tubing notcher
 

is anyone familiar with these ? im building a chrome-moly 8-point for my car but i dont know if these are worth buying. i DO have a large drill press to put it in.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/p/3482...bing%20notcher

I have one just like it. I have made hundreds of notches with it. I just recommend buying quality hole saws, it helps a ton. I would also make sure there are replacable bushings in the slide. The wear pretty quick. All in all I would buy one again. Hope it helps.

thanks for the info. i never thought about the bushings wearing out. ill have to ask about that when i buy one. where did you get yours ?

I can't quite remember, it's been about 10 years. This is the one I have,http://www.jointjigger.com/ but I didn't get it directly from them. It was from a stock car parts dealer, I'm not sure which one though. They all look about the same. Just make sure about the bushings. Good luck!

I have a JMR that I purchased from PolyPerformance. (no affilitation)

http://www.polyperformance.com/shop/...6&cat=0&page=1

Its the most expensive hole saw notcher on the planet I think but has roller bearings instead of bushings and is beef! Works awsome and dosent deflect like some of the other notchers.

Very happy with it and I doubt Ill ever have to replace it.

Chris:cool:

you aint kiddin that thing is expensive :wow: . definitely a solid built tool though. unless i get a lot of requests to build roll cages, i wont be needing anything that robust. it did however give me some ideas..... the Ol Joint Jigger has lots of replaceable parts available including a larger 5/8 arbor with a needle bearing support. i also have a large chunk of 5/8 thick plate steel.........................

That thing does look beefy, but man $$$$. I really havn't had a problem with deflection. I have used mine so much, you figure the best way to use it. As I said previously, use good hole saws. It also hlpe to use cutting oil. It is not required, but it will make your saws last longer. The only time I saw any deflection is when I was trying to get by with a dull saw. If you use a good saw and let it do the work instead of forcing it through you will have no problem. I think I am gooing to take a look at the needle bearings.

Later,

Now that's tool porn! A freind of mine had one like that from Williams Low Buck tools. It was sweet. You will not be sorry if you can swallow the cost. I have done multi-tube joints, maybe I'm misunderstanding. The hole saw types do have limitations and will never stand up to that bad boy. But the bang for buck ratio is good. Add an NC tubing bender to your shop and look out!

Later,

If you aren't working in a production shop the holesaw style notchers work just fine...
I set mine up on one of my jig tables but it will work on any bench or table top you have handy. I usually run it with my 1/2" drill motor.
These pics show my Harbour Freight tubing notcher clamped to a 90* angle plate. This is simple to set up and doesn't require a lot of thought...
http://images17.fotki.com/v322/photo...MVC001F-vi.jpg
From the backside...
http://images17.fotki.com/v14/photos...MVC002F-vi.jpg
Cutting the first notch is the easy part. No orientation, no length to worry about. Just clamp the tube in the notcher and do the deed.
Cutting the second notch is where some planning needs to be done. Getting the LENGTH and the notch ORIENTATION correct is critical to having a usable part versus something to practice welding on...
To do the second notch I bolted a short piece of the mating tubing to another angle plate and use this to nest the "first" notch into while cutting the second notch.
http://images17.fotki.com/v14/photos...MVC003F-vi.jpg
This way I can establish the correct length AND notch orientation in one easy step... Set the tubing length between the outside diameter of the tubing and holesaw, in this case 23 inches, square up the jigs, clamp it all down and cut the second notch. Once it's set up any additional tubes will be identical to the first so measure twice and cut once...
http://images17.fotki.com/v15/photos...MVC006F-vi.jpg
Cutting the second notch...
http://images17.fotki.com/v15/photos...MVC007F-vi.jpg

Thanks for looking
Mark

Nice Job. That is very similar to what I do. This setup doesn't exactly follow your signature caption. It looks like you are a bit more precise than that. Keep up the good work.