Originally Posted by
guy153
I know it's not the traditional framebuilder tool but I like it and use it for nearly everything. I don't have to worry about tube blocks because I can just hold a tube with one hand and cut it with the other (using a cutoff wheel). I mitre with templates and find it very quick and accurate just to sand up to the line with a 120-grit flap disk. Works better for me than filing. I also don't have to clamp the tube (and actually it helps to be able to roll it around a bit with one hand while holding the grinder in the other). I use the same 120-grit disks (when they're new) for sharpening tungsten electrodes. I also use it to clean up any flat parts like drop-outs ready for welding. And of course to remove tubes when modifying a frame or something has gone wrong.
There's a youtuber who goes by something like The Fabricator. I watched his video on notching tubes, which he does for making roll cages for race cars. He notched with a flap wheel in an angle grinder, quite crudely compared to what I'm used to, and said something like "There —
perfect tube notch!" Looked worse than the worst miter I have ever done, but I have no doubt it's good enough for the thick stuff he makes rollbars from. Thin bike tube would warp all over as those big gaps pull closed.
I trust your standards are higher than his, I'm not lumping you in with him! Also I will grudgingly admit that my insistence on "water-tight" miters is overkill. I probably do let Perfect be the enemy of Good sometimes.