Bull Bar Cutting

[LGR]

So when it comes time to put on my flares I'm going to have to cut some of the bull bar..Now i can't get my hands on a plasma cutter and I'd really like to make a clean cut with minor paint chipping. Any ideas? sawzall? grinder? Or better yet, who has a plasma cutter i can barrow? let me rephrase that who has a plasma cutter that wants to cut if for me?

 

[bchcky]

sawzall or angle grinder would work, angle grinder will probably be more precise. just worry about making good cuts, paint should be the least of your worries, just sand it down after and re-coat it, cause if it actually gets wheeled, its gonna get chipped regardless.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

I'd worry more about heat build up bubbling the paint than actual chipping. Seems that a grinder or plasma cutter would tend to heat things up pretty good. Not knowing much about the makeup of the metal in a bullbar, I don't know how far that heat would travel. I've seen it bubble the paint on combine parts down about 2 feet from where the cut was on a regular cutting torch. Don't know how those compare to plasma cutters, though.

 

[droopey]

Any particular reason your cutting the bull bar instead of the flares?

 

[LGR]

gotta cut both. Ends of the bull bar hits the tires when i flex

 

[droopey]

I see said the blind man.

 

[88Wrangles]

I'd cut it with a sawzall and then clean it up with an angle grinder. Either way, you'll probably want to put some paint on the bare metal where the cut is.

Plasma cutter will heat it up and most likely cause the paint to bubble a lot worse than the sawzall and grinder.

 

[Laph]

plasma cutter will heat it up, but not more then a angle grinder. plasma cutters are awsome because they are easy to use, cut fine lines, Extremely fast cutting, and little heat build up, due to the fact that it doesn't have to preheat the metal like a torch does. the plasma cutter just cuts it no questions asked.

 

[LGR]

the plasma cutter just cuts it no questions asked.

what i'm looking for. easy and fast. but without access to one looks like sawzall is my route

 

[Laph]

yea, know the felling. Use a sawzall then hit it with a angle grinder with a buffing pad.