Metal Cutting Blade On Mitre Saw, Possible???

[fst2015]

Hello everyone,

First I want to inform that I'm novice welder. So please take it easy on me.i searched this forum and searched YouTube and learned allot helpful info but no real answer. So I'm going hope someone can share some advice. Also I was thinking maybe tech got better and made it possible to do this.

My question,

Can you put a "High RPM" metal cutting blade into a Mitre saw? I watched few videos and they said you can't put a "Low RPM" blade into a Mitre saw case m cause the RPM is way too high. I know videos where old and hoping things have changed since then.

I know I can buy a chop saw with Low RPM but I just bought a sliding Mitre saw for about $500 and would be perfect if could use that for metal too.

Unless I'm wrong which very possible, it seems like I can use a High RPM metal blade on my new sliding Mitre saw which also runs at a High RPM.

Please help and share some advice. If there is anything I'm not thinking of, or possible over looking please let me know.

Thanks again so much for taking time

Mike

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I've done this. You have to watch for melting plastic, especially the exhaust. Also the metal dust will kill the motor quicker.

 

[Lelandwelds]

Wood saws are not tough enough for metal. Wrong rpm. Too much plastic. Inadequate clamps.

Used chop saws are cheap. Build a stand for sawsall or bandsaw or angle grinder.

 

[JMLangford]

Also, might be a difference in the arbor hole between blades...
What size is the blade on your miter saw?



.

 

[achirdo]

I would give my left nut for a legitimate commercial grade metal cutting compound mitre saw.

 

[tarbellb]

Possible, yes, within the limits of the blade, yes. But sketchy and other have mentioned will likely burn up your nice new slider.

You will quickly find out things can go sideways real quick when cutting metal and its not clamped properly. Aluminum isnt to bad, but steel gets sketch.

If budget was a big concern then a $100 abrasive saw is better then nothing, followed by a corded handheld bandsaw and diy table, then you start getting into dry cut saws and horizontal bandsaws.

 

[sberry]

Buy a simple chop saw and a sawzall or portoband. But it's really quite rare I miter, I am the designer so do most everything I can straight cut and when I have to nip the corners off for angles.

 

[Lelandwelds]

Buy a simple chop saw and a sawzall or portoband. But it's really quite rare I miter, I am the designer so do most everything I can straight cut and when I have to nip the corners off for angles.

So, you squished a 55 gal drum and welded a perf screen in place? Do you move it around? I dont know what I think about that. Have you ever filled one up? That may be brilliant.

I've got an Everit and a Brilliant with some 10" channel with the legs pointing up. I also have a couple portable chopsaws and a Makita high rpm cold saw. Lots of constant clean up. Torches. Bandsaws. First gen Miller Zipcut died two years ago.

I will get some new toys with the new garage (shop).

 

[BD1]

Blade RPM will make the difference. What do you plan on cutting? The Milwaukee metal cutting circular saw maybe a option. I have one and it's great. I bought a fine tooth blade for cutting sheet metal. Not as fast as a shear but gets the job done and is versatile. Worked great on 1/4" plate too.

 

[matt_i]

I'd go with a small 4x6 horizontal saw as an easy way to get started.

A "cold saw" is the tool of choice for metal cutoffs which are near-milled finish and essentially save a second finishing operation. But its a different animal (also costing as such) with a HSS blade, sturdy gearbox, stout vise. The blade speeds are below 100 rpms. From what I have seen very common in European fab shops. They do miters extremely fast & easy as well.

Scotchman, Bewo, Haberle, Kalamazoo, MEP are a couple of brands that come to mind.

 

[sberry]

So, you squished a 55 gal drum and welded a perf screen in place? Do you move it around? I dont know what I think about that. Have you ever filled one up? That may be brilliant.

I've got an Everit and a Brilliant with some 10" channel with the legs pointing up. I also have a couple portable chopsaws and a Makita high rpm cold saw. Lots of constant clean up. Torches. Bandsaws. First gen Miller Zipcut died two years ago.

I will get some new toys with the new garage (shop).

It was a 275. 1/4 of it was gut away and it has a screen and slot under the saw. There were a couple minor revisions to get the dross to blow down thru the slots. Its never been cleaned, it can be moved with a pallet jack but doesnt, it has a home and the saw doesn't get moved either.

Here are a couple earlier pics just after it was made,,, as said, slight revisions since. I had to modify the nose and slot, the angles were too abrupt to deflect it down in to the tank. At fist I thought maybe a furnace filter or 2 might catch the debris bounce but it really didn't work all that well. I never miter with this, I have seen versions that do, I have other saws and a plasma. I can really design around mostly straight cuts and there is a lot you can do with this type of saw.
For all new structural, for more work a dry makes sense, a super lot a wet but for general and maintenance work I like a simple abrasive saw.
The shate used to be such a mess, this contains most of it and have a cut box for plasma, same problem with it.

 

[tarbellb]

Thats a pretty stellar setup Sberry. Fun to see the new vs old photos of it, clearly its a "driver".

 

[sberry]

I got to figure out my pics from phone, which is which. Yes, it's made 1000s of cuts. I use it about every day. Not lots of hours but frequently.

 

[Kev In]

Hi Mike,

I started out with a chop saw with abrasive 14” blades, however my 45 degree cuts were poor due to the flexing of the cutting wheel and the smell of cutting will linger for days in your shop. I would love a cold saw, but couldn’t find one in my price range, so I bought a Makita dry cut saw which makes beautiful straight cuts. I wouldn’t recommend putting a metal cutting blade on a miter saw. Buy a dry cut saw or bandsaw, etc based on what you are building. If you are cutting 45’s and need accurate cuts by a dry saw it makes a huge difference especially if you get into TIG welding.

Kevin

 

[fst2015]

I want to thank everyone so much. Over the years I've been to other forums for different topics and more times then less, when asking for help as novice... always leads someone being smartass . However each time I've posted what clearly is extremely newbie question...i actually get honest advice and few of you offered to help if local. I can't express enough how AMAZING you guys are... truly!

Ok, so I read everything. And guess I will get a separate saw just for metal. I double checked the Mitre Saw I own, it's a Dewalt 12" double bevel sliding compound Model DW718. I got it longtime ago for business but hurt my back and never used it. It's great saw and would hate to ruin it.

I know the overall answer was to buy saw made just for metal which I do understand but cause I already have really good Mitre saw I'm having hard time pulling trigger. I'm not a fabricator, just novice and only going to use the saw once in awhile. After I build my welding table, I have maybe few small projects I'd like to build but I don't see this being used every day .

So if the saw will only be used as I explained above, do you think I could/ should use it OR continue with the shopping for new metal cutting saw?

Ps: Lol... I'm not trying to convince you guys into agreeing with me, just trying draw picture of how this will be used.

Once again thank you all so so much for the advice.

Oh and for some who asked, I live in NY...Staten Island to be exact.

 

[black00lightning]

What about a metal cutting blade on a metal abrasive wheel cutoff saw? Speed too fast?

 

[beakie]

if you have ONE good WOOD mitre saw, and want to use it for metal too
then you will end up with one mediocre metal saw and a crappy wood saw.

if I spent $500 on a good SCMS I would NOT use it for metal, unless I was willing & wanting to buy another one soon after.

if you can't find a $100 or less metal chop saw locally, then buy a new one for $200.

 

[MP&C]

Here's what I did on 4 x 6 x 1/4 tubing. I chose to use a miter saw for a better shot at getting the 22.5* angles correct, as the Dewalt has a detent for those..

Well I finally got some time to work on the wheel. I had been looking for a good way to make some accurate 22-1/2 degree angled cuts, and just didn't feel comfortable with the accuracy using the 4-1/2" grinder with cutoff wheels. The best thing I had to work with was my trusty 12" dewalt miter saw, but all the cold saw blades at my local welding supply were only good to about 1800-2000 rpm. Some web searches and phone calls finally put me in touch with Cut Technologies in Bellingham WA. They have a cold cut saw blade that would handle the rpm's and material, so he said. At a modest $160 price tag, I was keeping my fingers crossed.

After the first cut, the blade was still cold to the touch!
Pieces mocked up.....

Also needed to trim the old frame from the "kit"

Should be large enough for most of everything I'll need it for....
The 12" blade was just shy of cutting completely through the 4 x 6 tubing. And after all the cuts were complete, the blade had warmed up slightly, but still cool enough to grab it with your bare hand....

The planned cuts for tomorrow...

 

[sberry]

The OP makes a good point. There is a huge difference between using it once in a while and owning a fab shop. There is also an assumption all these cuts need to be perfect, most are getting welded up. On super thin it is a bit more critical, thicker material can use some gap.

 

[A**holes Garage]

http://www.evolutionpowertools.com/us/build/mitresaws/rage3/

 

[K13]

Buy an angle grinder and get some cut off wheels. If you are only going to use it once in a while a dedicated chop saw/Band saw is just going to be clutter most of the time.

 

[johnyg]

that evolution saw looks pretty good.....too good.

 

[Furious Filipino]

I currently have the 10" sliding single bevel miter from Evolution. It is supposed to be a multi-material saw with the rpms around 2500.

It is an OK saw. The main issue out of the box was that the fence was warped by about 1/8", and that the clamping system is not adequate for metal work. The older versions without the arbor adapters would also only use Evolution blades which are expensive. The laser lens for the cut line also crapped out on the first cut.

I was able to heat the fence and straighten it without any issues, but I just have not had the time to work on a new clamp.

Max material thickness on mild steel is 1/8", so keep that in mind. With the stock multi-material blade, there are some noticeable chatter marks, partially from the inadequate clamping, partially from the deflection of the slider. With the Evolution steel cutting blade, the chatter marks are still there, only smaller. Also lost 2 teeth from the steel cutting blade on its 2nd cut, not a problem since, so QC is probably an issue.

I have since built a pergola, numerous outdoor wood projects, shelving, and cut down plastic stock without worry of melting.

I'm not recommending it outright, but for $200, it's at least as good as any wood miter saw for the price (comparing to Ryobis, Kobalts, Skil, etc...) and would work for *occasional* metal cutting projects.

If I could do it all again, I would buy a Femi benchtop bandsaw for metalworking and something else entirely for woodworking.

 

[theoldwizard1]

For OCCASIONAL use, I would put a Freud Steel Demon blade on a miter saw, even though is says it for "low speed metal saws" (the Milwaukee metal cutting saw is 3,700 RPM; slower than any of their corded saws, but certainly not real slow).

 

[Rich+]

I've been happy with my Evolution saw (I also have the Rage3). I have had difficulty properly squaring the fence, but for the price I highly recommend it. My usage is as a hobbyist; I've cut 2x12" boards on it along with 2" angle iron.

I've seen people put the Evolution blades in standard miter saws. They spin a bit fast (standard miter saws are ~5k while the Evolution is 2k RPM), but they enable someone with a wood shop to handle some metal cuts.

When cutting metal, wear gloves, long sleeves, face shield, and hearing protection.

 

[Grimly]

I have an Evolution 10" mitre saw with the carbide blade. It zips through 2x2" box and that's about all I use it for, but if I were buying again I'd go the next size up. Cutting wood, it doesn't change its tone, it slices wood as if it isn't there.
The whole thing is umm... adequate and has a couple of nice touches, but the cheapness of the clamping is painfully obvious. I hate the clamp and will do something permanent once I install it where it will go full-time.
Evolution blades are relatively expensive, but here I can get Erbauer carbide blades for about one-third to half the price, so that's all good. The Erbauer blades are just as good according to all who've used them.

 

[Tracs]

I have an Evolution 10" mitre saw with the carbide blade. It zips through 2x2" box and that's about all I use it for, but if I were buying again I'd go the next size up. Cutting wood, it doesn't change its tone, it slices wood as if it isn't there.
The whole thing is umm... adequate and has a couple of nice touches, but the cheapness of the clamping is painfully obvious. I hate the clamp and will do something permanent once I install it where it will go full-time.
Evolution blades are relatively expensive, but here I can get Erbauer carbide blades for about one-third to half the price, so that's all good. The Erbauer blades are just as good according to all who've used them.

I have the same saw. I've cut square tubing then mitre cut window casings with perfect results. I think it is great.

The OP has been given the same advise many times in this thread. If I were him I wouldn't be using my $500 saw to cut metal. Been there done that, wrecked the saw.

Cutting metal comes down the blade speed. Wood saws spin to fast. The Evolution saw spins about 50% the speed as a wood mitre saw.

I seen what the Evolution replacement blades are. Irwin and Lenox blades are just as much. I think it is because they are 10". Most dry cut saws are 12" or 14" and more readily available.

 

[fst2015]

Not to sound like broken record but again this forum is AMAZING and want to thank ALL of you for taking out the time.

Lot off great advice. I completely understand about having a $600 Mitre saw and possibly turning it into a $100 saw. That explanation hit home.

The things everyone is mentioning about the damage which will occur on a Mitre saw, are these things that happen after 1 use or multiple use? Meaning is it the constant cutting all day for few days, that will cause the damage or just roll of the dice, for when the damage will happen?

My last reason for asking this is because, I'm trying decide if should put money towards chop saw that can dry cut or a metal bandsaw? Being novice not sure which I will use more. To me I feel like I will use the bandsaw more... but I'm not sure.

This whole thing got me really thinking. Aside from the Sliding Mitre saw, I remembered i buried a 12" reg mitre saw DW705 in the basement. Would it make sense to just use that saw with the metal cutting blade or is it still bad idea? Unless there is something I'm not thinking of, seems like only reason NOT to put "metal cutting blade" on reg Mitre saw is cause will damage saw. Aside from that is there bodily harm?

Again thanks for the advice. This reply will be the last questions I ask. I promise to not keep this post going. Sorry if I started to trigger anyone. Just trying make best possible decision.

 

[Richard D]

I just walked in from the shop where I was using this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IHXOKI/?tag=atomicindus08-20
I gave away my dusty spark cutter(abrasive saw). And it was not a cheap one, it was the best Milwaukee had to offer. Never want to use one again.

 

[Jacko264]

https://www.screwfix.com/p/evolutio...0v/26612#product_additional_details_container

 

[tarbellb]

If you already have a nice wood saw, DO NOT buy a compromising "multi" purpose saw. Doesnt make sense.

Buy a 14" metal saw, either abrasive or dry cut and be done with it.

 

[Zick]

Do these saws like the evolution still produce razor sharp slivers?

I bought a cheap HF metal circular saw; https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=216179
and it works fine but the metal slivers that it produces are enough for me to toss the dam thing.

 

[zak77]

Before i got the Evolution is bought a little craftsman miter saw off CL for like $10 and put an abrasive blade on it and cut a lot of metal with it. It had a plastic base and some plastic parts but never had them melt. If you are in a pinch and understand you'll destroy the saw, then go for it. Surprisingly the craftsman didnt die before the Evolution came into play so it got tossed.

 

[BD1]

I love my band saws. One nice feature with a horizontal band saw is you set it up, turn on, and do something else while it cuts.
A millawukee portaband is handy too. I have one mounted fixed vertically and it sure is nice on small pieces.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

One nice feature with a horizontal band saw is you set it up, turn on, and do something else while it cuts.

^^^ This....is so handy.

 

[dragrcr890]

I have a mitre saw and a portaband. I think each has their own use and agree that the wood miter is too fast to properly cut. However, sawblade.com who I saw at the PRI show in INDY has a saw they sell for $250ish for the smaller blade and $360 for the bigger version and they have a traditional looking wood blade on it that will cut metal and the metal isn't even hot afterwards, cuts are verrry clean. I'm ordering one. I was very impressed with the demo and know people who have purchased them with great luck. I think they rebrand the saw and I think it is an evolution saw with new paint scheme. Just my 2 cents.

 

[dragrcr890]

https://www.sawblade.com/order-circular-saws.cfm - correction $191 for the Trajan saw. its awesome in person. it was $250 when they came out.

 

[Deej-79]

I have an old cast iron chop saw that doesn't see wood anymore. I have an abrasive wheel for it and have used it for metal a few times and I'd do it again.

I don't think I'd use my expensive miter saw for that though.