Cutting bedframe for brewstand?

I hacked up about 20 bedframes to remove all the rivets and fittings using my angle grinder. Now that I'm ready to start cutting pieces to make the stand, I'm having trouble figuring out how to miter. I've got a 10" miter saw and bought a 10"metal cutting disc with the correct 5/8" arbor size. Unfortunately, the disc is like 3/16" thick and takes forever to cut through the metal. I'm also getting pretty close to melting this plastic strip that sits on the bottom of the fence.

Does anyone know of a more appropriate disk for this purpose? I looked at the 4" thin disks from the angle grinder, but the arbor is 7/8" and too big.

Man, I hate cutting metal. Do you have a sawzall? There are some metal cutting blades for those things that go thru rebar pretty easily. They may work for your frames too.

Evan! said:

Man, I hate cutting metal. Do you have a sawzall? There are some metal cutting blades for those things that go thru rebar pretty easily. They may work for your frames too.

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If he's mitering, I'm sure he's looking for a bit more precision than a sawzall can provide - just ask BierMuncher how accurate those cuts are!

You might be better off cutting them with a sawzall and then putting the angle on them using your grinder. I haven't ever tried to do a miter angle on metal but I know it doesn't like cutting square a miter has to be real bad.

Actually what might work best is a band saw if you know anyone that has one.

Bobby_M said:

Does anyone know of a more appropriate disk for this purpose? I looked at the 4" thin disks from the angle grinder, but the arbor is 7/8" and too big.

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Get a $15 angle grinder from harbor freight. much cheaper than fubaring your table saw.

make a jig by screwing a piece of wood to the angle grinder that will give it a flat reference surface. Then set up a fence guide that will hold the angle grinder at a 45° angle to the clamped down metal.

I have a few more thoughts, thanks for the replies. Actually I put this disk in my compound miter saw and yes I'm trying to do 45 degree miters. If I could just find a thinner disk, I'd be ok. I suppose I could try the idea of clamping the angle grinder to my table saw fence and using the sliding miter table to hold the angle as it approaches the disk.. That just might work.


My bad... I didn't think to look at Mcmaster. They have a billion different sized/thickness/grit cutoff wheels all day long. When in doubt, check Mcmaster out!

Oh, and if you're cutting your kegs up, check out this stainless specific wheel:
4003A71
Type 1 Cutoff Wheels for Right-Angle Grinder SS, 4-1/2" Dia, .045" Thick, 7/8" Arbor, 36 Grit

Assuming your mitre saw is a 12" or 14", Dewalt makes ferous metal cutting blades. These are steel blades that do not have the deflection that the carborundom style bades do. They are the series 77 blades. the 12" is model 7737 IIRC. Much more acurate in my opinion.

It's a 10".... smaller than I'd like (the story of my life hehe....)

Why miter? Would that be the strongest joint for a weld? If the joint isn't perfect, you'll definitely have some fit/level issues, and some of the welds might be difficult.

I just don't want lap joints on the spots where the kegs are going to sit.

You could always do something like this;

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g234/KwaiLoCdn/temp.jpg

I would have the holes on the bottom piece of angle though. You could then plug weld, and not have to worry about grinding, or welds in the way. The grey would then be below the green, instead of on the top.

A few spacers on the lower angle section to keep it level and you're golden.

I do like mitered corners though, they are very strong, especially with a a secondary weld along the back for the leg.

that's spring steel cut it with the saw zaw and then clean up the miter with a bench grinder

If you want perfect miters, you need a band saw. The spousal acceptance factor of a big 480-V unit with coolant pump is probably *really* low, though.

For my metal cutting needs, I picked up the cheapest wood-cutting miter saw ($90, I think) and threw a cutoff wheel in it (like you did). I got the thinnest one (also a cheap disc) I could find and just accounted for the thickness of the blade--scratch your lines on the metal, drop the blade almost all the way down to the workpiece and line the edge of the blade with the mark, then start it up. You will need extra c-clamps to hold the metal down because the clamps that come with the saw are probably too flimsy to hold against the force of the blade.

I used the second saw because the steel scratched up the saw deck, all the plastic parts burned up and/or melted from the sparks, and all the abrasive dust is going to be *really* bad for the moving parts. Plus, it had a lifetime satisfaction guarantee

This won't give you perfect measurements, but it will be close. Unless you're a super-skilled welder, it's going to warp a little bit anyway. It will still be strong enough to hold the kettle, which is the main thing.

And don't forget--80% of welding is grinding anyway.

I'm surprised you're having that much trouble. When I built my stand I cut all my steel (2" sq tubing) the exact same way you are. The cuts didn't really take that long. I know someone with a band saw, and I plan to use that when I build my new stand.

ScubaSteve said:

Why miter? Would that be the strongest joint for a weld? If the joint isn't perfect, you'll definitely have some fit/level issues, and some of the welds might be difficult.

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+1. I have a friend that mitered all his cuts, and the welder scolded him. Said he could do a better job if the cuts were square.

The best possible fit is when the parts mate like >< so that it can be welded from the top and the bottom with full penetration.

If you are going to miter, grind a chamfer into at least one of the surfaces to allow for a penetrating weld. \/ is better to weld than ]/ but for home brewing use, either will do.

The strength requirements of holding up a few hundred pounds are very low compared to what can be done with 1/8" thick angle iron.

I realize lap joints would be better because you actually get two welds per joint or at least twice the bond but I don't want to deal with filling in the top deck to support the kegs evenly. I know the trouble I'm having has to do with the wheel I have being too thick (3/16") and two large in diameter (10") for how much power my saw has so it's slowing down too much. I'm ordering a couple 1/16" thick 8" diameter wheels from Mcmaster to fix that.

For the record, I HATE mitering metal.

Bobby, you could achieve the same result by making a couple of 90 degree cuts (a notch, if you will). It'd be easier to do with your angle grinder than a miter. Sort of like this:

Ok, yeah I see, notching. I guess my only reservation there is that the horizontal cut can't be done on the chopsaw. I'll probably get my Mcmaster order tomorrow so we'll see how the thinner discs work out.

Why not do the lap joint, then cut some of the scrap into flat stock and weld that on the lower portions so your kettle will sit level? Now much of the kettle will actually rest on each side? I'd figure a 4" piece on each side would do. Just seems like your making it harder than need be. I'd do this or I'd use Yuri's suggesting (though I would perfer the double weld you get from the lap joint).

Evan! said:

Man, I hate cutting metal. Do you have a sawzall?...

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I'll be right over...

is your a wood miter saw if so i would not be using a metel cut of blade in it

my next major tool purchase will be a metal-cutting band saw. I cannot get really straight and square cuts out of my 14 inch abrasive disk chop saw. it was a cheap one from harbor freight, maybe that's why, but I think a band saw is better.

Well, I don't do a lot of metal cutting so there's no way I'm going to buy a dedicated tool that won't get used in the future. I had this Ryobi miter saw for a long time and I got my money's worth so I don't care if I destroy it in the process.

I don't think anything would get a decent miter because the discs flex. I don't think this is a saw issue.

Maybe cut them square and just weld in tabs underneath-no matter what you do you will have to grind the top and probably want to do the visual outer welds, anyway...for appearance.

You should 'skarf' the cut ends where you will be welding to allow for better penetration with less heat/distortion/chance of burn-thru, as was suggested a bit earlier. Basically just a heavy 45° chamfer along the cut ends. This will also alleviate some of the post-weld grinding you will need to do...

I only use the 1/16" cut off blades for cutting-the thick blades are just for grinding. Don't try to cut all the way through at first, but continue to score deeper until you are nearly thru, then put blade thru for severing completely.

Henry Hill said:

You should 'skarf' the cut ends where you will be welding to allow for better penetration with less heat/distortion/chance of burn-thru, as was suggested a bit earlier. Basically just a heavy 45° chamfer along the cut ends. This will also alleviate some of the post-weld grinding you will need to do...

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I wish I had known this when I welded up my Brutus Ten stand. I got burn through in two places where my fitment was poor, and probably didn't get very good penetration anywhere. But I reckon it will hold.

My stand is is completely welded up now. It took a bit of practice since it was my first time ever but I actually made some great beads towards the end.

Bobby_M said:

My stand is is completely welded up now. It took a bit of practice since it was my first time ever but I actually made some great beads towards the end.

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Any Pictures to share?

I have one pic posted so far of the design drawings and basic shape. I'll take another one of the current state when I finish this cup of cofee.

Tracking the project here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?p=480157

Bobby_M said:

I have one pic posted so far of the design drawings and basic shape. I'll take another one of the current state when I finish this cup of cofee.

Tracking the project here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?p=480157

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Looking good man. You're home today?

the wood cut off saw spin about twise as fast as the metel blades are ment to spin at

My 10" miter saw runs at 4800rpm which is 200rpm under the recommended max for my general purpose wood blade and I was using 8" metal cutting discs with max rpm of 7800. No maximums exceeded. Metal cutting has to be high rpm. Angle grinders run at like 10k.

the only resein i say that thay have swaped the arbor sizes in oz so you cant mix and match

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