LV Twinscrew - Cutting the chain cover

[Doug Shepard]

Options?:
#1 - Dremel with cutoff wheel ?
#2 - Hacksaw? Think I could cut in halfway from each side before the saw frame got in the way.
#3 - 80-tooth carbide blade on the TS?
#4 - Bosch jig saw? I think this would likely be the raggedest cut of the bunch.
#5 - Other?

I'm tempted to try #3 and slowly raise the blade up to make the cut but ...??

[Wiley Horne]

I used a hacksaw. Went through it like butter. And I don't remember the frame causing any problems--I clamped it down flat on the bench with the convex (appearance) side up, and just went at it. Start the cut on one of the curves, so the blade will get an immediate bite and won't skate around. You won't hurt yourself using a hacksaw, and that's an advantage!

I don't have a Dremel, but that would do the job real quick too, I would think.

Wiley

[Johnny Kleso]

If its aluminum or plastic I would use an old blade on a TS

I have a 8 1/2" blade I use to cut alum. and brass with on my TS..

[Doug Shepard]

I'm not sure what it is. Doesn't feel like steel. Doesn't seem to be plastic or aluminum either but with the powder coat it's hard to tell. Mine came withe the decal around 3/4" off center so I've got quite a bit more to play with on one end. Think maybe I'll try taking 3/8" or so off with the TS on the long end. If that doesn't go well then switch to the hacksaw, otherwise go ahead with the final cuts.

[dan grant]

i used my tinsnips

[Jim Koepke]

I'm not sure what it is. Doesn't feel like steel. Doesn't seem to be plastic or aluminum either but with the powder coat it's hard to tell. Mine came withe the decal around 3/4" off center so I've got quite a bit more to play with on one end. Think maybe I'll try taking 3/8" or so off with the TS on the long end. If that doesn't go well then switch to the hacksaw, otherwise go ahead with the final cuts.

OK, an old timer friend used to always carry a magnet with him to see if something was steel.

He would use a pocket knife to scrape things that did not submit to magnetism. If he thought it was metal, he would use a continuity tester.

A test I used many times is to touch it to a tooth. I can tell a little about some materials by how they feel on a tooth.

Metal conductivity can also be tested with strong magnets. There needs to be a gap between opposing poles of the magnets. The material then is dropped between the two magnets. conductive materials will be slowed by different amounts depending on their conductivity. The better the conductor, the more it will be slowed. This is due to eddy currents being created in the object. The magnets from old hard disk drives are great for this.

Older style coin acceptors on vending machines make use of this principle to send different coins on their path to signal the machine how much value to credit the buyer.

Gee, now what was the question?

Oh yeah, I would file a little of the material off to see how difficult it is to cut, then go from there.

jim

[Alex Yeilding]

I'm not sure what it is.

From their online catalog:

As a result of customer feedback, we have changed from a plastic to an aluminum chain cover consisting of two cast end caps and a bridging extrusion.

[Narayan Nayar]

It's a pretty soft metal. Cutting endcaps for both the twin screw vises on my bench took maybe a total of 7 minutes with a hacksaw and maybe another minute to file down the corners afterwards, which was totally unnecessary.

Put some elbow grease into it--it's safer than the alternatives you mention.

[Doug Shepard]

From their online catalog
Quote:
As a result of customer feedback, we have changed from a plastic to an aluminum chain cover consisting of two cast end caps and a bridging extrusion.


DOH. Should have checked there first:( I've cut aluminum on the TS before with no problems and that was 2-3 times as thick. The "cast" alum threw me. I thought it might have been some wierd composite or something.
Thanks.

[Doug Shepard]

Well the TS worked great. Ended up with a nice straight, square cut that just needed a bit of light filing afterwards to take a burr off the edges.

[Hank Knight]

I cut mine on the bandsaw. No problems. Easy cut.

[Tim Leo]

Why is everyone cutting the cover?

[Doug Shepard]

Why is everyone cutting the cover?

It's sized for 24" O.C. for the screws. If your bench needs a different (narrower) spacing, you have to shorten the middle section of the cover.