September 21, 20169 yr On 6/28/2016 at 5:06 PM, jmccustomknives said: Probably, but it would be slow going. Better to use a metabo style slicer wheel on a grinder. If you can get a real Metabo (they aren't cheap) it's well worth the investment. Otherwise a good grinder and slicer wheel will be a lot faster. Wear your safety gear. All, I am looking at some chop saws on Amazon and I wanted to see what people thought about the best saw to get. As a hobbyist I will never "use up" one of these saws but some I have found are better than others. One is a Rage cold cut saw and I worry that I will mess up a $85+ blade on hard or thick steel. Any how, please let me know if going on band name alone because model number will be too much information let me know you thoughts. Thanks in advance. Hitachi $159 DeWalt $165 Makita $168 Bosch $185 Evolution RAGE2 $188 Milwaukee $212 Metabo $219
September 21, 20169 yr I picked up a Rigid on CL for 100, sold the diamond masonry blade on it for 40 and put it to use. There are 3 or 4 constantly listed on the local CL, at real good prices. Stop overthinking things and just grab something. (That's just me, though- YMMV) Steve
September 21, 20169 yr Esseman, My advice- try to inspect the clamp mechanism. the heavier duty the clamp and the table the steel sits on (really thin sheet metal here sucks) the happier you will be. Also does the angle adjustment have a quick knob or does it require a special tool? Are the angle numbers readable? Mine build up with gunk and i can barely turn the fence when i want to change angles nor read the angles. Those types of things are what irritate me about my abrasive chop saw. Cold saw will dull faster cutting springs and if it were my blade i would use an portable bandsaw to cut springs or forklift forks. With an abrasive chopsaw The heat buildup towards the last 1/3 of the cut tends to be a bear and cutting always seems to slow down for me. You will be amazed by how much of a 14" blade you wear away cutting a forklift tine.. Make sure to buy the thinnest abrasive blades you can find. You likely won't find those anywhere but online. I bought some pferd ones and did a review of them on amazon. I don't wanna repeat myself so just look up pferd 14" cutoff discs with reviews and you'll find it.
September 21, 20169 yr Author Ben, Thanks for the information. I need to go looking in the store so I can put hands on tool.
May 23, 20179 yr On 9/21/2016 at 6:56 PM, bengriswold said: Cold saw will dull faster cutting springs and if it were my blade i would use an portable bandsaw to cut springs or forklift forks. With an abrasive chopsaw The heat buildup towards the last 1/3 of the cut tends to be a bear and cutting always seems to slow down for me. You will be amazed by how much of a 14" blade you wear away cutting a forklift tine.. Make sure to buy the thinnest abrasive blades you can find. Bengriswold made some really good points. For the most part I use a tooth bladed Makita saw, which is not a true cold cut saw nor is the Rage. I couldn't go back to an abrasive chop saw. It cuts quicker, cleaner and cooler than an abrasive and if you take care of your blades they take care of you. I do cut plenty of sucker rod with mine but for coil spring, which is a pain to cut with any chop saw, I use the HB portable bandsaw. Although I've cut 3" round bar with my saw I usually try to do most of my heavy cutting with the torch, i.e. Forklift tines. Also, if you ask around, there might be someone to sharpen that blade for you. I found a guy through the shop I buy my blades from and he charges $15 a resharpening.
March 17, 20188 yr On 5/22/2017 at 7:05 PM, Hammerfall said: I have the Dewalt and really like it. I bought a 10” dewalt cutting disc I tried to use it in my craftsman chop saw. It’s secured like it should be. It’s wobbly. This makes me nervous. I have 7 feet worth of 3/4” -1” black pipe to practice welding on.
March 17, 20188 yr 9 minutes ago, SHVTZHOT said: It’s wobbly. This makes me nervous. STOP right now! something isnt right, and it could end bad. Figure out the problem before you continue. Is the saw rated for that size disc? could it be a bad disc? ( it happens) Other issues? diagnose the issue before continuing with it.
March 17, 20188 yr I did stop. I started to cut into the pipe about a 16th of an inch before I really decided that I did not like this. I have a 7 inch disc for my craftsman circular saw that is not wobbly. I turned the cutting disc by hand and it appears to be slightly warped. Not good!I will for sure be returning that thing. I guess I’ll just have to stick to the hacksaw method
March 17, 20188 yr Ok, good. Be safe, when cutting discs break apart at high rpm it is a nightmare. Depending of what your saw is supposed to have (use what it is rated for) try a different disc. you probably got a bad one.
March 17, 20188 yr 1 hour ago, SHVTZHOT said: I bought a 10” dewalt cutting disc I tried to use it in my craftsman chop saw. It’s secured like it should be. It’s wobbly. This makes me nervous. I have 7 feet worth of 3/4” -1” black pipe to practice welding on. A few things can happen. It is not sitting flat, the center is a different size, it's supposed to be a flat disk yet you bought a recessed one or vice versa, and it can be a dud one. Das is right. never work with a cutting disk that is not running true and smooth. I only use 1mm cutting disk in the 5" grinder and 2mm in the 9" grinder. Would never consider an abrasive chop saw because of the noise, the mess and the flimsy vice. if a cold saw is outside the budget, the Makita cold saw is a good compromise. I have a cold saw but I think the ideal saw is a medium size band saw.
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