MK Morse "cold cut" chop saw

[Iron Beaver]

Just pulled the trigger on one of these and put it to work cutting 45º miters. I love it so far, we'll see how it does past day 1. The base is either cast or die cast; not stamped sheet metal like the cheaper ones. The vice is cast aluminum, not stamped steel! The only piece of plastic is the handle, even the motor housing is metal.

It is made in Taiwan, and looks very similar to the Slugger and Trajan saws. Both those get good reviews. and I've never had an MK morse product I didn't like.

I have a feeling it's going to be a game changer around here.

 

[lis2323]

MK Morse "cold cut" chop saw

Just pulled the trigger on one of these and put it to work cutting 45º miters. I love it so far, we'll see how it does past day 1. The base is either cast or die cast; not stamped sheet metal like the cheaper ones. The vice is cast aluminum, not stamped steel! The only piece of plastic is the handle, even the motor housing is metal.

It is made in Taiwan, and looks very similar to the Slugger and Trajan saws. Both those get good reviews. and I've never had an MK morse product I didn't like.

I have a feeling it's going to be a game changer around here.

“Dry cut” [emoji846]

Cold saws run at much lower RPMs and require flood coolant system.


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[Kscardsfan]

Been eyeballing something like this for my garage. I have never cared for the abrasive wheels after I got to use a “dry saw” (thanks lis2323 for that!) in college in our fab shop and saw how much cleaner and safer it was compared to the sparks and **** created by an abrasive wheel. Can’t wait to hear some more reviews on it.

 

[lis2323]

One good thing about dry cut saws that brings to mind. They are extremely noisy which necessitates hearing protection.

I never used to wear hearing protection in the shop. Now I ALWAYS wear them when using the saw and find myself leaving them on for regular grinding applications.

Eye protection is also a must as it will throw wayward chips.






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[dnschmidt]

That be one **** load of Makita rat tailed grinders. Apparently you have a preference for these over "the conventional" style. I've thought about them. Could you go into detail as to why you prefer these over those?

 

[lis2323]

MK Morse "cold cut" chop saw

I find the rat tailed Makitas have great power to weight ratio for heavier grinding. Good balance with the “longer” grip.

I bought my first one new about 25 years ago for the farm. The rest I grab when they come up used.

Shorter and narrow body grinders I like for flap wheel discs in tight areas.


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[Kscardsfan]

One good thing about dry cut saws that brings to mind. They are extremely noisy which necessitates hearing protection.

I never used to wear hearing protection in the shop. Now I ALWAYS wear them when using the saw and find myself leaving them on for regular grinding applications.

Eye protection is also a must as it will throw wayward chips.






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More and more I find myself wearing earplugs or muffs just to work. I get tired of the constant droning and buzzing noise faster than I used to.

 

[lis2323]

More and more I find myself wearing earplugs or muffs just to work. I get tired of the constant droning and buzzing noise faster than I used to.

This is definitely the upside to social distancing. Not having to listen to mindless drivel. [emoji3]


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[dutchgray]

That be one **** load of Makita rat tailed grinders. Apparently you have a preference for these over "the conventional" style. I've thought about them. Could you go into detail as to why you prefer these over those?

Myself I find a rat tail grinder is better for extended periods of work, more ergonomic grip with the narrow handle (side handle a necessity however), better control as you will have two hands on it and be further from the disc as they are longer so less torque to resist, only slightly heavier than a compact but as they tend to be the high power output models you expect that. They are built to stand up to constant use as well, which I have done in the past, weeks of 8 hour work days juat grinding.

 

[Kscardsfan]

This is definitely the upside to social distancing. Not having to listen to mindless drivel. [emoji3]


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Hadn’t even considered that aspect of it all. That has been a nice bonus.

 

[Steve_P]

I have the Morse. It's supposedly the same as the Fein; and from my research it is. I don't use it often, but love it. I hate the stupid locking chain if you need to carry it; yes, it works, but it's a terrible choice. I bought the Morse as it has a cast base. The main review complaint on cheaper models were the junk stamped bases and crappy vises. The Morse also has a lower operating RPM than the cheaper models.

 

[Iron Beaver]

Re: MK Morse "cold cut" chop saw

“Dry cut” [emoji846]

Cold saws run at much lower RPMs and require flood coolant system.


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If I had said dry cut a lot of people would think of abrasive dry cut saws, which this is not. There's just not a good name for this type of tool that everyone recognizes

 

[DerekV]

Re: MK Morse "cold cut" chop saw

If I had said dry cut a lot of people would think of abrasive dry cut saws, which this is not. There's just not a good name for this type of tool that everyone recognizes

Nah, dry cut is what they’re called

 

[tarbellb]

Congrats on the new saw.

Can you post pics, ive heard they feature some sort of "blades stabilizer", but never have seen it?

 

[Iron Beaver]

Congrats on the new saw.

Can you post pics, ive heard they feature some sort of "blades stabilizer", but never have seen it?

I don't see a blade stabilizer on this one. Anyway here's a pic

 

[lis2323]

MK Morse "cold cut" chop saw

If I had said dry cut a lot of people would think of abrasive dry cut saws, which this is not. There's just not a good name for this type of tool that everyone recognizes

My apologies as it was certainly not my intent to criticize you. [emoji41]

It's just that you are posting on GARAGE JOURNAL and most the members are tool savvy enough to recognize the correct name of a tool that's printed on the box it came in.

Some may have even taken offense in your assumption.


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[GeeTeeOhh]

so help me understand. The "dry saw" appears to have a carbide tipped blade for cutting vs. an abrasive wheel. Is that correct?

 

[tarbellb]

so help me understand. The "dry saw" appears to have a carbide tipped blade for cutting vs. an abrasive wheel. Is that correct?

Yes, but critical to the operation also runs at a slower rpm (500-700 typically).

 

[tarbellb]

I don't see a blade stabilizer on this one. Anyway here's a pic

Thanks

Yeah im not sure where I read it but either the Fein or MK have some
"stabilizer" feature that I have yet to figure out what or how it works.

Overall good quality saws, enjoy the improved accuracy and reduced deburring time.

Careful tho, ANY loose or vibration of materials when cutting will quickly destroy a blade. They aint cheap.

 

[SamuraiJack]

Careful tho, ANY loose or vibration of materials when cutting will quickly destroy a blade. They aint cheap.

You got that right. Blades are $100 and quickly become $0 if they get to hot or are in the same zip code as stainless steel.

 

[dnschmidt]

They do make carbide blades specifically for stainless steel. Big bucks but they do exist. The wisdom provided by Tarbellb is absolutely why you want the best and most heavy duty vise clamp available, which the M. K. Morse has. Dewalt uses a stamped steel POS which should immediately disqualify it from consideration.

 

[Iron Beaver]

Thanks

Yeah im not sure where I read it but either the Fein or MK have some
"stabilizer" feature that I have yet to figure out what or how it works.

Overall good quality saws, enjoy the improved accuracy and reduced deburring time.

Careful tho, ANY loose or vibration of materials when cutting will quickly destroy a blade. They aint cheap.

I once saw an untrained person trying to use a wood chopsaw. He walked up to the saw in locked down position, turned it on, and proceeded to push a short piece of 2x4 into the spinning blade by hand. It turned sideways, bound up, bent the blade and kicked the saw up breaking the lock all in less than a second.

 

[Cryptic1911]

We have one of those mk morse metal devil saws and I love it. Cuts great. Also picked up one of their add on vise jaws for holding round pipe and tubing. I had originally bought one of them ****** dewalt abrasive chop saws and cut a single time on a piece of pipe and it showered half the garage in sparks and sent abrasive media everywhere. made a goddamn mess and cut like **** (slanted since the blade walked), so it went right back in the box and got returned. Much happier with the mk morse

 

[lis2323]

For those that do use abrasive chop saws, the correct way to use is to literally use (slow) “chopping” motions for your cut.

Continuous constant feed will overheat and glaze your blade as well as deflect it causing an unsquare cut.

I have a dry cut saw but would NEVER part with my Makita abrasive chop saw. I use it for metals of unknown composition, rebar and “free hand cutting” where the workpiece is odd shaped and difficult to secure in the vise.




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[Iron Beaver]

I calculated that the blade is cutting about 1500sfm. Seems like that will make for a pretty short blade life, right? I've been following the manual and feeding the blade into the work hard enough to eliminate most sparks but I don't think I'm going to get over 100 cuts on 1/4 x 2" angle out of a blade. Is that just how short lived these blades are? I begin to think I might need an Ellis 1200 or a Precision Matthews cold cut saw

 

[Daveyclimber]

My friend has one which I've used quite a bit. It is pretty similar to my Evolution. Works well but can certainly tell when the carbines are chipped or missing. Blades are kinda pricey and the metal chips make quite a mess. A magnetic duster is worth it weight in gold. Oh yeah, wear hearing protection, they scream.

 

[Iron Beaver]

What kind of blade life do you get?

 

[Ign]

I'm the only guy on GJ who hates these things. Like a foreign sports car they're awesome when they work and you'll go broke keeping them in blades.

I keep an abrasive for hardened materials and thin wall tubing (exhaust).

Everything else goes in my 7x12 band saw. Quiet, drama free, cuts while I work elsewhere, blades are cheap and last forever.

To truly utilize the capacity of an actual cold cut, you need a nice roller table on each side so any arguments of a bandsaw being too big just don't hold water. A dry cut OTOH is a stash-it-under-the-bench-when-not-in-use kinda tool so I can understand space arguments.

Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled dry-cut-lover programming:

 

[tarbellb]

They are great for production work, but agree about the compromises. A quality bandsaw is likely a better choice for most, took me a while to admit that...

Blade life is volatile at best, Ive had blades last hundreds of cuts, all sorts of profiles ie solids, angle, tube, mostly plain steel.

But burning, loose, or unknown materials will destroy a blade quick.

If I were to take a stab at the 20+ blades I have ran, resharpened, etc... maybe 100-500 cuts on average

 

[dr_clyde]

I'm the only guy on GJ who hates these things. Like a foreign sports car they're awesome when they work and you'll go broke keeping them in blades.

I keep an abrasive for hardened materials and thin wall tubing (exhaust).

Everything else goes in my 7x12 band saw. Quiet, drama free, cuts while I work elsewhere, blades are cheap and last forever.

To truly utilize the capacity of an actual cold cut, you need a nice roller table on each side so any arguments of a bandsaw being too big just don't hold water. A dry cut OTOH is a stash-it-under-the-bench-when-not-in-use kinda tool so I can understand space arguments.

Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled dry-cut-lover programming:

You’re not the only one. I also can’t understand the fascination with these things.

I have an abrasive chop saw, a horizontal band saw, a vertical bandsaw, a proper cold saw and a tilt frame band saw. At no point have I ever wanted one of these dry cut saws.

Worked in a shop that had a MK Morse one, we had an employee not get a tube clamped properly and it came loose and trashed a blade, bent the vise and basically wrecked the saw all in half a second. Never had that problem with band saws or cold saws.

Just last week I had a guy set up in the parking lot cutting stainless pins on the abrasive Milwaukee saw. He cut a couple hundred 304 SS 3/8 pins in less than an hour on one blade that has plenty of life left in it. Even with all my nice saws, the abrasive saw still has occasional uses.

A horizontal band saw is the most versatile, consistent and long term value in stock cutting, even in a small home shop, IMO.

 

[Iron Beaver]

You’re not the only one. I also can’t understand the fascination with these things.

I have an abrasive chop saw, a horizontal band saw, a vertical bandsaw, a proper cold saw and a tilt frame band saw. At no point have I ever wanted one of these dry cut saws.

Worked in a shop that had a MK Morse one, we had an employee not get a tube clamped properly and it came loose and trashed a blade, bent the vise and basically wrecked the saw all in half a second. Never had that problem with band saws or cold saws.

Just last week I had a guy set up in the parking lot cutting stainless pins on the abrasive Milwaukee saw. He cut a couple hundred 304 SS 3/8 pins in less than an hour on one blade that has plenty of life left in it. Even with all my nice saws, the abrasive saw still has occasional uses.

A horizontal band saw is the most versatile, consistent and long term value in stock cutting, even in a small home shop, IMO.

I might have to join the club. After spending almost $1 per cut with mine and figuring that the SFM cutting speed doesn't add up, I'm a bit disenchanted at the moment. My inner psychic feels an Ellis 1600 in my future. My inner accountant is already crying