Tube notching alternative idea..

[mjl30]

So, per usual, as soon as I wake up I'm thinking about my dune buggy and things I need. One being a good notcher. So in reflecting mistakes I've made in the past and the problem of tube notchers not being able to make a steep cut in one pass I came up with an idea. What if you make two molds. One concave molds to hold the tube and another convex mold that is pressed into the tube at whatever angle needed to collapse the tube leaving you with a coped tube ready to be welded. There might be a need to cut the end of the pipe at a flush 45 in order to prevent overhang off the collapsed pipe at the end. No drills or hole saws would ever need replaced. All you'd need is different mold sizes. I plan on testing this out when I get home from New York but wanted to see what the community thought first.

[plkracer]

It could work, you would need to keep the two molds aligned rigidly to keep it from squashing off center, or having the tube shoot out.

You may run into problems with the effects of collapsing the tube right at the joint you are welding.

I would stick with a traditional notcher. I only used two hole saws for the entire frame, and i just ended up grinding the notch for the bonnet tube, which was too steep.