Home-Built Radial Arm Saw For Cutting Steel

Home-Built Radial Arm Saw For Cutting Steel FARM SHOP Tools 31-2-37 "I used to build pole buildings and hated using tin cutters to cut the sheet metal. So one weekend I went out to my shop and built a radial arm steel cutting saw," says Loron Skretteberg, Carson, N. Dak. The saw will cut sheet steel at any angle up to 45 degrees. "Once you get your angle set, one person can cut faster than four people can put up the sheets. It reduces the time it takes to put up the sheet metal on a building by at least 50 percent," he says. The sheet metal panel lays between a set of angle iron guides to keep it straight. The panel guide frame is 36 in. wide which is the standard sheet metal width. The saw is set up on a 2-wheeled, home-built trailer and is powered by an electric motor that has a 16-in. blade bolted to it. The motor is bolted to a small metal carriage that's free to ride between a pair of channel iron guides. To change the cutting angle the operator simply loosens a set screw. To attach the cutting blade to the motor, Skretteberg had a local shop machine a big 1-in. dia. bolt and drill a hole in the bolt head so the bolt could be slid onto the motor's shaft. The blade has a 1-in. dia. hole in it which fit right over the other end of the bolt. A nut keeps the blade on tight. "As far as I know, no one makes a commercial radial arm cutting saw that can handle pole barn sheet metal, which comes in 3-ft. wide strips. My only expense was for the blade," says Skretteberg. "Whenever I start moving the blade across at an angle the sheet metal tends to vibrate and pull the sheet back. To keep the metal from sliding I clamp a vise grip onto a small metal tab on back of the trailer." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Loron Skretteberg, 5880 54th Ave. S.W., Carson, N. Dak. 58529 (ph 701 622-3261; cabin@ wildwestriv.com).

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