abrasive cut off saw

[mechanic]

I have the ridgid abrasive cut off saw, because of the lifetime warranty. The blade that comes with it seems to take a long time to cut through the metal. I went and bought the 14 inch diablo abrasive blade. The man at the store said all the saws come with a general purpose cutting blade so I bought the other blade. Do you think this will make a difference. Have you experienced this?

 

[JimRB]

What are you cutting?

 

[mechanic]

steel like square tubing pipe you name it.

 

[crackerjack222]

Again, what are you cutting? And how are you cutting it?
How you put a piece in the saw has a great effect on how fast it will be cut. For instance, cutting pipe I will cut about 3/4th of the way thru then rotate the pipe about 1/3 and continue the cut. When cutting flat stock, cut down the long dimension, dont lay it flat on the saw table to cut.
YMMV, but this is how I have found to be the fastest way to cut. Hopefully, others will have better suggestions.

 

[Jeepnford]

They don't cut through flat steel easily unless it's standing up. They work much better on vertical cuts.

 

[JimRB]

I have used an high speed abrasive cut off saw. No joy as it is noisy and not that fast. My Taiwan bandsaw is a much more pleasant and quieter tool to use. The slow speed cutoff saw that I see at welding and fabrication shops that has a cooling fluid or the bandsaws with cooling fluid are even better.

Square tubing could be 6x6x.375 or .75x.75x.125. The latter should cut fairly fast but the former will take a while, a long while. Heck even rebar is not fun to cut with an abrasive cut off saw. You are rubbing a kerf .125 or wider with an abrasive wheel. With other tools you may be cutting a .125 using tools with teeth, not rubbing.

 

[JB4310]

And thinner blades cut fast than thicker, just more of a chance of them exploding.

I have been buying all sizes of cutting wheels at HF lately, they seem to out perform even the name brand stuff and are much cheaper.

JB

 

[mechanic]

Thanks. I will try this and see how it works. I've been laying everything on it's flat side where I measure at.

 

[DJ54]

I've had good wear with the DeWalt blades. Abrasive seems consistant throughout the blade, where as the cheapies seem to have soft spots. Hardly any cutting action, but lots of wheel dust, until you get back into more cutting abrasive.

I've bought the last 2 boxes of 10 or 12 on ebay, for about 1/3 the price of in store. I usually stock up, when I'm down to 3 or 4... Wait, and shop...

 

[HCJtractor]

I have had poor luck with abrasive chop saws. They, in my opinion, just don't work well for thicker steel. I sold mine and bought a Steelmax cold or dry cut saw. It is a beast and will cut steel like wood. I cut some 1/2" steel plate recently for a harrow I was restoring. I had to make about 30 inches of cut. It cuts it about as fast as a skill saw goes through 3/4" plywood. Clean cuts, no burrs, no heat, no grinding debris, and no smell, no sparks. Check it out on Steelmax website. They are a little more expensive than an abrasive saw, but will out perform it by far. I did not buy the chop saw but instead the hand held model, like a skill saw on steroids. It weighs about 20 pounds, but will allow me to cut angle, channel, bar stock and plate. They show a guy online cutting a man hole cover in half. I can cut 10 pieces of 4" angle iron in the time a chop saw will struggle through one piece.