Chop Saw

JRP · Oct 2, 2006

The Dewalt saw came back today. I have not tried it yet but the slip says they put in a new armature and a bearing. I was sure it would come back with "No problem found".

I'll post the results of the test when I get a chance.

Why would a brand new saw need to be repaired? Do they have electricity in China yet?

RonMar · Oct 3, 2006

Well if it had a bad winding in the armature, that would explain the lack of HP under load.

bjr · Oct 4, 2006

Blades; Blades Blades; Keep the blades dry and use good quality blades. I used to cut heavy railroad rail and the engine one the gas powered cutters would bog down. Thought bad engines, well we went with good quality new blades and end of problem. Blades that have been wet look okay, but won't cut. Been there. bjr

Soundguy · Oct 4, 2006

I picked up one of those last month and have been putting it to use cutting a bunch of 1/4 and 3/16 and 1/8 plate, varrying from 2" to 4" wide, as well as some 1/4 and 3/6 angle iron, 1/5" and 2".. and some 1/2" bar stock. I'm on my 2nd blade, first one I damaged after only a few cuts by banging a piece of metal stock into it while putting it into the clamp, or removing it from the clamp, and making a decent chip into the blade. At 4$ a piece for the blades.. I ditched it for safety and put another on outta the box and chalked it up to a learning experience.

So far, a great saw for 50$ plus 20$ for a pack of 5 blades..

Soundguy

Willl said:
I picked up one of these about 2 years ago from HF.
On my forth blade, so it aint been just sitting in the corner.
Works great for us backyard fabricators.

Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

California · Oct 4, 2006

Spark_man said:
On the DeWalt, the angle adjustment fence uses a cam-clamp thingy to hold it in position - it is a POS and it broke within the first 15 minutes.

I got the Harbor Freight chop saw adapter that holds their 4.5 inch angle grinder. The grinder works great but that chop saw device is useless junk. The cam clamp runs out of range before the thin sheet metal table quits flexing, so nothing is held securely. After I devised an aftermarket hold-down clamp I could finally use it, but of course securing material was slow. If anybody buys one I suggest build a new worktable to attach its fittings to.

have_blue · Oct 5, 2006

I'm watching HF for a twin counter-rotating blade cutoff saw that works like this one:

Linky--HF Cutoff Saw

With 8" or bigger blades capable of cutting heavier stock, it might be the next best thing to a cold saw.

JRP · Oct 8, 2006

JRP said:
The Dewalt saw came back today. I have not tried it yet but the slip says they put in a new armature and a bearing. I was sure it would come back with "No problem found".

I'll post the results of the test when I get a chance.

Why would a brand new saw need to be repaired? Do they have electricity in China yet?

I tried the Dewalt yesterday. It works better now. The armature must have been the problem.

I think the competition from Chinese tools has forced almost all manufacturers move manufacturing to China.

kossetx · Oct 8, 2006

JRP, Glad your saw works better now. I have a question though. How did you find that jeppson makes milwuakee saws? I ask because I have both of those saws and they are nothing alike, in any way. Not that they didn't, but I thought I'd see some similarity in the two. Is jepson still in bussiness? I wouldn't mind finding some spare brushes for mine. the ones in there have been working for way to long. thanks

gizmo · Oct 8, 2006

The bulk of my shop is dedicated to woodworking, but when I started doing more metal work I picked up a Milwaukee Portaband and stand. It cost a few bucks, but it works nearly as well as a stationary horizontal saw. I can clamp it to my welding table and when I'm done it stores without taking up a lot of room. The saw is easily removed for freehand work.

Soundguy · Oct 9, 2006

kossetx said:
JRP, Glad your saw works better now. I have a question though. How did you find that jeppson makes milwuakee saws? I ask because I have both of those saws and they are nothing alike, in any way. Not that they didn't, but I thought I'd see some similarity in the two. Is jepson still in bussiness? I wouldn't mind finding some spare brushes for mine. the ones in there have been working for way to long. thanks

I'm not overly surprised that a manufacture could OEM a few different brands of saws.. and have them be 100% different.

When i was in college, I worked at for a quite large manufacturing company.. the division I worked for produced water meters. We made meters that are used in about 90% of the municipalities in the USA. For florida, we OEm 2 brands, and many more from other states. Each of our assemblies looked different depending on who we were oeming for. In many cases, even the basic fasteners used were different, depending on the specs of who we were OEM'ing for. Everything from super cheap to super expensice.. .. plastic, cast iron, bronze, graphite components.. etc.... you name it.. we built it..

Soundguy