Chop saw blades

[Mark @ Everlast]

I like the abrasive chop saw for its speed and accuracy particularly with some homemade fixtures to assist the clamp in holding various shape material in position.
I have a band saw too and thought it would be the cats meow particularly on thinner materials. It is good, but controlling the blade drift to get a straight cut, on mine is not easy. Blades aren't too expensive but breaking one and having to change it and adjust tension on a new one is not getting any work done.

Every tool has it's place and preferences.

The abrasive chop saws are known for anything but it's accuracy...that's why most people reserve them for certain type jobs where speed is more important than accuracy. The blades have a tendency to 'walk', especially the faster cutting, thinner blades. Angles can be imprecise, especially on round tubing.

If you have blade drift on a band saw, something is wrong. Either it is dull or inferior blade or wrong pitch. The reason a blade "drifts" on you is that it is dull or you don't have the tension tight enough. The band saw shines on thicker materials imho. I use the chop saw (when I use it) for thin materials. Changing a blade out on a chop saw is as time consuming to me that it is with my band saw which takes about a minute. Both can be aggravating, but I keep a blade hanging on the wall right beside my saw.

If your blade is drifting try a lenox diemaster II. 12-14 pitch. It'll last 3-5 times longer than cheap ones, and stay sharp longer at around 30+ dollars. With that thread pitch though, don't attempt really thin gauge tubing. Get a 16-18 pitch.

 

[jwmorris]

I only use abrasive saws for hardened material these days. Band saws or cold saws cut anything that is not cut with with laser, plasma, Oxy/act or water. The portable cold saws that I have used go through blades too fast because of flex, they are just slower turning versions of the chop saw. A cold saw that is worth having will weigh more than you can pick up by hand.

I have cut well over 10,000 cuts with a single bandsaw blade, when they are setup right, using the right blade for the job and good coolant they last for a very long time. Not to mention no dust from abrasive or material, main reason I dislike abrasive cutting.

 

[OutbackL130]

I used the northern tool dry cut saw for production cutting in my fabrication shop for 2 years. I built a 13' production table around it with an outfeed gauge. That saw is undoubtedly the loudest and fastest way to cut metal. The blades for it from northern tool cost about $90 but were lasting me 3 months with daily use. I was previously using a dewalt chop saw which felt slow, flimsy and archaic in comparison to dry cut.

The carbide dry cut is much more accurate than a chop saw. The blade doesnt flex and you can easily slice 1/16" off the end of tubing where a chop saw blade would flex to the side and not make the cut. The dry saw throws virtually no dust although the hot chips hurt when they hit you so where long sleeves and a face shield. The metal is cold to the touch after cutting, there is no cutting fluid mess that you get with a bandsaw or a cold saw and there is very little burr to clean up. I had almost forgotten about how much grinding it takes to clean a piece cut on a chop saw. Another huge benefit is the blade always stays the same size and does not shrink as it wears down like with a chop saw. Dry cut is probably twice as fast as a chop saw and 7 times faster than a good bandsaw.

So why did I stop using and search for an alternative to my ultra fast carbide dry cutting station? The noise is unbearable. 130 db's at the operator measured with my sound level meter. That noise level even with double hearing protection there is risk of hearing loss.


I recently tried switching to a cold saw the kind that the blade spins at about 50 RPM and is flooded with coolant. They are high $$ machines and make a decently fast, quiet and very accurate cut but I could not stand the coolant mess.

I got rid of the cold saw and found a used 1983 ellis 1500 bandsaw which I love and will never go back to any other way of cutting. The ellis bandsaw is dry which means no coolant mess, it is very quiet and accurate. As far as blade life I'm not sure if they will last as long as the dry cut saw blades yet. The bandsaw is slow and I often find myself waiting around on a part that I need right away to be cut. Still I would highly recommend an ellis bandsaw over any other method of cutting within a reasonable price range.

 

[jwmorris]

For pure speed it is hard to beat a mechanical iron worker but that only works for certain shapes. Band saws start looking a lot better once they are large enough to gang feed parts and have auto feed.

Like the short video of this one.


Had a girl cut and debur 3500 pieces of unistrut one day with it. Cutting 20 pieces per pass. All she did was load the machine and hit start and go back to deburing.

 

[EMB5530]

What kind of chop saw do you have? I need one. I have been looking at the Rigid https://www.ridgid.com/us/en/14-inch-abrasive-cut-off-machine

I bought a R4141 RIDGID 14" ABRASIVE CUT OFF MACHINE because it was built stout and you could clamp irregular material to the base. But the stator burnt up after less than 50 cuts but I had the LSA(Lifetime Service Agreement) so it was fixed for free(less the 12 pack I purchased for the gentleman since he does not make very good money through ridgid on service work. {My choice,not his request}) So, if you go with ridgid make sure you jump through the hoops and register the tool and get the LSA. You never know when you will buy the Friday at 4:45 built machine!

 

[Fan of the 1911]

We use a metal toothed blade for hydraulic hose at work, it may have carbide teeth. Only once seen a blade changed in the 2 saws we have. Makes a fair to good cut, and it is quick. If you are looking at the cutting saw like the parahana (spelling) we also have one of those and while I have not used it myself. Watched metal being cut with it. It is LOUD but it did cut straight, I will not lie. The whole time it was cutting my butt was clenched tight waiting on the blade to explode. Think it was used on 1/4 or 3/8 plate, I was just helping out. We normally just run up to 1/8 sheet that all of the benders, and brakes we have will work. This plate metal was brought in for something special and I think the saw was bought for that metal. That has been 2-3 years ago and that saw still has low mileage on it.