Pipe/tubing notcher

[Frank S]

This has nothing to do with RE unless you wanted one to make pipe joints for the tail of a turbine.
 It seems we are always having a project these days involving Stainless tubing hand railings. So I wanted a fast way to create perfect joints for welding. I looked at several tubing notchers some used a milling cutter others used a set of punch dies and some used  a long sanding belt all were pricey each have their own limitations.
 So I decided to build a belt sand unit that would have plenty of power.
 It is made out of mostly scrap and not intended to be pretty  but with a 7 1/2 Hp 2900 RPM motor and a 6 inch dia drive it is fast  with a 4555 Ft Per Minute belt speed.




The vice has a quick lock handle underneath for setting the angle. The gearshift looking lever allows to feed in and slide from side to side which helps to keep the belt cool and last longer since you are not always cutting in the same grove
 the tubes are pre cut on the pipe profiler so all the notcher has to do is clean up the joints

 The profiler is a little big for these and we had to  make a special small holder for the tubes as the 5 jaw chuck will only go down to 2 1/2" pipe

 

[smidy]

around here it is comon to build tube nothers from hole saws like this http://www.wurth.se/Produkter/Produktkatalog/Borr--Gang/Borr/Halsagar-m-tillbehor/Halsagar/Halsag-HSS-Bimetall/?p=2 the page is in swedish but picture is in english  for smal projekts you simply put the hole saw in a drillpress and cut the pipe in what angle you want. for more serial produktion they build a divice just for notching but the pincip is the same as in drillpress. now you alredy built one but if you ar intrested i will get som pictures on foks noth builds.

[Frank S]

around here it is comon to build tube nothers from hole saws like this http://www.wurth.se/Produkter/Produktkatalog/Borr--Gang/Borr/Halsagar-m-tillbehor/Halsagar/Halsag-HSS-Bimetall/?p=2 the page is in swedish but picture is in english  for smal projekts you simply put the hole saw in a drillpress and cut the pipe in what angle you want. for more serial produktion they build a divice just for notching but the pincip is the same as in drillpress. now you alredy built one but if you ar intrested i will get som pictures on foks noth builds.

 Hole saws are fine for mild steel tubing and small production use. shell mill cutters are better but more expensive. Drill presses even ones like this is better used for drilling.
     
 



In the past I have used about every cutting device under the sun to cope pipe or tubes Torch, chop saws  band saws, drill presses, mills, grinders, sanders, iron workers with special die sets, hydraulic presses, Plasma pipe profile machines, EDM wire machines you name it about the only thing I haven't done yet is buy a Laser torch for my pipe profile machine. all of the methods work and will work just fine.
 But With the belt sander I built, I can change out the lead roller for a different diameter tube in a matter of a minute and be profiling a different size before a whole saw can be changed out on a drill press.
 Also it has the ability to do about any angle you can imagine and multiple profile cuts like for making a 3 or 4  way joint the lead roller can be raised or lowered for off center profiles. to change the belt just raise the arm this allows the belt to become loose just slip it off slip a new one on lower the arm and go to work. It takes mere seconds.
 we have 1000s of cuts to make and they all have to fit as tight as possible for a minimal of tig welding then the weldements have to be polished to a mirror finish. Pre cutting the profiles on the pipe profile machine saves time and sanding belts. This set up can keep about 5 welders supplied with rubes. But the company is thinking about buying as many as 10 more tig machines 5 for field installations and 5 more for the shop Or out sourcing  a lot of the straight runs to China, we have over 5000 meters of 4 rail railing to make right now we are concentrating on the stair rails . Or I may be building more machines LOL 

[kitestrings]

Very clever Frank.  Thanks for sharing.

~ks

[Frank S]

Very clever Frank.  Thanks for sharing.

~ks

Actually it is nothing new in the industry, there are several manufactures of machines very similar to this one they are just much more sophisticated and expensive. This one does the job and we didn't have to wait 3 months for delivery.
 It is clunky  and ugly looking and will have a cover over the sanding belt to prevent injury in case of the belt breaking.
 The belt was originally for a 8 inch wide surface grinding machine, the importer cuts them to 4 inch wide we will be ordering them direct from the MFG in 6 in widths which is also a std width.
 A much better variation to the machine would have been to shorten the long lever  then mounted it upside down with a pair of pneumatic cylinders and push button pressure regulated controls.
 But the whole idea was to have something that would do the job quickly and not invest much time or money into it.
 If I were going to build one for sale I would make it a lot different.
  I had given some thought to mounting a turret and a router or mill head on our pipe profile machine but that would have introduced several issues like added axis to the programming more weight to a system not designed to handle it, a way to cool the cutter or use a grinding cone Plus that would be in the way when the profile machine was used for its primary purpose of cutting 4 to 20 inch diameter pipe

[kitestrings]

Let's see:

It takes function over form, uses available materials in a creative way. It's durable, adaptable, less costly than what's "commercially" available, and it works.  I stand by my assessment. Clever.

~kitestrings

[Frank S]

Actually the belt type notcher is a trade off compromise.
 Yes it is a simple machine to build , yes it does the task  rather quickly. Yes it can be used to notch many sizes  and  do complex notches or angles if needed.
 the down side is, to cut different sizes  several change rollers needs to be on hand. another downside is the belts will only last a few 100 cuts before needing replaced. the belt life can be extended by pre cutting the profiles on our Plasma pipe profile machine.
 But they are less expensive than an end mill notcher
this is a commercially available unit that I patterned ours after http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=snLxWI39t3Y
Ultimately I would have rather bought one of these. And may one day be able to convince the company into buying one. Baileigh Industrial TN800 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=sVdFwjuSNtw
 In either case we were able to have a machine p and running in a couple of days instead of waiting for weeks or months for delivery. One single 3000 meter handrail contract does not justify the expense of buying a top of the line notcher, nor could the contract be delayed to wait for delivery and set up