Precision Pipe and Tube Notcher for up to 2" Dia with 0 to 60 degree increments

I bought this product to help with my metal work shop class. I just needed a basic model so decided to get this one as the design seemed sturdy and the price was low.When I arrived I had a look at it and found the welds to be nice and tight and the finish was good. Everything was pretty square to within a couple of degrees and there is loads of adjustment there to notch tube of a decent range of size.There were some issues though right from the off. The most concerning was that the arcs through which the clamping bolts slide are 10mm wide but the bolts are only M8. This means there is a large amount of wiggle room where the parts could slide out of alignment under load. Also, the central pivot point of the tube clamp was tapped to M8 but the hole was only 7mm so it didn't fit and the clamp couldn't locate properly. The clamp was also very slightly off-centre to the drive shaft by about 1mm. Also, the vertical clamp is off by a couple of degrees so it's not quite vertical. Finally, the locking pin through the drive shaft didn't fit through meaning the pin couldn't lock it properly.All is not lost though!!! With a couple of simple tasks pretty much every single issue can be solved. It cost me less than £2.50p to get it almost perfect.Here's what you need to do! First thing is to drill out the M8 bolt holes to 9mm and tap to M10. If you don't have a tapping kit to hand then drill to 10mm. Then replace the bolts with 20-25mm M10 bolts and penny washers. This will remove all the slop in the tool and give you a much tighter location. I also drilled and tapped the drive shaft mount to M10 to make sure it was always vertical.To bring the clamp central to the drive shaft I clamped a sharpened 10mm steel rod and then spaced the whole clamp out using M10 penny washers to spread the load. I only needed one on bolt to bring it to less than 0.5mm out. To make the base plate vertical, I just placed a washer between it and the main body on the lower bolt and not at the top. This brought it very close to true.The final tweak was to align the locking holes on the drive shaft and mount and then drill through with a hand held drill to 6mm. Now the pin fits all the way though. A generous application of penetrating oil on the shaft and a spin up and down with a drill had it smooth as silk and very solid.Do not be put off by these problems!!!Out of the box, it would be fine as long as you make sure that you get everything set up accurately with a square. With the few quick and cheap tweaks I mentioned then it is quickly a much improved and very solid piece of kit. It works really well now and cuts very well with no chatter and neat edges.

As another reviewer suggested, this isn’t bad, but you’re gonna be fiddling with it to get everything straight. Certainly, you can’t take it out of the box and be expecting to use it immediately. Ultimately after redrilling and tapping, adding a few washers and spacers it’s a very ridged setup and you get good cuts once it’s been tweaked.

Product needed significant modification before use. This does produce a good notch, but only after very significant modification, in fact, mine out of the box was near useless as the pivot hole for the pipe clamp is too small for the nut. Alignment for the tube in the clamp is way off too meaning the notch is way off centre out of the box. These problems can be overcome, but don't expect a perfect notch straight away.