I hate angle iron...

[demonspeed]

Ive been trying to build adjustable square stands to hold scales in for scaling racecars. I plan on selling them in my shop and im making them out of angle iron. The basic idea is four squares made of angle iron with adjustable pads on them. So I got three of the squares to come out great and they are pretty much done but now im building the fourth and its turned into the project from hell. I had to wait a few weeks to get more steel for them and now I cant get the damn things to cut right at all. They need a 45 degree angle on each side in order to create the square but since its angle iron you have to think about the angle on both sides and flip the steel around a lot. Not to mention im using a pretty ghetto chop saw (the angle iron wont fit in my bandsaw) and the stuff doesnt fit in the saw well. So Im wondering what all the other fabricators out there use to cut their angle iron? Anyone got some tips for me? I got the three squares to come out nice but the last one is going terribly.

[buffaloracer]

I put a piece of square tubing under it and clamp it in the position that it will sit in when finished.

[Slag Kustom]

i use a special shear for angle iron I bought it cheap on e-bay

[201]

Try a 4 or 6in. pair of vice grips to help hold the peice in the vice. My Dewalt chop saw vibrates like crazy and that helps. Especially when doing 45 deg. cuts

[ray]

if you're gonna make a bunch of something, you gotta think like an assembly line, setup your chop saw, cut all you "left hand" angles you need, resetup then cut the "right hand" angles. then it sounds like you could use a good weld fixture, you need to invest in some more steel and seld up some sturdy jigs to hold your cut pieces, use clamps to hold the parts in the fixture securely for welding, and the acuracy of your cuts will matter less. while your at it you could fabricate a jig for your chopsaw too to hold the anlge iron at a 45 angle each way, theres no law that says you can't modify the tool to fit your job. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Junkyard Dog 32]

I'd just notch 'em with a cut-off wheel on a 7" grinder...
Figure the length of all four sides, add 'em up and cut one piece.
Put the angle iron in a vice, mark your (3) notches, and cut them at a 90 degrees... leaving one side of the angle iron uncut. This way you don't have 4 pieces, just one.
Knock the two ends off at an angle, too.

Just bend 'em and weld 'em.

You can get some expensive sets from J.C. Whitney, but this way is fine.
If you put 'em in a vice when you close up the notches, and peen the corner, you'll get a nicer 90 degree bend, instead of a round radius.

JOEhttp://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[demonspeed]

alright thanks guys ill definitely try some of those ideas out. hopefully i can finally get this crap finished.