A family member just dropped a table saw off at my place that they found at a garage sale. I was thinking of putting a cutting wheel in it and using it to cut metal in my shop since I almost never work with wood big enough to justify a table saw. Would it be safe or am I asking to get hurt?

What is the speed of the saw? If it is faster than a chop saw you may end up eating fragments... not a good thing,check the max speed for the blade. also the motor may not be protected from the grit and fillings from the wheel and metal. The right tool for the right job comes to mind.

Watch out for those sparks setting the saw dust on fire! If you do this be sure to clean the saw of all wood scraps and sawdust first. Slow on the feed, a table saw generally has more torque than a cut off saw and if the blade jambs it could get ugly, so slow on the feed and let the blade work at it's own speed. Make sure you wear all safety stuff! Your biggest danger is starting a fire, so clean it good first.

If you have a copy of Alexander G. Weygers "the Making of Tools" he does just that. I made one up years ago it worked real good! I kept the blade low so if it let loose most of it wold stay in the saw

I used a black & decker skil saw to cut an ASO out of a 20" chunk of RR rail. I also have used it countles times for cutting up large-to-me (1 3/4 inch or larger) round axles and for cutting the duckbill of my russian HF anvil to put more of a point on it.

Sparks are interesting and the guard gets real warm.

Hand held circular saws such as skil saws have a lower speed and torque than a typical table saw, you can buy blades designed to be used in those saws. Just do not exceed the design speed of the cut off wheel.

thanks Habu. point taken - I wasn't thinking about the blade speed issue on the hand saw

Thanks for all the info!

Hope you clean the sawdust out of every crevice especially the inside of the motor, lots of smoke and Big Red Trucks with lots of flashing lights does not improve your image in the neighborhood.

Years ago they advertised a very thin flexible almost unbreakable blade on TV for cutting metal on a tablesaw. I think it had carbide grit for long life.

I have often thought of using my radial arm saw to cut steel but have always been a little cautious of doing it.

As Habu68 says, the motors of woodworking tools are not protected from the cutoff wheel dust & metal dust. I had to replace my Skil saw because of this. JMHO

As a quick alternative to the Weygers saw, you can build a cheap table saw with a steel plate for a table and a hand-held circular saw (preferably, one that has already seen a useful life cutting wood). Start by taking the steel plate, cut a slot for the blade to fit through. Attach the saw to the bottom (blade up)... countersink holes from the top and use screws that will go flush with the table.

we are talking about an abrasive metal blade, right? I'd be very cautious using anything else (I want to keep all of my fingers).

You can fix a fence with c-clamps. Support it as you see fit... weld legs or use saw horses.

It will eventually kill the saw, but I had cut a bunch of steel with mine before it laid down. It was a well used Craftsman when I started cutting steel with it (may it rest in peace). This is about the time I got my vintage Milwaukee worm drive saw. This one's for wood only.

Always wear gloves & face/eye protection.

be careful I made a metal cutting out of a table saw
you have to clamp down the piece your cutting and cut slow pull a 3/4 horse down quite a bit.also you want to make sure the motor is not a open motor go inside the motor put duck tape over mine.

Hi there,
Here's a link to a description of one, converted by a guy on the Australian Woodwork Forum, which I'm on. This guy Bob has raved about its usefulness many times.
Old TS lives again - part II - Woodwork Forums
Cheers,
Makoz