Notching Tubing

[astroracer]

Hey guys, I don't know how many of you do your own cage or chassis work but this how I set up my jigs for notching tubing.
I set all of this up on one of my jig tables but it will work on any bench or table top you have handy.
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...

From the backside...

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.

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...

Cutting the second notch...


Thanks for looking
Mark

[TheSilentChamber]

Good information for people just getting into this sort of thing.

[mike@af]

Thanks. There are some ingenius ideas you have there.

[astroracer]

Thanks guys,
I got a little bit done over the weekend. Didn't have a lot of shop time but I did take advantage when I could...
Got the notcher fired up and ran the lower crossmembers through it. It took about half an hour to get the jigs set up and another half hour to run the tubing through.

I use Castrol wax lubricant on the hole saw.

This stuff works really well and doesn't make the mess that WD-40 or cutting fluid does. It also cleans up easily. I can do one notch in about 30 seconds running the notcher with my 1/2" Milwaukee drill.

This set up makes for a clean cut and, with a little clean up with the angle grinder, I have some quality notches that fit well for Tig welding.


Thanks for looking.
Mark

[astroracer]

Just an update for anyone who is interested....
I did a quick mock-up of the new lower rails and crossmembers this past weekend to see what the fit-up looks like.

A couple more... The notches came out great and I have some really nice tight fitting joints for Tig welding.

I still have to clean up all of the welding surfaces yet, this is just a look see for fit-up. I will go over all of the joints with a flap wheel on the die grinder to prep for welding...
Thanks for looking.
Mark

[TheSilentChamber]

I hope theres going to be some diagnals in there somewhere.

[bobss396]

Back in the stone age, we rough cut the fishmouths with a torch and finished them up with a body grinder and /or bench grinder.

Nothin' like a notcher, which I have used at other shops. I had a Bridgeport mill set up in mine with a shell mill in a holder to notch tubing. A bit tedious but worked better than the torch method.

Bob

[frankthewelder]

I use a chop saw or a mill.

Originally Posted by bobss396

Back in the stone age, we rough cut the fishmouths with a torch and finished them up with a body grinder and /or bench grinder.

Nothin' like a notcher, which I have used at other shops. I had a Bridgeport mill set up in mine with a shell mill in a holder to notch tubing. A bit tedious but worked better than the torch method.

Bob

[G.A.S.]

I built a roll cage when I was a kid working at a muffler shop.
We had a ben peerson pipe bender and you could lock the pipe in one end and use a plug for swedging pipe, turn it sideways and use the ram and press form the perfict fit into the pipe. of course it was for looks but came out very profesional. I went on to be a welder fabracator/millwright