• Steel Soldiers now has a few new forums, read more about it at: New Munitions Forums!

  • Microsoft MSN, Live, Hotmail, Outlook email users may not be receiving emails. We are working to resolve this issue. Please add support@steelsoldiers.com to your trusted contacts.

XM708 Tailgate

ab705

Active member
91
239
33
Location
Maine
7 1/4" metal cutting blade on a circular saw.
What brand blade are you using, and how is it holding up?

I've used a few different brands, with mixed results as to how long they lasted. I think the Diablo blades are probably the best I've found so far. For long cuts, I clamp a guide bar onto the metal, as it keeps the saw blade parallel to the cut.
 

JimC2

Well-known member
271
255
63
Location
Collierville TN
Darned if I know the brand. Whatever Harbor Freight had.
Holding up better than I expected, but at $18 apiece if I use several, so be it. I've got about 37 feet of cut to make, and I've done 7 feet so far. Still on the first blade.
I'm just using the led beam on the front of the saw to guide it. The welds along the edges will hide any irregularities. On the longitudinal cuts on the 3×3 rectangular steel tubing (cutting to non-standard U-tube size) there isn't anything to clamp a guide to. Constructing tapered semi-trangular cross sections out of rectangular tubing is the tough part.

The remnant of the horizontal top cross brace U-tube after cutting will form the top 'half' of the bottom cross brace after the remnant is trimmed with a third longitudinal cut. So three 5.5 foot cuts will give me the top cross brace and the top half of the bottom one. I'm not set up to roll form the bottom and side braces, so am doing them the hard way.
 
Last edited:

JimC2

Well-known member
271
255
63
Location
Collierville TN
Saw blades are Hercules 48 tooth. Now about $30 each. Quality seems spotty. Some last pretty well; others not. I'll probably go through $180-$210 of them before completing the tailgate. They will not cut the 12ga I'm using to make the reflector standoffs. I'm having to do them with a dremel cutoff wheel.
 
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website like our supporting vendors. Their ads help keep Steel Soldiers going. Please consider disabling your ad blockers for the site. Thanks!

I've Disabled AdBlock
No Thanks