Job site rebar cutter

I have a crew on site doing concrete and steel. Their method of cutting rebar ( mostly 1/2") is painted cut lines in the dirt and a hot saw. They say they have tried other methods and this about the fastest, cheapest, and most reliable. What is out there that is better? This is for rough sketches, no engineered drawings with designs and lengths.

When I was a wee lad of 16 and pouring concrete, we had a old Edwards shear that lived on the floor of the shop. I wasn't man enough to cut 1/2" rebar with it. They used to make manual rebar cutters, but I've never used one. We always used the torch, but all the current concrete guys I work with, use a gas hot saw. This is what the old Edwards we had looked like. It had about a 4' square lever in the pocket to the right side of the picture.

The old manual rebar cutters I've seen looked like this

I have something similar, cutter and bender combo. I've never been able to cut #4 bar with it. Joe H

Milwaukee makes a cordless rebar cutter up to 1 1/4"! Looks to be about $1000 but if you work with rebar everyday would be a fast and effortless tool to have. There may be other brands too. Maybe bigger rental houses would have them?

Our crews use a hot saw for bulk cutting rebar. They'll cut an entire bundle in one go. The also have manual cutters similar to what @crane operator posted they occasionally use for individual cuts.

Hot saw doesn't get a dulled blade....

There is a company in Tacoma who you submit the plans for the construction and everything is done in their factory. It's all cut to length and bent in whatever design you draw up. They even deliver it all to your site.

John C. said: There is a company in Tacoma who you submit the plans for the construction and everything is done in their factory. It's all cut to length and bent in whatever design you draw up. They even deliver it all to your site. Click to expand... Yes, I used to detail foundations for heavy machinery, and a shop in Buffalo would do just as you said, in very short time, showed up within a few days at most. I had forgotten all about these places, there was one in Cleveland as well. Thanks for bringing it up.

The Milwaukee cutter is great, but still use the 14" hot saw for bulk bundle cuts, 9" battery Milwaukee saw is good for smaller jobs too, and cutting mesh. I still keep an abrasive 14" chop saw around for doing cages and repetitive stuff you can do off a saw station or welding table too.

There is a bunch of reasonable options on Amazon. 7/8 Inch Electric Hydraulic Rebar Cutter 3.5-4.5s Cutting Speed | 110V Electric Rebar Cutter Portable Cutting up to 7/8 Inch 4-22mm Rebar with Easy to Carry Stainless Box for Railway, Bridge - Amazon.com 7/8 Inch Electric Hydraulic Rebar Cutter 3.5-4.5s Cutting Speed | 110V Electric Rebar Cutter Portable Cutting up to 7/8 Inch 4-22mm Rebar with Easy to Carry Stainless Box for Railway, Bridge - Amazon.com a.co I know employees tear things up but it amazes me how companies won't spend money to speed up production

John C. said: There is a company in Tacoma who you submit the plans for the construction and everything is done in their factory. It's all cut to length and bent in whatever design you draw up. They even deliver it all to your site. Click to expand... I had all the cuts and bends made for my house at Addison Construction Supply. They had a price of XX per pound for straight full sticks, and it was 1.2XX for anything they made. This included the hoops for building my lintel beams, lots of z-bends, you name it they formed it. This load is the straight cuts for the footings. He had the plans and just tied it quickly.

smifwal said: There is a bunch of reasonable options on Amazon. 7/8 Inch Electric Hydraulic Rebar Cutter 3.5-4.5s Cutting Speed | 110V Electric Rebar Cutter Portable Cutting up to 7/8 Inch 4-22mm Rebar with Easy to Carry Stainless Box for Railway, Bridge - Amazon.com 7/8 Inch Electric Hydraulic Rebar Cutter 3.5-4.5s Cutting Speed | 110V Electric Rebar Cutter Portable Cutting up to 7/8 Inch 4-22mm Rebar with Easy to Carry Stainless Box for Railway, Bridge - Amazon.com a.co I know employees tear things up but it amazes me how companies won't spend money to speed up production Click to expand... That would be a cheaper option but being corded could be a real PIA with the cord getting caught or tangled in the rebar or coming unplugged. I think some rebar would need to be cut in place rather than beforehand. There may not be power on site and running a generator could be annoying. The Milwaukee is ideal but pretty pricey if just need for the odd job.

John C. said: There is a company in Tacoma who you submit the plans for the construction and everything is done in their factory. It's all cut to length and bent in whatever design you draw up. They even deliver it all to your site. Click to expand... Yeah we have a several rebar fab shops here as well. Prefab is the way to go either with pre-cast or metal.

Welder Dave said: That would be a cheaper option but being corded could be a real PIA with the cord getting caught or tangled in the rebar or coming unplugged. I think some rebar would need to be cut in place rather than beforehand. There may not be power on site and running a generator could be annoying. The Milwaukee is ideal but pretty pricey if just need for the odd job. Click to expand... I don't know any concrete guys that don't have a generator. (Not to say every concrete has one) Most are charging batteries off of them. On commercial jobs unless the prime is providing a bigger generator or there is temp power, most trades are running a generator or inverters.

smifwal said: I don't know any concrete guys that don't have a generator. (Not to say every concrete has one) Most are charging batteries off of them. On commercial jobs unless the prime is providing a bigger generator or there is temp power, most trades are running a generator or inverters. Click to expand... Same here and for the same reason we have generators in our quad com boxes. We are first one in with the concrete guys behind so temp. power is usually not there yet.

Corded rebar cutters on a large project with a lots of rebar could still be quite annoying compared to cordless or manual cutters. Cordless would be much more convenient but could be cost prohibitive if only needed for a small project or two.

Welder Dave said: Corded rebar cutters on a large project with a lots of rebar could still be quite annoying compared to cordless or manual cutters. Cordless would be much more convenient but could be cost prohibitive if only needed for a small project or two. Click to expand... Corded anything, on any size job is a pain, you almost always need a extension cord, like 6' but you only have 50 and 100' that is why they make cordless tools ROFLMAO

smifwal said: Corded anything, on any size job is a pain, you almost always need a extension cord, like 6' but you only have 50 and 100' that is why they make cordless tools ROFLMAO Click to expand... Agree. OSHA and the safety man have pretty much eliminated corded hand tools where possible.