what did you use to cut your steel studs?

[dannieboiz]

whats the best way to cut the studs? i'd really like to be able to use my chop saw since there are gonna be tons if cuts thats going to be the same size.

I can get a diamond cut off saw but i think 25gauage is so thinh almost anything can cut it.

 

[Jabooh1]

I had 20ga studes and used a chop saw with diamond blade and tin snips.

 

[Killer95Stang]

I cut everything to length with a 14" chop saw. It made easy work of everything I had to cut. For the small cuts I used some tin snips.

 

[cwescapexlt4x4]

I would suggest the chop as well to ensure square cuts and more uniform as well.

 

[rodog123]

-Where did you buy your steel studs from? Home Depot only seems to have 25 Guage steel?

-Doesn't bbqcoach recommend 18 guage (not sure)

-Is the 25 guage from Home Depot okay for an outdoor application? Where in Houston can I buy a better quality guage steel stud?

 

[Killer95Stang]

I bought 20 ga studs at a local lumber yard and used them for 99% of the build. I needed a couple extra in a pinch and bought some from Home Depot that were 25 ga. They seemed like they would be way too flimsy on their own to support a heavy concrete countertop.

 

[dannieboiz]

i used 25gauge cause thats what my local hd had. I questioned the same thing but after reading forums after forums most confirm that 25 gauge is fine.

And to answer my own question, i picked up a 7 1/4" diablo metal demon blade and used it on my 10" chop saw with a little modification I'm chopping studs like butter as advertised on the package. made 30 cuts in less than 20 minutes cause u can bundle them and chop away. Best 40 dollars spent so far.

 

[Jabooh1]

There are two potential failure mods to the studs 1) compression 2) buckling.
1) With the weight on the top pushing down you could have a compression failure. However think of the force that would be needed to compress a stud. A lot more than even a concrete countertop is.
2)The more likely failure mode is buckling. If a stud was able to move (in or out) it could bend then the weight of the top could crush it. However once you put the 1/4" hardi, screw the top and bottom runners on, and provide corner braces it becomes a pretty rigid body.

The studs provide a skeleton to build on. You need to think of the finished product though. Each piece of hardi, rock, mortor, bag of concrete, etc. provides additional stiffness and rigidity.