutting, you might want a higher tooth count.
To find the ultra blades you can check ebay. There are usually some listed. Also I believe Forney Industrial sells some Ultra items in the USA. You could also look for Facom blades, but the last ones I bought were the wavy set type. I'm not sure if any of the common Blades from USA companies use a similar type of tooth set. Otherwise you could try one of the small 6" hacksaws if the size would still work, since those seem to have smoother cutting blades.
https://www.forneyind.com/store/results/?product_category_id=771
http://www.magicutultra.fr/en/products
Ultra manufactures several lines of hacksaw blades, made with different blade materials, different tooth materials, and more importantly for you, different types of set on the teeth.
Some if the blades used a "wavy" set, but some of the blades are acailable with what Ultra calls a "raker" set. The raker set supposedly offers a higher precision, but a lower speed and agressiveness.
The Ultra hacksaw blades with the raker set teeth are the "Ultra Record", "Ultra Bi Hard Cobalt", and "Ultra Super Rapide" series blades. All the blades are available in 18, 24, and 32 tooth per inch counts. The Ultra Record blades are also available in 14 tpi count.
If you're having trouble cutting, you might want a higher tooth count.
To find the ultra blades you can check ebay. There are usually some listed. Also I believe Forney Industrial sells some Ultra items in the USA. You could also look for Facom blades, but the last ones I bought were the wavy set type. I'm not sure if any of the common Blades from USA companies use a similar type of tooth set. Otherwise you could try one of the small 6" hacksaws if the size would still work, since those seem to have smoother cutting blades.
https://www.forneyind.com/store/results/?product_category_id=771
http://www.magicutultra.fr/en/products
raddksn
Well-known member
Does the cable manufacturer sell a tool?
They do, and if I was doing them a lot, it would be a no brainer, but for this job, there are only 12 connectors and the tool is almost $800.
The last time I invested a bunch of money in tools, the manufacturer change the design, making my expensive tools useless.
With three basic tools you can do any connector, so unless I am doing a lot of the same style, I use my "universal" tools. I get paid by the hour anyways.
claymont
Well-known member
Grind the waviness off the blade. Enough of the teeth will stay for sawing action. You can even put a slight bevel at the tooth. Just take your time and don't blue the steel; rag soaked with cold water close at hand helps. Leave blade in frame to keep it under tension. Made mine with a bench grinder, but I imagine an angle grinder would work if you could hold the frame from moving around. You could even do this to a reciprocating saw blade for a super fast cut. Try a couple different tooth pitches to see which one give the cleanest cut.
neophyte
Well-known member
Some of the Nicholson hacksaw blades on Amazon are listed as having raker set teeth. I tried checking the Nicholson website but the descriptions have less info than Amazon.
Some Dewalt hacksaw blades may also use raker set teeth but the description was sort of confusing, and again the Stanley and Dewalt websites ****.
Burgerkong
Well-known member
You sure it actually messes up the cut? After tensioning the waviness should be negligible and the friction during the cut pulls the blade straight.
Even under tension, the wavy blade is still very visible. The outer copper part is very thin, this is a picture from some scrap, most of the stuff has foam in between the center conductor and outer conductor. When we are just cutting it up for scrap I use a cordless PVC shear.
PBCampbell
Well-known member
Looks like the material just doesn't have the structural strength to resist the pressure required to make a cut. Maybe try an abrasive blade or rod.
PSYKO_Inc
Well-known member
What about using something like a Sawzall at a relatively high speed and very little pressure on the blade? I've never worked with coax that big (rarely work with anything bigger than LMR600) but it seems like it would be worth trying on a piece of scrap.
The picture is scrap cable cut with a PVC shear, not the hacksaw. I do not have a picture of the actual cuts, I just pulled that from my photobucket account.
You have to hold the cable and follow a guide to keep the cut perpendicular, with a sawzall that is not easy at all.
Most of the time these are in a tight area and you do not have the space to use a tool that big. Sawzalls can also damage other cables as well, they tend to be bundled together so to speak. The only time you could easily use a bandsaw is on the end that is being pulled off the spool, but even then it can be cumbersome to use the saw with one hand and try and make an accurate cut.
http://www.starrett.com/saws/saws-h...s-blades/carbide-grit-hacksaw-blades#Products
Maybe the above abrasive saw or a negative rake hacksaw blade. You might contact Starrett to see what they have since their website is hard to navigate.
lg
no neat sig line
Maybe the above abrasive saw or a negative rake hacksaw blade. You might contact Starrett to see what they have since their website is hard to navigate.
lg
no neat sig line
Alchymist
Well-known member
Might try a jeweler's saw - it will be a bit slow, and necessitate short strokes on the bigger conduit, but might work.
http://www.firemountaingems.com/itemdetails/H203241TL?engine=google&campaign=[ADL]+[Non-Brand]+[PLA]+[Shopping]&adgroup=[PLA]+[Shopping]+Category+-+Tools&kwid=productads-adid^99554295364-device^c-plaid^89096652020-sku^H203241TL-adType^PLA
Blades come in all tooth sizes:
https://www.widgetsupply.com/product/BDJ16.html?gclid=CL22t_rwh88CFZSJaQodEWcKEA
Might be worth a try.
http://www.firemountaingems.com/itemdetails/H203241TL?engine=google&campaign=[ADL]+[Non-Brand]+[PLA]+[Shopping]&adgroup=[PLA]+[Shopping]+Category+-+Tools&kwid=productads-adid^99554295364-device^c-plaid^89096652020-sku^H203241TL-adType^PLA
Blades come in all tooth sizes:
https://www.widgetsupply.com/product/BDJ16.html?gclid=CL22t_rwh88CFZSJaQodEWcKEA
Might be worth a try.
R.Anderson
Well-known member
What about a cordless circular saw with a metal blade, or even a corded saw at that. I use one of them at my work to cut copper, steel, aluminum. Every cut is smooth and clean, you can use one hand and it would take less room than a band saw. I strongly believe that it would cut that coax clean as long as the blade makes it through. What is the diameter of that coax, 2 1/2" ?
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Larry, not sure how well those would work, when we cut, there is a guide that is used and it would be harder to follow when cutting in an odd position. I way have one of them and will still try it before fully passing judgement.
Alchymist, I have tried those before and I can't remember the exact reason, but we stopped using them. I think the blades were easy to break.
R.Anderson, the cutting guid would be a big problem with that style saw, it also would take up too much room in most cases.
Alchymist, I have tried those before and I can't remember the exact reason, but we stopped using them. I think the blades were easy to break.
R.Anderson, the cutting guid would be a big problem with that style saw, it also would take up too much room in most cases.
Premium08
Well-known member
Ever tried an oscillating tool?
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monkeyspanners
Well-known member
Junior hacksaw would have finer teeth, though hard work on a 3" cable with 6" blade.
R.Anderson
Well-known member
Cutting guide? Got a pic? Do you need to prep it like RG coax with conductor stick out? What is the OD of that coax it looks like 1" now compared to your othe pic that looks like 2", sorry for all the questions just rather curious about all of it.
SantaAna12
Well-known member
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Group cutters.
raddksn
Well-known member
Strouty you come up with anything yet?