Best way to clean up tail chop?

[fouramdesigns]

All I had at the moment was a circular saw, bought a carbon/diamond blade, not so neat. I was thinking of a pipe cutter that I could spin around the frame. Any suggestions?

[lagerman72]

I used a brand new hacksaw blade with the highest TPI I could find and it made a really clean cut.  I started out with a old pipe cutter but it wasn't that clean.....probably should have bought a new one and used it first, but lesson learned.  Went back in and cut with the hacksaw (scary sounding I know!)

[OverCaffeinated]

+1 on a fine tooth hacksaw.

Then go back over the edges with a file if you have them. 

[RB]

Run some tape around the area you are going to cut so that you keep stray scratches to a minimum. I used a pneumatic cutoff wheel, but a hacksaw or dremel will work. File or sand the edges before removing the tape. Then get some paint on the raw exposed metal before you add your plugs.

[Mash]

I used a Milwaukee sawzall with a new fine-tooth metal blade.  Worked great, cut like butter. Cleaned out the insides with a rattail file, applied a little paint to prevent rust, then used silicone to seal in a couple plastic plugs.

[♣ McKraut ♣]

+1 on the hacksaw...just took a few minutes, even though i had to saw through double the metal on both sides since *someone* (...cough.... derby) welded the beer tray back on and reinforced the inside of the tubing...

[scott_araujo]

There are specialty pipe cutters that only need to rotate about 40 degrees for a full cut, but generally they are not for cutting heavy gauge steel tubing like our frames.  The blades won't last long, may not even make the two cuts.  And they are very pricey.

A slow steady hand with some tape and a high TPI hacksaw will work well.  Patience is more important than skill.  A fine file can clean up any rough spots.

If it's already cut you can do what I did, remove everything in the area and hit it with a belt sander.  Beautifully fast and clean way to finish it off.  Cover things with a towel so you don't get metal filings all over your chain.

Scott

[speedevil]

Where can you find those plastic plugs?  All I could find that was workable was a tapered rubber plug at the hardware store.  it's not the best, but at least it's sealed up.  I looked at mcmaster.com and a couple of other sites but no joy.

Suggestions?

[♣ McKraut ♣]

shotgun shells work great...   

[lagerman72]

Where can you find those plastic plugs?  All I could find that was workable was a tapered rubber plug at the hardware store.  it's not the best, but at least it's sealed up.  I looked at mcmaster.com and a couple of other sites but no joy.

Suggestions?

I got mine at Lowes for about $2 out of the hardware section.

[Spidey]

Run some tape around the area you are going to cut so that you keep stray scratches to a minimum. I used a pneumatic cutoff wheel, but a hacksaw or dremel will work. File or sand the edges before removing the tape. Then get some paint on the raw exposed metal before you add your plugs.

+ 11tb on using tape.  It makes a HUGE difference in how clean it ends up looking.

[Langanobob]

You guys are scaring me with this talk of Sawzalls and belt sanders    They may be the right tools for you but even if you're skilled it's real easy for someone to screw something up with a power tool.  You need to be one with your bike when and it's real hard to be one with anything with your finger on a Sawzall trigger.   I think that hand tools like hacksaws and files are the appropriate technology for this little job. 

[scott_araujo]

I wouldn't use a Sazall but the belt sander actually cuts the heavy steel fairly slowly.  It's just way faster than filing by hand.

Scott

[RBX QB]

+1 on the belt sander. You can rent one from someplace like Home Depot, and it doesn't move thru the metal all that fast, giving you some control. This is assuming you've already cut the thing off with your circular saw and just need to clean it up.

As for the plugs... They should be in the hardware section, usually in a location near furniture hardware. Depending on the store, may be in a drawer instead of on a hook. I actually have the 7/8" handlebars, and used the endplugs that I took out when installing mirrors. They fit perfect.

[♣ McKraut ♣]

i'm telling you...shotgun shells look way more pimp than some boring black plugs