Can Mitre Saws cut cardboard?

gazfocus

A bit of an odd one for you. I have a need to start cutting cardboard tubes (the sort you get when you buy posters, etc). An actual cardboard core cutting machine is about £4k so in the spirit of saving money, I'm looking for a cheaper alternative. The blade on the dedicated machine has no teeth and is more like a pizza cutter type blade but I wondered whether a mitre saw would give a clean enough cut or would the teeth on the blade cause a rought cut? 

If anyone has any thoughts, would love to hear them. I figure seeing as a mitre saw can be bought for under £100 at screwfix it may be worth a go but thought I'd ask first.

ChilliBob

Perhaps a mitre block and then the finest saw you can find - e.g. coping saw with one of those cylindrical blades as opposed normal teeth? I vaguely remember one from school. Or possibly even a mitre block and a sharp knife? 

I suppose it depends on whether you've got three to do or three thousand!

gazfocus

ChilliBob said:

Perhaps a mitre block and then the finest saw you can find - e.g. coping saw with one of those cylindrical blades as opposed normal teeth? I vaguely remember one from school. Or possibly even a mitre block and a sharp knife? 

I suppose it depends on whether you've got three to do or three thousand!

It'll be around 20 - 30 to do on a weekly basis so not too bad to do by hand. I did try with a stanley knife and they're quite thick so was hard work with a knife.

Bendy_House

The thicker they are, the better.

A powered mitre saw could well do this, but I think the trick would be to cut through slowly so it doesn't rip.

If the tube moves or shudders, it'll likely get messed up. 

Perhaps a metal-cutting blade would be best? Smallest teeth.

Even so, there's bound to be some card 'swarf' on the outside (of the cut) edges.

Any mitres saw going cheap on your local FB Marketplace or eBay? Buy, test, sell on for no loss if not suitable!

Lorian

I'd use my irwin dovetail pull saw for that - Which I use for cutting wooden blinds. If I was doing it a lot I'd buy its bigger brother:
Irwin Jack 19tpi Wood Extra Fine Pullsaw 10½" (270mm) | Japanese & Pull Saws | Screwfix.com

ChilliBob

By knife I, rather strangely, sort of meant a long kitchen knife - you know the ones with blades nearly 20-30cm long etc. Flat not serrated, the sort you'd use to carve a chicken or something!  Depends on the size of the tube I guess. In my head I have something about the size of a plum or satsuma..... but if it's the size of a melon then totally different ball game - you'd not even fit it into a mitre block.

What's it for btw?! Curious!

gazfocus

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give a sharp kitchen knife a go (on a mitre block) and will also look at the Irwin pullsaw. 

ChilliBob said:

By knife I, rather strangely, sort of meant a long kitchen knife - you know the ones with blades nearly 20-30cm long etc. Flat not serrated, the sort you'd use to carve a chicken or something!  Depends on the size of the tube I guess. In my head I have something about the size of a plum or satsuma..... but if it's the size of a melon then totally different ball game - you'd not even fit it into a mitre block.

What's it for btw?! Curious!

I own a printing business and just getting into printing rolls of stickers. Customers want lots of different sizes so makes it difficult having the 'cardboard cores' in all sizes so I hope to be able to buy the long tubes and cut them to the size I want...this sort of thing...

Lorian

I dont have a tube here to try - you'll get a good cut with a fine mitre saw but not that sort of compacted cut on the cardboard you show there, and you need to manage it being a squared end

GDB2222

Lorian said:

I'd use my irwin dovetail pull saw for that - Which I use for cutting wooden blinds. If I was doing it a lot I'd buy its bigger brother:
Irwin Jack 19tpi Wood Extra Fine Pullsaw 10½" (270mm) | Japanese & Pull Saws | Screwfix.com

Not the same quality but I like these pull saws, at a quarter of the price:

https://www.toolstation.com/tri-cut-pull-saw/p17458

If it doesn't work for the cardboard, it's still a good saw to have.

JohnB47

Just some comments from me.

Yes, a mitre saw would do this but you would need to use a blade with lots of teeth - many saws come with a multipurpose blade that cuts a bit rough (it's called 'tear out'), so you would need to buy a different blade.

To help produce a clean cut when doing simple 90 degree cuts, you could add a wooden base and fence, like on this video. This guy uses double sided tape to hold it down but most saws come with pre drilled holes in the fence that allows you to bolt this assemble in place. It narrows the gap through which the blade runs, reducing 'tear out'. (the existing gap in the base and fence of mitre saws is quite wide, to allow for free movement of the blade when positioned off the vertical, eg when doing bevel cuts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y52RvDstVSw&ab_channel=iLoveSimple

Finally, mitre saws are noisy and dusty. You'd need goggles, gloves, ear defenders and ideally, some sort of duct extraction. - I have my Henry hooked up to my saw - most if not all saws have a duct extraction port.

Norman_Castle

How thick is the wall of the tube and what is the diameter? Larger diameter might need a larger saw.  A decent, finer cut panel saw with a large mitre box could work. A hacksaw might also work.

As its only a packing tube how neat does it need to be? 

However you choose to cut it a jig to hold tubes place will make cutting much safer and easier.

edit. It is rocket science, https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/can-you-cut-tubes-with-a-miter-saw.64186/