cutting threaded bar

[Stephen]

Hello,

What is the best way to cut threaded bar? Dribble's hacksaw or the group favourite angle grinder?

I thought you were supposed to cut it with a nut on and then unscrew the nut to clean the threads but my attempts yesterday were inconsistent.

On a screwfix forum there is talk of using a die. Is that really necessary? How does that work, do you fit it to the good end and screw it along and off the damaged bottom? Is it worth picking up a tap and die set for this and other jobs?

Thanks, Stephen.

[Andy Cap]

I've often cut threaded rod and bolts themselves, just by winding on a nut first and then taking it off to straighten the thread out. I don't recall ever not being able to get a nut started again although occasionally this involves a bit of fiddling about.

Andy C

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Screw on a nut. Cut to length with a hacksaw. File the end square and put a bevelled edge on it (so you have a slight taper to the start of the thread). Easiest to do the last two bits with a bench grinder if you have one. But not difficult with a file.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Stephen formulated the question :

Angle grinder with a cut off blade or saw, makes no difference really. Then grind around the corner of the cut thread holding the rod at 45 degrees and do it gently, so as not to raise a burr. Nut should then go straight on with not much difficulty and will go on even easier the next time. If you must, get a thread file and use that to clean up the thread before trying the nut.

It is defiantly worth picking up a tap and die set, but not for this job.

[Dave Liquorice]

Hacksaw then a file or bench grinder to shape the end to make starting easier, finally a needle file to clean the threads.

[Steve Firth]

Angle grinder IMO. I've had to cut the ends of threaded rod poiking out from steel plates used to stabilise a rubble wall. There were eight of these in every room at the rear of the house. With an angle grinder it took a few seconds for each one and left a clean finish. The rod was 1" diameter.

For smaller diameters it still works well but it's a good idea if you have one of those dinky Lidl/Aldi angle grinder holders that turns the angle grinder into a cut-off tool.

In the past, the long dead past, I used a mechanical belt-driven hacksaw to do the same job and produced hundreds of lengths of threaded rod per day as a holiday job to earn beer money.

[Stephen]

I think the one thing I didn't do was bevel the end. Perhaps that was why my results were only 50% successful. Thanks.

What jobs do you use them for?

Thanks, Stephen.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It makes things easier - but shouldn't have prevented you screwing on a nut. There must have been other problems at the start of the thread - try looking at it with a magnifying glass.

Forming new threads. There are special tools for cleaning up old or damaged ones.

[H. Neary]

I am a big fan of the angle grinder, but for the odd bit of threaded rod I find Any Capp's approach is pretty good. The odd bit of fiddling to start the nut is far more convenient than the angle grinder procedure. [Unless of course it is lying on the workbench with an appropriate disk, plugged in and you have the goggles handy].

HN

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If you have the space, a bench grinder can be bought pretty cheaply and is ideal for this sort of thing. And far less 'challenging' to use than an angle grinder.

[Dave Liquorice]

Think mine was about a tenner, Performance Power, it works. It's very useful as well, one of those "how did I manage without it" tools.

Shaping the end after cutting with a hacksaw yes but not cutting the threaded bar in the first place, Shirley?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Yup. I'd not dream of bothering with an angle grinder to cut a bit of threaded rod. A hacksaw with a decent blade takes less time than plugging one in...