Ski Builders Forum

So I found some 8" by 8" I beams on Craigslist in great condition for really cheep, but they are 12 and 14 feet. I don't have a plasma cutter so I have no easy way to cut the beams to size. How might I go about cutting these without spending a ton of money?

Find an engineering shop with a bandsaw.

Are you going to be building skis or snowbaords? that 12' isn't long enough for skis unless you are building a single press for skis.

yes, as gozaimaas said, most machine shops should be able to cut that for a small fee. or get a hacksaw and work on your triceps. ;-)

Well there is 2 12 foot beams and 2 14 foot beams so I was originally planning on buying all 4 and cutting them all to 8 or 9 feet. That way I could use the metal I cut off for the ends of the press. However would the press be long enough if I just bought the 14 foot beams and cut those in half?

If the price is right, buy all 4 and go with the first plan.

I got my 360UB50.1 beam in one awkward 12m length weighing 600KG and had planned to cut it up on the spot with gas, then the guy kindly offered to take it on his truck to his mates place and bandsaw it. Totally saved me a lot of pain and effort and the finish was great, saved me putting up with a rough cut and trying to grind it smooth enough, charged me 10 bucks per cut!! The other time saver was the rotor broach cutter mag drill which helped a lot with the 64 of 25mm holes through 12mm flanges.....

I stressed a bit over marking out the steel accurately in the end all holes aligned nicely and it all bolted together square and is as burly as!!!

If for whatever reason you can't find a place/person to cut I-beams. sawzall and portable bandsaw will work not the best option for the job but doable. Make sure use a lot of cutting oil on sawzall blades

btw no need for plasma cutter acetylene torch will work just fine

another option for cutting I-beams, I completely forgot about, it metal cutting circular saw or at least the blade.

If you are very patient you could try using and angle grinder to cut them. Or just go to a metal/fab shop and make some friends and maybe they will give you s bit of a discount.

I used a 9 inch grinder and would not recommend that way. It works but the amount of grinding dust was ridiculous.

Should have hit me up gumby, Ive got a massive bandsaw