# Best Homemade Tools >  Using a Harbor Frieght tubing notcher

## astroracer

Hey guys, I don't know how many of you do your own cage or chassis work but this how I set up my jigs for notching tubing.
I set all of this up on one of my jig tables but it will work on any bench or table top you have handy.
These pics show my Harbour Freight tubing notcher clamped to a 90* angle plate. This is simple to set up and doesn't require a lot of thought...

From the backside...

Cutting the first notch is the easy part. No orientation, no length to worry about. Just clamp the tube in the notcher and do the deed.
Cutting the second notch is where some planning needs to be done. Getting the LENGTH and the notch ORIENTATION correct is critical to having a usable part versus something to practice welding on...
To do the second notch I bolted a short piece of the mating tubing to another angle plate and use this to nest the "first" notch into while cutting the second notch.

See next post for continuation 
Thanks for looking
Mark

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Jon (Feb 18, 2015)

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## Captainleeward

Great idea astroracer thanks for the tip

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## Hotz

Nice tip...Thanks.

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## DIYer

Great tip, should come in handy for some of the members here.

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## jere

Nice I could really put something like this to use! Fishmouthing with a grinder is tedious and messy. How long do the hole saws last,do you need a bunch of spares on hand with pipe like that?

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## astroracer

Hey Jere,
The hole saws last for a long time. I have one 1 1/2" dia saw that probably has about 75 cuts on it. The 2" you see in the pics has at least 35 or 40 cuts. The key here is keeping things rigid and not letting the saws chatter. I broke more teeth off the holesaws when I was using the drill press to do this work. I have never broken a holesaw with this set up. The Castrol Lube Wax is key also. Works very well.
Mark

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jere (Feb 13, 2015),

Jon (Feb 18, 2015)

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## Wmrra13

Great tip! I always stress about measuring the second cut and I usually get it wrong....

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## augercreek

That is one heck of a good tip that I won't forget!!!

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## kbalch

This thread has been moved to the Must Read subforum. Congrats (and thanks) to astroracer for making such a valuable contribution!

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## hardtail69

i am not building cars but my son and i build drift trikes and it is essentially the same kind of work with tube bending, notching and welding. I am always interested in everyone's experience with any of the above. We use the JD 2 NotchMaster,with the "Swag OffRoad" "reacharound" and the JD2 model 3 bender. We do a lot of repetitive parts with multiple bends and high angle notches. 

rob

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