Laser cut/mitered tubes

True and I went this way with a previous project and thats why I’m looking for something more efficient. I have tubes that I need to index and cut to length, and it’s not like one size, but about 8 of them. I would need to put each pre-prepared tube into 2 blocks, and cut on 2 machines as the angles are obviously different. This extents the task to about 10 min per tube at least, realistically - adding cutting the 6m stock tube to pre-mitered lengths - doubles it…

1 Like

That’s exactly why we went with laser cutting in that project a while ago… mitres on both ends so length and phasing is important.

Of course it can be done with a mill or a file or a lathe. But it just sucks when you have to do a full box of tubes :wink:

There is also the factor of attention and repeatability… after the x-teenth tube your attention will inevitably wander off, and there will be screw ups. Then you have to assess each and every one of these screw ups and decide if they’re salvageble or scrap, while keeping profitability in mind. In terms of mental load, it is just so much more comforting to pass all that on to a computer controlled machine…

Batch production is just a completely different ballgame than full custom “artisanal” frame building.

3 Likes

Exactly: I can do only one thing at a time - build a custom jig that I need or cut those tubes. And repeatability is the key.