Horizontal band saw - cutting opposite angles

[Vegaman_Dan]

Okay, I've got a standard horizontal metal band saw, a Foremost model. It works well enough and it was a bargain last year. I can cut pretty much whatever I want at a right angle, and I can angle the vise let me make an angle cut.

That's fine for bar stock, solid, or tubing.

But what about angle iron? I can cut one angle, but not the opposite corner because the vise only rotates from 90 degrees to 45 but with only one approach. cannot cut the opposite angle.

What really needs to happen is to have some alernative mounting / pivot point for the vise.

What's the trick to cut angle iron with 45 degree right and left angles?

 

[racingtadpole]

Flat side up, pack it with some timber thats a bit bigger so the vice can clamp it. Turn it around same as you would for a square tube to cut the other end.

 

[astroracer]

You need to have "selection" of shims and spacers to do odd cuts and opposite angles on an H/V. I even use the t-slot clamps for my mill to clamp small pieces or make cuts at odd angles.
As an example, here are some small gusset plates that needed the corners knocked off at 45deg's. I could have done this off hand on the verticle saw but it only took a few minutes to set this up and they were all cut at the same time, at the same angle.

All done.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

Alright, making shims and inserts is something I've done before on other cutting jobs on this saw, but I was wondering if I was reinventing the wheel when it wasn't needed.

 

[astroracer]

Alright, making shims and inserts is something I've done before on other cutting jobs on this saw, but I was wondering if I was reinventing the wheel when it wasn't needed.

Nope... I have a box of that stuff I keep by the saw... Short pieces of tubing. wood blocks, you name it...
Mark