I bought my first abrasive saw a Ridgid chop saw. I did some practice cuts and noticed the the sparks and mess was alot more than I expected. I also noticed the the cut was not straight. Slightly off. My question is? What do you guys suggest? Home depot took back the saw with no questions asked. They refunded all my money and asked if I wanted to buy another one. I have decided to wait until I research this first. How true are these saw and they really seem to eat up the blades on hard metal. I don't want the metal blade because they are too expensive to replace. I have a torch and sawzall. What do you suggest?
abrasive metal cutting blade
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Danny1553
New member
X2 on the bandsaw. Got my first one a couple months ago; a 4 X 6 from Harbor Freight. Can't believe I've never had one yet, cannot live without it now. The ones from Grizzly, or Sears may be slightly better quality, I replaced the motor on my HF after 2 months with a Grizzly motor, but I'm still happy with it. If you use the saw for a lot of vertical cutting, the small saws have a limited "throat" distance, which limits cut-offs to about 3" on the left side.
Dan
Dan
two_bit_score
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What you are cutting and what you will be ding with it are important factors. Production type work? Rough farm welding for fence and repairs? What degree of precision do you require?
There is some degree of wobble on those chop saws. The band saw gets much better cuts and less 'mess'.
You already know what a torch does.
Leaves a plasma cutter.
Just Bill
Silver Member
I have a 14" milwaukee that does a good job.
It does cut square and gives a lot better edge than any torch that
I have used.
I do make sure the clamp is square to the blade and let the blade cut without a lot of forcing.
It does make a mess but so does a torch and grinder.
It does cut square and gives a lot better edge than any torch that
I have used.
I do make sure the clamp is square to the blade and let the blade cut without a lot of forcing.
It does make a mess but so does a torch and grinder.
moored4
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Had you squared you fence? When you say slightly off do you mean front to back or top to bottom? The back fence should be adjusted to be square to the blade for a 90deg. cut. If your metal stock is long then it should be supported at the heavy end so that it is at 90 deg. to the blade.
moored4
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Weather you cut metal with A/O, abrasive chop saw, metal chop saw, Plasma or band saw there is going to be waste. In the order above A/O will give the most, maybe, and the band saw the least wast/by product cutting. Metal work is not the cleanest thing that one does!
Western
Super Member
On my chop saw , I use the thicker 1/8th blades. They don't flex as much with downward pressure. You would be surprised how much better they cut over the thinner blades.
GE222
Gold Member
For occasional cutting, a chop saw is OK. For any type of repetitive cutting with any kind of accuracy, use a metal cutting band saw that has been correctly adjusted.
I have seen people get descent straight cuts with a chop saw. The type of blade, how the material is secured, feed pressure, all contribute to the quality of the cut.
I personally don't like chop saws due to the sparks, mess and mostly the noise. I have used them with pretty good results, but I really prefer my band saw.
I have seen people get descent straight cuts with a chop saw. The type of blade, how the material is secured, feed pressure, all contribute to the quality of the cut.
I personally don't like chop saws due to the sparks, mess and mostly the noise. I have used them with pretty good results, but I really prefer my band saw.
bigdad
Platinum Member
Good idea! Just adjust for the loss in the width of the disk. Next ones will be thick.
Thanks