Notching a roll bar

Hi - am working on updating a roll cage and am adding the second side bar.. what is the best way to notch the end of the bar? I have a drill press, recip saw, different size hole saws, is there a good method? thanks

The tubing notchers are nothing more than a jig with a hole saw. I would use the drill press and a hole saw.

Just use a grinder. By the time you set everything up and try 15 times to get it how you like it, you could have sat next to the car and done it by hand with a grinder.
Just my $.02.
Carver

A friend just finished my cage up he used a hole saw. I've used a grinder before with success.

Ran to Harbor Freight and got a tube notching attachment for the drill press - oh it makes it so easy!! it locks the bar in at any angle you want and makes it easy to cut thru with the hole saw- cost me $40.

Thanks!!

Keep oiling the bushing every time you use it.. they wear out fast!

I have been using a grinder, 3in cut-off wheel & a pipemaster on the last 2 cages..

if you trim the end of the tube at ~22.5 degrees (half of a 45) on two sides, there is very little to grind to get it to fit.

hard to explain but relatively easy to do....

will look sort of like this...

__
. \
.
__/

forget the image, the spaces i had in keep getting left out.

Last time I bought one of those notchers at Harbor Freight, they were about $100. At $40 it's a no-brainer. as long as you keep them lubed, they last quite a while. i.e. I used one daily for about 3 years and cut thousands of pieces of 3/4" and 1-1/2" tube with it.


For a one-time use, I'd say just use the grinder. For 10+ cuts, it makes the notcher worthwhile.

Well I have learned how quickly hole saws quit cutting!! I only get a couple cuts from the Craftsman saws...

You are turning them too fast and burning up the teeth. Go slow, spray with WD or similar, and light pressure. Should get over 100 cuts.

The best hole saw I have found is Lenox...And cutting oil....

Oil it up liberally. Gets messy, but the hole saw will last.

Hmm I was drilling at 3100 rpms, how slow is slow? thanks!!

Take a look at the box the hole saw came with. it has a recommendation for mild steel, and is different for each type and size of hole saw. I do know it's in the hundreds of RPM, not thousands.
I'd still only get about 50-100 cuts or so with each hole saw so they're definitely a wear item.

for a 1 1/2" hole saw, I set my drill press to almost the slowest speed it would go and got good life out of them with liberal amounts of oil.

then just clean the oil off with lacquer thinner or something and let dry well before welding.
DO NOT USE BRAKE CLEANER!!!! Brake cleaner + welding will create phosgene gas, which will kill you dead. http://www.brewracingframes.com/id75.htm

Also wipe the inside of the tube for a few inches in or it will blow bubbles in your perfect weld bead.:D

Buy brand name hole saws like Milwaukee, Lenox, De Walt, Starrett, Blu-Mol, or Bosch. There are others but I would try to stay with American made and only with Bi-Metal hole saws.

Keep the speed as low as you can, 300-600 rps is the range i use. I wish that someone would come out with a hole saw line that is intended only for metal cutting. Most hole saws will cut metal but most have teeth more for cutting wood or other soft materials. Small teeth are better then big ones. Just compare a hack saw blade to a saw for cutting lumber.

Thanks for the help!! got a new hole saw, slowed the drill press down to 500 rpm and will lots of oil finished cutting the bars. The saw doesn't even look like it lost the paint off the teeth!! I really did burn the other one up.

The irritating thing was at the lower speed the drill chuck kept coming off the drill press shaft - it just press fits on, I made sure the chuck and shaft were clean but it seems to release easily. Is this just how they work? it is a Craftsman 2/3 hp floor type press.

Ewwww I hate those.
yeah, that's how they work. the vibrations from the tubing cutter cause them to come loose. I finally gave up and took mine apart and put a little loctite on the mating surfaces, then mashed it together and held it in place overnight. voila. but I don't ever plan on changing the chuck on this press so no need to disassemble.

Pipemaster, Cutoff wheel, grinder, 1 1/2" or 1 3/4" drum sander.

Or you can just skip the notching like this shop did: http://www.motorsports-group-sucks.com/

They did the notching, they just didn't do a very good job of it.

JB Weld...hmmm...