Cutting hard metal fence posts.. with what?!

[Tony]

We're trying to clean up our Garage and property this fall.

We rented a small dumpster. I have a few hollow tubes of metal (steel? Galvinized Aluminum?) that horizontallly go along the top of a fence that the fencing would be tied to with the little metal twist tie thingies for support.

We took the fence down a long time ago and have no use for them and want to have them taken in the dumpster we rented.

Problem is... They are very, very long. Much longer than the length of the dumpster we rented.

I want to cut the metal down to lengths that can be put into the dumpster.

I have a sawzall which I've used a bunch of times to cut tree branches and the like out of fencing etc.. We just bought a 4&1/4" circular saw to trim down the bottom of some doors that no longer open/close due to higher pile carpeting being installed... I've never used a circular saw before.

I'm thinking the sawzall with some sort of carbide blade would be what I should use?

I'm assuming I should do the cutting outdoors because of sparks? (and maybe wear wet jeans? lol)

I have saw horses and clamps. I have a vise that would hold the pipe more securely, but the vise is bolted on a very heavy table-top in our garage..

Advice would be appreciated :)

Thanks!

Tony!

[Tony]

should have read "We just bought a 7&1/4" circular saw"

[JoeSpareBedroom]

I recently had a plumber replace some ancient iron pipe in my basement. He used a sawzall and cut through the pipe like it was made of cardboard. No idea what kind of blade, though, but I saw no sparks.

[BETA-32]

I have used a circular saw with a metal cutting blade and it worked well. Depending on how many cuts you need to make, you may need to buy more than one blade. The reason is that the metal cutting blades are made of some kind of abrasive composite material and, as you continue cutting, the material wears down and the blade gets smaller and smaller. I probably made about 10 cuts per blade (I don't really remember how many) before the blade go too small to use. Oh, yes... sparks? -- big time sparks.

Here's another trick you may be able to try. Put each pipe between two trees that are close to each other, or one tree with two main trunks, or something similar. Then BEND the pipes by pulling on the end while the two trees are holding the pipes in place. Usually they are easy to bend back and forth and break. But you can just bend/fold them enough to fit into the dumpster without breaking them if you want. You can also lean one end on top of something raised, stand on the middle to may the first bend, then pull up the end while you or someone else continues to stand on the pipe. Once the first bend starts to happen, the rest of the bending of each pipe takes very little effort. It's very easy.

[lee h]

Got a metal scrap recycler in your area? Might locate someone to haul em off at no charge. Depends on how few 'few' is.

[HeyBub]

Put 'em on the curb for the Urban Faeries

Advertise them for free on Craigslist.

[Tim Mulvey]

Tony, get a metal blade for your sawzall. Cuts easy and no sparks.

Tim

[Proch]

Hydraulics worked for this unfortunate - yet somewhat lucky - guy:

[aemeijers]

Is there a Habitat ReStore, Craig's List, Freecycle, or radio swap show in your area? Shame to put good pipe in a landfill, if you can find somebody to give it to. For that matter, just leave it out by the street with a 'FREE !' sign, for a few days- odds are it will disappear.Unless this was a 50 year old fence or something, probably just galvanized soft steel.

If you simply MUST cut it up, most painless solution is probably a pipe cutter. Rental store will have them. Just tell them what the outside diameter is. Clamp one end to a sawhorse, or make a 'X' sawbuck out of a few 2x4s to hold one end up off the ground. Outside, yes, so you don't drip cutting oil and metal shavings in carpet.No special precautions other than gloves and safety glasses needed. A metal blade is Sawzall will also work, but you will probably break enough blades that renting a pipe cutter would be cheaper. The sparks from metal cutting are impressive, but unlikely to start anything on fire, unless you are cutting over very dry grass or something. But keeping a garden hose handy is always a good precaution.

aem sends...

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, If your good Sawzall with metal cutting blade, it'll work fine. My Tiger saw with right blade will cut anything easy.

[Stormin Mormon]

Yeah, those 4 1/4 are impossible to find blades.

[EXT]

Done it many times, works great, be sure to get a blade long enough that it doesn't catch the end on the inside of the pipe. That way you won't be breaking blades.

[BobK207]

Tony-

How many is a few?

A Sawzall will do as will a Skil saw with an abrasive metal cutting blade.

The Craigslist suggestion is good one depending on your locale; my neighbor puts all manner of things in CL & in less than 24 hrs...gone!

btw no such thing as "Galvanized Aluminum"

check them with a magnet....most likely galvinized steel thin wall tube

better to recycle or give away for reuse rather than trash :(

"very, very long" is useful for someone

cheers Bob

[Harry K]

Or, if you don't have a sawzall, save the purchase price and use a manual hacksaw. Those tubes are very light gauge and easy to cut. Only minute or two per cut. I did it when installing my fence. Of course if time is a constraint....

Harry K

[Harry K]

Yep. Put em on the curb. If not gone next morning, put a "For sale $10" on them. They _will_ be gone the next morning.

Harry K

[Steve Barker]

not to mention you'd only have to saw halfway through , then fold them over.

s

[Chris Lewis]

According to Steve Barker :

Or just stomp really hard and fold.

[** Frank **]

Sounds like thinwall steel tubing.

Flatten the middle with a hammer than bend it over.

Use bi-metal reciprcating blade for thinwall. Something like this:

Shouldn't get much sparks with sawzall blade.

So you don't even need to saw it. Just smash the middle flat than bend it on the vice.

[BETA-32]

Check out

.

I just learned about it a few days ago. It's pretty cool. I wish I knew about it sooner when I had other stuff to give away -- even things like scrap metal.

It is a website to give away or get stuff for free and there are local groups for most areas. Part of the idea of giving stuff away is so it will not end up in a landfill.

If you do decide to join one of the local FreeCycle online groups, it is sometimes easy and better to use a Yahoo email address for it. If you don't already have one, just create a free Yahoo email account with fake name, etc.

[Ralph Mowery]

I agree, I have given several things away via freecycle. Good way to get rid of things you no longer want and it keeps it out of the landfills. Wish I had known about it when I was getting rid of all the stuff in my dad's house when he passed away.. I filled a big dumpster full of stuff that could have probably been used by someone. Tried to give it to one of the local chairtiy groups, but they did not show up when they were suspose to to look at it.