Dry cut chop saws?

[natenaaron]

I am looking for recommendations for dry cut chop saws.  I am getting away from the abrasive saws for two reasons.  first and foremost is the health issue posed by the abrasive.  I cut with a respirator on but I that dust is real fine and stays in the air for quite a while not to mention it getting stirred up.  The second reason is I am tired of inaccurate cuts.  I come from a wood working back ground and inaccurate cuts are embarrassing.  I borrowed a band saw and while nice I am not getting as accurate a cut as I want and it is just too big.  After lots of reading of reviews and descriptions the Dry cut saw might be he best answer to my situation.  I've never used one and no one I know has one so I can't see how they work.

Anyone here use one and have a recommendation

[SLAG]

During and after grinding use a spray bottle (atomizer). Spritz the air to moisten the air born fine particles of abrasive and metal. The particles  fall out when moistened. Unsprayed, they linger in the air for hours or even days. Such particles will fly up off of surfaces and become air born again. Moistened particles tend to clump and fall out of the air. They are less likely to fly up into the air because they clumped and became heavier and larger. Good air circulation, after spraying, is a plus. I don a respirator when vacuuming the dust off of surfaces. The same applies for wood dust. Some woods are highly allergenic, and some exotic wood dusts are poisonous.

SLAG.

Would a small blower directed at the wood/metal that is cut help? Some Japanese hand saws make very fine cuts.

SLAG.

You might try cutting "wide" and fine filing or planning down to dimension.

SLAG.

[natenaaron]

I have a vac for the saw dust that does well.  I do not do wood working and metal working in the same building and I won't use the vac system for metal.  Too much of a fire hazard.  I don't have an issue with the wood.  I want the accuracy and no abrasive dust.  I will use the misting thing though.

[DSW]

Dry cut metal saws have a few downsides to keep in mind.They do not take well to some materials like hardened stock. It takes only an instant to ruin a fairly expensive blade if the stock you are trying to cut is hardened.  You might think that you don't plan to cut any "hardened" stock, but a lot of cheap "mild" steel that is coming in from overseas has a lot of remelt stock in it and can have a lot of hard spots. You also run into hardened steel fairly regularly if you use found "mystery" steel, or are cutting stuff that has been forged and possibly quenched. They also throw around a lot of very sharp chips.

If you aren't getting the accuracy of cut you want out of a horizontal bandsaw, the saw needs to be adjusted, or you are way too picky. I can make cuts well under  1/64" with my bandsaw if set up right, and my saw isn't all that great. I will grant you on the size issue, but the bandsaw has a lot going for it like being able to gang cut stock, cut stock while I'm doing other tasks in the shop and being a whole lot quieter than almost any of my other cutting tools. The bandsaw is probably my most used saw and I'd use it even more if I could get it out of where I store it easier.

I understand the need of wood workers for accuracy, especially from those who come from a furniture or stain grade trim back ground. However metal work ( other than machining) doesn't require anywhere near that level of precision. I can fill huge gaps with a welder if need be. Many times if I need better precision than I can get with a chopsaw, I'll cut the stock heavy, then grind or sand to the line, pretty much the same way you would with wood.

[Stash]

I use my abrasive saw to keep my small fab/welding from flying off in a strong wind. My 4x6 horiz bandsaw is used almost constantly. It is a cheap no name, but with a good blade and some minor periodic tweaking, I can get cuts that satisify my woodworking aesthetic. I can't justify getting a cold saw esp with some of the caveats mentioned previously.

Steve

[natenaaron]

i'll give the bandsaw more tweaking and see what happens.  I had not thought about the hardened metal situation.  

Maybe I am being too anal about accuracy, but anything is better than the abrasive junk.

[DSW]

There's a lot of info out on the web about adjusting the 4x6 Harbor freight bandsaws, both tutorials and videos. Those tips will work on most bandsaws out there, even if they aren't from HF. The basic 4x6 saws are almost all clones of one another and the same basic ideas also work on other saws.

One thing that occasionally is overlooked is a bad blade. If you have tried to cut something that might have been hardened, it's possible to have wiped the teeth on one side of the blade. If so the blade will tend to want to "walk" towards the side with the good teeth as that side cuts faster than the other does.