Metal chop saw reccomendations?

[Chaznsc]

Considering getting a MCS for the shop. Maybe for light general cutting and perhaps projects later on with 1-2 inch or smaller angle iron.

Do these use a grinding type blade?

Any brands to stay away from?

I've seen folks use a traditional miter saw bit not sure it's a good idea, these ads are local to me, please review and comment:

MITER SAW (I think) includes a metal table:
http://augusta.craigslist.org/tls/3731415589.html

METAL SAW (I think):
http://augusta.craigslist.org/tls/3770584387.html

Thanks.

 

[c4cruiser]

I have an earlier version of this Harbor Freight cut-off saw It uses a 14" blade and does a decent job of cutting metals. I have cut 1/8" thick 2" angle with it and even 2" round tubing.

It does a decent job, but I do have to check to make sure the blade is square to the deck fairly often. Good enough for light duty work.

 

[tonycastec]

I have both types.
The abrasive 10" blade in a cheap Harbor freight 'metal' chop saw works well.It is a rough clunky tool but it serves the purpose.I use the blades from Harbor Freight(Made in Russia!)
The metal cutting saw blades have special carbide teeth.They produce a clean accurate cut. I use a brand called "Bad Blade" because(so they say!) it has harder C7 carbide. I have even used this 10" blade in a radial arm saw for cutting coated,corrugated steel roofing panels. I cringe using it for angle iron (in a pinch) but it does work.There are different versions of the blade for non-ferrous metals but I just use the type intended for steel on everything. The blades are expensive compared to abrasive blades and they wear rapidly.You can't use a regular circular or other saw-you need much more shielding. I have used the H.F. metal cutting circular saw on roofing and it works well.
I hope this helps.

 

[DARK AGE 53]

Forget the Dewalt saw, it's a high speed saw ( made for cutting wood not metal ) which will kill the blade in no time. I bought this and it works great, http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200326857_200326857 .

 

[SCTony]

I have an Evolution Rage 2 14" dry cut saw and have been satisfied with it. The largest I have cut is 3" angle and have cut lots of unistrut channel. The base is strong but not the most finished. Cuts are pretty much burr free, the metal does not get hot and you don't have all that dust and sparks flying everywhere. I did get a cheap abrasive blade for cutting things like bed frame rails, saving the toothed blade for milder steel. Link I think it was a bit cheaper when I got mine. Edit:- I see $300 on eBay. eBay link

 

[crewchief888]

i had an older HF abrasive saw i picked up on sale for $50.

it cut a LOT of round and square tubing before it finally let all of the smoke out. couldnt blame the saw at all.

it was replaced with a ridgid D handle saw from HD, on sale for $129.

nice heavy cast base, tool free angle adjustment, zero problems in 3 years of the same abuse.

IMO a much nicer saw than the milwaukee we have at the shop.

 

[TerryH]

Forget the Dewalt saw, it's a high speed saw ( made for cutting wood not metal ) which will kill the blade in no time. I bought this and it works great, http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200326857_200326857 .

+1 on the Nothern Tool dry cut saw. I love it!! I did a review of it here.

 

[BD1]

Menards had the rage 2 saw for 199.00 a couple of weeks ago. A Milwaukee chop saw and be bought on sale for 139.00 currently at farm and fleet.

 

[ilovevocs]

I don't know what other equipment you have or what your spatial constraints are, but if I was going to have one saw for metal working it would be a vertical / horizontal bandsaw. The HF 4x6 is a nice unit for the price, and if you have the time and the skill you can make it a much nicer saw.

Personally I would steer clear of abrasive saws, they wander if you aren't careful, their noisy as heck, and dirty. Mine sits under my bench most of the time. Maybe this is just my perspective, but I thought I would share. Others opinions may vary. Fwiw I have had my Milwaukee for over a decade and it has operated with out incidence. It's a well built tool and if I was in the market for an abrasive chop saw I wouldn't hesitate to purchase one again if they are still being manufactured to the same standard if quality.

 

[BD1]

I don't know what other equipment you have or what your spatial constraints are, but if I was going to have one saw for metal working it would be a vertical / horizontal bandsaw. The HF 4x6 is a nice unit for the price, and if you have the time and the skill you can make it a much nicer saw.

Personally I would steer clear of abrasive saws, they wander if you aren't careful, their noisy as heck, and dirty. Mine sits under my bench most of the time. Maybe this is just my perspective, but I thought I would share. Others opinions may vary. Fwiw I have had my Milwaukee for over a decade and it has operated with out incidence. It's a well built tool and if I was in the market for an abrasive chop saw I wouldn't hesitate to purchase one again if they are still being manufactured to the same standard if quality.

My Milwaukee is over 20 years old and is used weekly. I think it's made in Japan . It still cuts square too. Good blades are a must.

 

[Jack Olsen]

I was using my Milwaukee 6190-20 today. If you get a cold-cut saw (with the toothed blades), you will be much happier. Clean, square cuts. Lower operating costs. I love it.

 

[iajonesy]

I agree 100% with Jack,the Milwaukee is great. I bought mine a week ago and it is head and shoulders above the old abrasive saws. No burrs.no heat and straight as an arrow. The Milwaukee has a cast base as opposed to a tin base for the DeWalt and others. Been cutting 3" channel iron 1/4" thick like butter.

Mike

 

[justanengineer]

+1 on Milwaukee. I was never a fan of chop saws until I got mine.

 

[sberry]

An abrasive saw is great for generl and repair work.

 

[NUTTSGT]

The wife and I were at HD several years ago (7-8 years) and she asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I turned around, looked directly at the tool section and said that --->

That was this, like a few others above, a Milwuakee chop saw. I stuck mine on a HF dolley and roll it around the garage. I decided to buy a good one once.

 

[walrus]

I have a Milwaukee Dry Cut saw, cuts great but the vise *****. The vise slipped when I first used it, they sent me another, it clamps now but the angle changes on a whim, pain in the ****

 

[Sureshot]

I burnt out two Dewalt saws in a year so my supplier switched it for a Makita and it has been going strong for 10+ years of heavy use.

 

[PECVD2]

We had been using a Dewalt similar to this one for years at work so I went out and bought this one, pricey but it is my go to for metal cutting.

View media item 14728

 

[mstewart]

I have had a HF abrasive for 15 years or so. Works great for cutting scrap metal to put out in the trash. I really like it for cutting 1 1/2" and 2" PVC pipe. It leaves an edge that is ready to glue up with no deburring. I use a ratcheting pipe cutter for 1" and smaller. If I was doing a lot of metal fab, I'd get something better.

The cold cut saw looks to be the tool if you're using it all the time.

 

[csp]

I finally sold my DeWalt abrasive chop saw last summer after it collected dust for 6-7+ years. I bought a PortaBand and never touched that noisy, crooked cutting (I tried MANY recommended blades and fed into the material slow) POS again.

The portaband is quiet, cuts straight, and is far more useful IMO.

 

[LX-Markham]

I burnt out two Dewalt saws in a year so my supplier switched it for a Makita and it has been going strong for 10+ years of heavy use.

Got an old Makita 12" chop saw that I traded some scrap steel for. All it needed was a new cord. Has been working great for over 10 years now.

 

[danski0224]

Makita 12" metal cutting saw: http://www.makitausa.com/en-us/Modules/Tools/ToolDetails.aspx?Name=LC1230

 

[hh76]

Band saw, or dry cut would be my choice.

At home I just have an abrasive, which works and fit my budget, but it is horrible when compared to the dry cut I used to have at work. Loud, dirty, sparks everywhere, and the blade seems to wander just enough to annoy me.

 

[Zeke]

I finally sold my DeWalt abrasive chop saw last summer after it collected dust for 6-7+ years. I bought a PortaBand and never touched that noisy, crooked cutting (I tried MANY recommended blades and fed into the material slow) POS again.

The portaband is quiet, cuts straight, and is far more useful IMO.

I'm with you. I have a 14" Makita chop saw that is for wood, but I put a metal cutting blade in it and it's not my favorite tool. The blade wanders and it's loud as hell.

However, if I could find a cold cutting blade, I probably would have to get a mortgage to buy a 14" plus having that big a wheel spinning anywhere near me is a bit intimidating.

But, I just remembered that I have a triple chip blade with like 60 teeth. I'm sure that would be great on AL and thinner mild steel.

Being a wood saw, I don't have a clamp. Need to look into that.

 

[04chase]

old bump but better than starting a new thread. In the same boat , ive used an abrasive dewalt for years at work for building lots of stuff with maily 2x2x.120 square tube. this saw will be for my home shop that will cut alot of different types of thinner steel. I do like bandsaws but they are a bit slow for what im looking at. So the dry saws seem to be the go-to. i have found a used miluwaukee 6190-20 on clist. not sure what they cost when new but i can probably score it for 300 and it looks to be in great shape. Are there better options out there now thats its almost 2016?

 

[OCJohn]

I've had a milwaukee 14" abrasive saw (6177-20????) for 15+ years and have been very happy with it. It's loud. But it's never let me down.

 

[Rocker4x4]

I'm not a chop saw guy, but I do own 2 of them. I'll get ya a quick run down on what I like. Here's what I turn to for cutting most the time. I picked one up used from a guy cheap and I'll use this 10x's more than my chop saw!!

Now this is one of my chop saws, the other one is same thing with abrasive blade. This is a great saw. For light stuff IMO. When I first got it, I cut everything with it. From light 2x2 angle to 1.5 solid rod. Heavier metal would just eat the blades up. Now that being said, its not the end of world going through blades. I found a place I can send them off to have them sharpened and missing teeth replaced. its about 1/3 of cost of new blade.

I thought i'd post this saw as well. I use the hell out of this thing. Cutting sheet metal is a dream. hard angles on channel iron, no problem. this saw is amazing. But like the chop saw, it will eat blades up. these smaller ones are cheaper to buy new vs having them repaired

 

[sberry]

If I was a regular fabricator would have a better way of sawing but as a hack and maintenance guy an abrasive works. I like one with a trigger lock. I never miter with mine. I cope on occasion. They are nasty in a small garage or anywhere there isn't containment.
I had it long before dry saws were popular. I don't do enough to warrant change.

 

[mikes02ls1]

I will save up for a Bolton 14" cold cut slow cutting saw, when that time comes. 1400.00

 

[04chase]

What 14" blade is everyone using on their dry saws? The one I got needs to be replaced soon

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[MarkG]

I've got the Rigid abrasive cut-off. As others have said, they work fine, but are messy. I've got no real complaints about it. Most welding stuff has at least a little room for adjustment anyway. It's not trim carpentry!

 

[Samh]

I have a Clausing Cold saw that I use for most stuff. But inherited a Dewalt Multi-Cutter saw. It is pretty handy. Blades run about what Cold Saw blades do though

 

[James-W]

I have two Ryobi metal chop saws, both with abrasive blades. They belonged to my older brother and I got them when he passed away. They both work OK, but I very seldom use them. I normally use the metal cutting band-saw instead. It is less noisy and it doesn't make sparks and put metal dust all over the floor.

 

[Garett]

I use the rage on mild steel and a makita fibre disc chop saw on stainless. The rage makes nice cuts on anything but stainless which is usually what I'm working with. The stainless is just too hard on the blade, which I cannot find locally.

 

[ovrrdrive]

I have the better HF abrasive chopsaw and it's always cut really crooked. I got to looking at it the other day and it cuts crooked because they welded the saw pivot ont he base crooked as hell. I cut it off and rewelded it on pretty straight and it cuts better now but I have to go back through it because it has a side to side wobble it didn't have before. I'm sure its something simple that I left loose or something not lined up. It's better but the more I thought about it the more i thought I needed to get one of the Evolution Rage 2 saws. So I did just that the other night and it showed up today.

I only made one cut with it this afternoon, a 3x3 x 1/8" square tube I had and it cut through it like butter. I read to not push on it hard so I just let it eat through at it's own pace which was a fraction of the time the abrasive took and it was a nice clean, cool cut that was almost perfectly 90 degrees. I know it isn't the best quality but first impressions are that I am going to like it a lot.

 

[Wabash]

+2 for the Evolution Rage 2. Though it is a Chicom tool I'm thoroughly satisfied with mine. It comes with a multipurpose blade for mild steel, aluminum, wood etc. There is a steel specific blade you can purchase for it. Super clean cuts and minimal heat transfer to the metal being cut. I think there are a couple of video reviews of it on YouTube. I purchased mine at Lowes. Their price is by far better than I've seen anywhere. I'd take it any day over my old Dewalt abrasive saw.

 

[overkill 19]

I have a Milwaukee by force. I originally bought a bandsaw, but it piled up first cut so when I took it back they gave me grief saying it was used!!!! Long story I was bigger so I walked out with a cold saw! I like it a lot. For the little I do it's great. No dust is what I like.

Has anyone bought a different blade or used one to cut aluminum ?

 

[demolitionman]

I'll tell you what abrasive saw NOT to buy; the Hitachi's from lowes or Home Depot. **** **** **** because of the flimsy base that will bend soon as you put any sort of heavy gauge material on it. I run dewalt and ridgid ones at work and the bases on those are 50x better than my Hitachi and I believe those units only cost 20 or 30 more dollars. Happy cut'n.

 

[nadogail]

I have the Harbor Freight Industrial model, nothing special but it's good enough for my purpose.

I use the HF 14" abrasive disks.

 

[PeterT]

I have a Rage 2 saw and cut up rebar all the time, its ok but the built in vise is cheap and the base is very heavy.

Can anyone recommend a good replacement blade? Are these standard size blades? I pretty much just use it to cut rebar, and the current blade is losing some of its muster