New surface plate - need ideas for cutting it!

[TubularFab]

Ok, it looks like I have acquired a new to me surface plate. It's 10' x 10' x 13" thick and weighs about 12,000lbs. It's cast iron and is drilled and tapped 1/2-13 on 12" centers.

Now the fun part - it's in a shop 3/4 mile from mine through the center of town. I have a low trailer that will haul it; just have to jack it up 36" off the ground and back under it. It's already 18" on the stand... Oh, and I'm just going to hope the DOT doesn't happen to be riding through town when I do it...

The real fun part comes when I get it to my shop. The building I lease was built in the 50's and has 7' 10" wide x 8' tall doors! Doh! I think I'm actually going to cut the plate down to 7.5' wide and make some small plates out of what is left...

So - anybody have bright ideas on how to cut this thing???? I'm envisioning the "chainsaws" they use on concrete with abrasive chopsaw blades... Can anyone come up with a better plan?

[Rugar]

Wow, nice score! Man, don't cut it! I'm sure your landlord wouldn't mind a nice 12' wide roll up door if you pay for it.
Sounds like a midnight moving project to me.

[TubularFab]

Midnight is the worst time in this town. Usually at least 2 cops sitting in parking lotson the route I have to take watching every car at night... Gotta figure out when donut or lunch time is!

Oh - and its a cement block building with cuuport columns placed such that you cannot really widen the doors... Really bites!

[browncoat]

That is an awful sexy piece of raw industrial might!

If you had a place to put it on the inside of your shop it JUST MIGHT MAKE it in diagonally: sqrt((8^2)+(7.5^2)) ~= 10.97"! However if you dropped it you would have at least a 12 foot wide door. (Well hole, until you installed the *new* door!)

As for cutting it, is OF out? As a total aside, I have an old track torch I have been rebuilding. Needless to say, this sort of job is what plays around in my imagination while I am working on it!

[rlitman]

Originally Posted by browncoat

As for cutting it, is OF out? As a total aside, I have an old track torch I have been rebuilding. Needless to say, this sort of job is what plays around in my imagination while I am working on it!

I guess you've never tried oxy-acetylene cutting of cast iron. It cuts about as well as aluminum. Plasma would work, but you need something with the amps to get through that thickness (and the heat can cause the plate to crack).

I wonder if they make a safe cold cut blade, for a 14" demolition saw.

[engnerdan]

Burning bars, it will not be clean but will blast right through that cast iron. Otherwise maybe a gas powered abrasive saw and a huge pile of wheels.

-Dan

[Ries]

I think you nailed it with the gas drive chop saw idea.
Wear leathers, a full face shield, earplugs, and buy several extra discs- even if they still have meat on em, once the discs wear down a bit, they wont reach all the way thru.

You can probably rent one of those for under $50 for a day, and would use double that amount in oxy and fuel making a complete mess of the edge trying to cut it with a torch.

Or, I suppose, you could get a $10,000 plasma cutter that will cut 6" plate. I saw one once, it was special order for a power plant down at the welding supply- it was as big as a refridgerator on its side, and needed 200 amps of 3 phase.

[Maverik]

Too bad you don't have access to a water jet...

[Maverik]

I would LOVE to get 3'x5' chunk of that. Wish I were closer, sounds like the type of predicament I usually get myself into.

[socoj2]

Originally Posted by Maverik

Too bad you don't have access to a water jet...

To my knowledge they dont make water jets like Mag Drills..... =)


Tube if you need any help send me a PM im only a few miles away.

[Supe]

It might be easier to pick up your shop and drop it on top of the table!

[KENLUDE97]

If you can tilt the table 46° it would fit thru the door, if your measurments are DEAD on.



Good luck!

[Shox Dr]

I think you will lick yourself from now until the end of time if you cut it down, If it will fit through the door diagonally then I would look at building some sort of trolley/jig to hold it at the correct angle and get it through the door in one piece. That or find a smaller one and swap it

[GabZip]

I think you could make several .5 deep cut with one of these. http://www.evolutiononlineshop.com/s...ircular%20Saw/

It may take a while, but would give the best results.

[rlitman]

Originally Posted by GabZip

I think you could make several .5 deep cut with one of these. http://www.evolutiononlineshop.com/s...ircular%20Saw/

It may take a while, but would give the best results.

That's kind of what I was wondering.
I've seen 14" cold cut saws with that kind of carbide blade, and I've seen 14" hand held gas demolition saws (I've got an electric version of the same idea), but never seen a 14" ferrous cutting carbide demolition blade. It would be pretty neat if evolution made that sort of thing.

[gwiley]

Do you HAVE to have it inside? Is there anyway to find a home for it outside? The thing is, you are probably not going to live there forever, one day you will buy your own place where you will be able to put up a building around that beauty.

I would do my best to have it professionally moved, then cover it with a tasteful tarp or soft-top carport.

[jdh239]

Whatever you decide to do, be sure to get some pics or video to share. It would be interesting.

[GabZip]

I think that you would be better off with a metal cutting blade as apposed to a friction saw.

[sn0border88]

I would first try to set it on an angle and slide it through the door. Your going to need to build a frame to hold it when you try to slide it in, but thats easy. And use pieces of solid round or heavy pipe to roll it in.

Id be about in tears if I had to watch someone cut up a table like that. A little more work now will make you much happier in the long run

[DSW]

FYI a 14" demo saw will only get you 5" of cut max with a diamond blade. A 16" about 6" of cut. A ring saw might get you 10" but I've never seen a ferous blade for a ring saw. The hydraulic bar saws will go to 14" but I've never seen a chain designed for ferous metal either. The standard chains will cut light steel like bar, but you'll wipe a standard chain trying to cut that fast. With a nice flat surface like that you could also go with a big walk behind saw. Our 36" will cut 14" easy. Again I'm not sure on the blade availability for one of those.


You can't make the door wider, how about higher? Take out the door, raise the header then either rebuild the original or just put in a taller door.

[TubularFab]

I really hate to cut it, but it will accomplish a couple of good things as well. Cut down it will still be plenty big for my automotive projects. It will be small enough to legally transport. It would be light enough for my forklift to handle. And, it will go through the existing door. I really hate the small doors on my shop, but there are a lot of obstacles in going bigger.

Oh, btw - this plate has already been cut once. It started out as a 10' x 20' plate weighing 24,000 according to the I'd plate. Was made in 1978. There is a US Navy tag on it as well. You can see the cut edge in some of the pics.

Another btw - it's actually about 10'2" square.

I was thinking I'd cut through the top surface (about 3") and that ought to be deep enough to control crack it through the web.

[Bob]

If you knew someone with a Oxy Gasoline torch, it would cut it. That is what they used to cut cast iron with.

[bert the welder]

Originally Posted by TubularFab

I was thinking I'd cut through the top surface (about 3") and that ought to be deep enough to control crack it through the web.

That's kinda what I was thinking but also cutting it on the underside too and then pouring some liquid nitrogen in the kerf to help it crack. But this is just me sounding off
Can you trailer it to a shop with a laser or water jet to cut it?

[sn0border88]

Originally Posted by bert the welder

Can you trailer it to a shop with a laser or water jet to cut it?

How do you expect to get it onto the water table? (no laser is going to cut that) That is if you can find a table strong enough to hold it.

[Mega Arc 5040DD]

Every one has has overlooked the simplest solution to your problem of what to do. Just give it to me problem solved.