Spot weld cutting and panel seperating product reviews

[WildBillyT]

Seeing as how I've been busting a lot of spot welds lately and I've had some success and some failure with tools aiding me in the task, I thought I'd share some of the information with anybody interested on here. All of this stuff is from Eastwood. I know there are other places to get this stuff but I like to buy from Eastwood because they really go out of their way to make sure random, odd tools stay available and they are based out of Pottstown PA so I can go there if I need help or to pick anything up.

Disclaimer- I'm not a pro, nor do I play one on TV. These are just one guy's perception of spot weld and panel seperating tools.

1.) Eastwood Double Ended spot weld cutter:
http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=14686&itemType=PRODUCT

This cutter was easy to use, cut great, and was pretty cheap at $19.99, but the teeth wore out and broke a little on the quick side. I'd say this is a great fit for someone who only has to cut a few spot welds. Replacement bits are available.

2.) Eastwood Spot Weld Drill
http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=1160&itemType=PRODUCT

This held up great for a while since it's a solid piece, but after it got dull and the brad point got rounded it was ineffective at much of anything. Also, it is easier to blow completely through a spot weld and the panel below it as there is no spring mechanism in this cutter. I'd say this is perfect for somebody cutting a lot of spot welds in an area where damaging the underlying panel is not as much of an issue. $19.99 a bit.

3.) Eastwood Skip Proof Spotweld Cutter
http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=14684&itemType=PRODUCT

The Cadillac of the drill based spot weld cutters that I've used so far. Cuts very fast, the teeth held up great to 25+ cuts in a row, it is built very solid and you can buy new bits for about $6 a piece. Nothing short of kick ass for cutting welds in my opinion. The downside is that it's pricey- $34.99, but totally worth it for the performance.

4.) Spot Weld Busting Chisel
http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=16370&itemType=PRODUCT

I was not too pleased with this thing. I tried it on a number of different welds and it doesn't really "bust" them like I expected it to. I actually think my regular air chisel bit cuts the welds better but just makes a little more mess. Given what I know now, I'd pass on this.

5.) Panel Seperating Knife
http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=1688&itemType=PRODUCT&iProductID=1688

If you are seperating panels, buy this. It's really that simple. I use the hell out of this thing to the point where I have have bench-ground the tip (to make it sharp again) 3 times already. This thing works great at splitting panels once you have cut the spot welds and it also works well at opening up a seam if you need to get a sawzall in to cut a weld. The only downside is that the handle is not very padded. If you hold it in your bare hand and hit the struck end of the knife into a weld you will get an uncomfortable vibration in your hand, kind of like if you took an aluminum baseball bat with no padding and hit concrete with it. To solve this problem I wrapped the handle with duct tape and it works fine. Looks like a prison shank, but is effective nonetheless.

[HardcoreZ28]

Great reviews Bill......you should seriously write for a catalog hahah. Between this and your epoxy floor coating writeup I'm thoroughly impressed.

[68pont455]

i have used the rotabroach cutters when i backhalfed my current ride and disassembled another project. probably just like the spotweld cutters described above. this kit works for putting perfectly clean holes in new sheet metal also. this kit has different size bits unlike a regular spot weld cutter that is only one size. more multi purpose. just another thought to throw out there.

[Knipps]

i have used the rotabroach cutters when i backhalfed my current ride and disassembled another project. probably just like the spotweld cutters described above. this kit works for putting perfectly clean holes in new sheet metal also. this kit has different size bits unlike a regular spot weld cutter that is only one size. more multi purpose. just another thought to throw out there.

just for comparison but do you have numbers for pricing?

[JL8Jeff]

As a followup to the spotweld cutting, here are a couple of pictures of the shop using a special spotwelder to replicate the factory spotwelds when putting new panels on a car.

Welding1 (http://home.comcast.net/~jeffhansbury/JL8/JL8quarterwelding3.jpg)

Welding2 (http://home.comcast.net/~jeffhansbury/JL8/JL8quarterwelding.jpg)

Welding3 (http://home.comcast.net/~jeffhansbury/JL8/JL8quarterwelding2.jpg)

Factory style spotwelds (http://home.comcast.net/~jeffhansbury/JL8/JL8spotwelds.jpg)

Wheelwell spotwelds (http://home.comcast.net/~jeffhansbury/JL8/JL8wheelwelds.jpg)

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[WildBillyT]

I just thought I'd add to this thread another little nugget. General knowledge, but some may not know:

A good quality center punch is also very good to have when using a spot weld cutter. In cases where you are using the cutter horizontally or diagonally the cutter can "walk" away from where you want to cut, and making a dimple with a center punch will fix that. I upgraded from a dull punch to a new higher quality one and it made a difference in the cleanliness of my cuts.

[PolarBear]

I just thought I'd add to this thread another little nugget. General knowledge, but some may not know:

A good quality center punch is also very good to have when using a spot weld cutter. In cases where you are using the cutter horizontally or diagonally the cutter can "walk" away from where you want to cut, and making a dimple with a center punch will fix that. I upgraded from a dull punch to a new higher quality one and it made a difference in the cleanliness of my cuts.

Ill have to try that, I have a slight problem with the skip proof one still walking away on not flat spots. Thanks!

[rscamaro73]

John (spoons) has a spot weld drill that is made by blue point that we used when I changed my dr floor pan section. That thing is the bomb....

[PolarBear]

John (spoons) has a spot weld drill that is made by blue point that we used when I changed my dr floor pan section. That thing is the bomb....

Details or link?

[rscamaro73]

Dunno...I'll see him Thurs or Fri to pick up parts. I'll ask him and get a part # or whatever off him....

[HardcoreZ28]

Bringing this one back from the dead. I've been doing a lot of spot weld cutting this past week and believe it or not the cutter I got is from Harbor Freight.

Their bits are are double sided and I'm still using the first side after probably 60 or more cuts. I've been using a center punch to mark the center of the weld, then a 1/8 bit to start a pilot divot. I don't want to drill all the way through as then I'd have to plug weld it up after. And now I think the key....dipping the cutter in some heavy weight oil every 3 or 4 welds to keep it from burning up. For $5 or whatever it cost it's gone way further than I thought it ever would and it's going to keep me from having to plug weld everything back up now.

[HardcoreZ28]

Two other notes that just crossed my mind.

Be careful of your drill speed....keeping your speed low will keep the heat down and keep you from killing the bit. Even at a slow speed each weld seems to take less than 10 seconds to cut.

And to keep from cutting through both panels watch for a small puff of rusty smoke as you're drilling. This usually indicates that you've passed through the first panel.

[WildBillyT]

Those are excellent tips! Dipping in oil is a must.

Never would have expected that kind of life out of a Harbor Freight cutter, but then again it may be the same one sold elsewhere for more money.

[KevinW]

Nice timing Bill! I was looking at the Blair cutters on Amazon, but now I am going to run down the street to HF! Just have to find my cutting oil :)

[WildBillyT]

Nice timing Bill! I was looking at the Blair cutters on Amazon, but now I am going to run down the street to HF! Just have to find my cutting oil :)

I have never used a Blair cutter but maybe Paul (Hardcore) has. I believe he just got done removing a few first gen quarter panels with the HF stuff.

[BonzoHansen]

Nice timing Bill! I was looking at the Blair cutters on Amazon, but now I am going to run down the street to HF! Just have to find my cutting oil :)

check you car mags, they all have 20% HF coupons

[KevinW]

check you car mags, they all have 20% HF coupons

scott, no car mag subscription at the moment :(

[HardcoreZ28]

You can find the HF coupons online if you search and print them out. And yes I've cut probably 120 welds so far with the first side of this cutter and it MAY just be starting to get a little dull but still very usable.

As for oil....I've just been dipping the end of it into some 60W motorcycle oil I had open in the shop already haha.

Now if only I could get paid by the spot weld I'd be rich!

[donnj]

All great info here so far, heres hoping I can add to this...

Today I was replacing a door skin on a project and started to remove the spot welds along with separating the actual skin from the door frame and as I was looking at a primitive yet effect tool / tools I made and thought I would share. The best part about this is it will probally cost you nothing to make these tools = FREE!!!!

First and foremost saftey!!! G&G glasses and gloves

As for the spotweld remover I have a assortment of drills that I have ground down to as close to zero degree as possible, We all have old drill bits laying around, right?

As for the panel removal tool I took a old pair of Vise-Grips, you guys know the ones that when you goto use them the teeth are almost non-existent and almost always never work the way they were designed to, you want to throw them away but you cant just because....:) well I did some modifications to mine and they are priceless to me.


After cleaning the metal, finding the spot welds, countersinking the centers, you then drill just the top portion of the spot weld with a 1/8 SHARP bit not drilling all the way through the panel. Next take the drill bit at almost zero degrees and begin to slowly start to remove the weld itself. I have made a assortment of bits over the years, the size of the weld dictates which bit I will use which is why I like this approach rather than a spotweld removal tool. NOTHING against the tool itself just my own lame opinion, the second photo shows a standard bit and the bit on the right shows one I ground as close to zero degrees as possible. IF YOU HAVE NEVER SHARPENED A DRILL BIT BEFORE YOU SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT THIS. AS ALWAYS BE CAREFUL

As you begin to drill you will be removing the panel closest to you and not distrubing the frame itself, in this case the the exterior panel of the door will not be drilled through at all. After I drilled all the welds it was time to separate the skin from the frame itself. Its best to take some metal and practice drilling first. After all what were trying to accomplish here is separating the two panels with the least amount of destruction. Anyone can take a angle grinder and goto town with nothing but a big mess to show for it. :)

I always start at the bottom of the door and work up. First starting with a screwdriver to separate beacuse there is room for a screwdriver, when you begin to go up the door space sometimes becomes a issue and with the VG you can separate the two with zero damage to skin or frame. Slowly take the edge of the VG and start to separate. Its always great to see the dirt and rust begin to fall at you feet as the once one piece start to become two.

With the VG you can control the amount of panel separation. The next photo shows the entire panel separate. On the right side you can see how much you can peel back, on the left how with almost no bending, warping or destruction to either the skin or frame you can separate the two. Its almost like a can opener, you dont want to bend the metal as much as I did on the right. I only did it to show showed how much or how little you can bend with the VG. Slowly take small bites with very little pressure applied and separate the panels, almost NO pressure will be needed.

[donnj]

As far as making the VG. I simply took a piece of flat stock and welded it 90 degrees to the tip, I ground the leading edge to about a 1/16 which makes it very easy to slide between the panels. On the other side of the VG I made a small grove very close to the end creating a fixed point so the door edge can rotate and stay without sliding into the VG. I made a smaller one and a larger one out of VG also and used a tip of a chisel for those. It looks as if I had welded a razor blade onto the VG, which will separate almost any door panel with ZERO destruction.