Suggestions on a Chop Saw

[Iplayfarmer]

...parts are easy to get

That's a huge selling point right there.

What parts have you needed?

 

[zzvyb6]

I also recommend the Milwaukee saw. Be sure to use name brand wheels with ROUND centered blades.

As an aside, my Makita concrete saw equipped with an abrasive wheel makes for quick work when you need to go far afield. Be sure to hold on with both hands !

 

[JohnDeere4300]

These work pretty well



This is what came on the saw I bought - very, very slow - I was afraid I'd overheat the blade or saw motor, as I had to push so hard to make it cut. Plus someone here had warned earlier about these exploding in use.

The first one that I post seems pretty good.... I have cut some large tubing several times and i can't even tell that it has worn down any.

I missed that post about that type.

But thanks for mentioning it.

I had a cheap 4 1/2-inch. cut off wheel on a grinder break in so many pieces that i had to take a broom & sweep it up... and a piece cut my forearm.

 

[orezok]

I'm building a high school and a middle school right now (combined value of $150M) and of the 20 to 30 chop saws being used on the job, 85 to 90% are DeWalt. I don't know if they are good or they are cheap, but they are plentiful.

These are large contractors and the metal stud/drywall contract is over $10M. This is not an endorsement, just an observation.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I also recommend the Milwaukee saw. Be sure to use name brand wheels with ROUND centered blades.

As an aside, my Makita concrete saw equipped with an abrasive wheel makes for quick work when you need to go far afield. Be sure to hold on with both hands !

Thanks for the recommendation. My local hardware store carries forney brand metal working products. I don't know if that counts as name brand or not, but I already bought two cutting wheels to use on the broken saw before I knew it was broken.

I've used a lot of their skinny wheels in my angle grinder, and I have no complaints. Come to think of it, though, I think that's the only brand I've ever used. I have nothing to compare it too. I've use the Dewalt grinding wheels, but not the skinny wheels.

 

[jayste]

Farmer, Wow! That saw shelled some "inerds". I'm glad to hear you found a saw to your liking. This is a little off centered but I've posted a link below where Wroughtn Harv has a thread going and he mentions a metal cutting blade that really does the job. He's using it in his worm drive circular saw and he's cutting tubing as well as 1/2" plate steel! He says it's a little pricey but worth the money.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/137611-start-something-big-5.html

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Farmer, Wow! That saw shelled some "inerds". I'm glad to hear you found a saw to your liking. This is a little off centered but I've posted a link below where Wroughtn Harv has a thread going and he mentions a metal cutting blade that really does the job. He's using it in his worm drive circular saw and he's cutting tubing as well as 1/2" plate steel! He says it's a little pricey but worth the money.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/137611-start-something-big-5.html

That blade sounds like what I've heard called a "cold cut" blade. I almost traded a guy for a cold cut saw 4 or 5 months ago, but in the end he backed out of the deal. I've noticed that the cold cut saws are priced at least double what an abrasive cut-off saw is priced at. I wonder what makes them different.

I think that what tore the guts out of the old Dewalt saw was someone put a cold cutting blade in the old Dewalt or some stunt like that.

 

[shinnlinger]

HI,

I have a 14" Dewalt "dry cut" saw which may be the same technology as the cold saw. It has a carbide tipped blade and cuts steel very fast and clean , but I think the ergonomics of the saw are poor. Metabo makes one I like better.

On the cheap side, I also have an old radial arm saw with an abrasive blade on it. This cuts also but I use it as a grinder mostly.

 

[sizzami]

be carefull w/cold saw blades are outrageously exspensive

 

[oughtsix]

I have been using my HarborFreight cutoff saw for about 3 years now and it does an OK job. What I don't like about it is it does not cut accurate angles. When I need an accurate angle I use my 7 1/2hp 16" RedStar radial arm saw with a 14" abrasive blade. It will make a much more accurate miter. I would use the RAS all the time but the abrasive blade makes such a mess and I usually use it for woodworking. My shop is split down the middle with a wall... metal dust on one side wood dust on the other.

When it comes to abrasive blades I have found the the name brand abrasive blades (Dewalt) seem to cut twice as fast, last twice as long but cost 4 times as much as the HarborFreight blades. (I have some of both)

Nobody has mentioned a horizontal bandsaw yet. I was going to pick one of these up but from what I have heard they aren't much better at making an accurate angle than an abrasive blade.

ColdSaws: The cold saws I have looked at and lusted after start at a few thousand dollars. They usually run somewhere around 100rpm with a big motor geared way down. I have often considered trying to build my own with a geared motor off of ebay. But I can't get it to work out with my personal economics.

I have been keeping an eye out for another BIG radial arm saw at a decent price to dedicate to metal cutting as much as I hate the mess.