Looking to buy metal saw..

Backyardmech · Sun Jan 17, 2016 10:15 am

Well as I'm getting more into metal work in my garage, I'm needing better cuts. I'm getting tired of using the Zip Cutter. My budget just can't allow a liquid cooled metal band saw, plus my garage getting well below freezing when I'm not working in there. So I'm looking into these Chop saws..Price is right. I've never worked with one, at work I always use the band saw. So how well do these work for making clean 45 degree cuts with heavyer tubing up to 3"? I may be cutting metal as heavy as 4 inch c channel..thanks for any advice..

airrj · Sun Jan 17, 2016 10:52 am

I have been very happy with my DeWalt DW872 Carbide chop saw. I have had it about 9 months now and I have made around 250 cuts with it with no noticeable deterioration of the blade. Most of my work in 11 ga tubing, so I can't give you a feel for heavier cuts. I am not married to DeWalt, it was the best deal when I bought it. I see lots of people with Evolution saws and others and for myself as a busy hobbyist I think that this type of saw is a good value for my need. I got my saw from Enco which lists the saw at $530, and I waited until they had a 25% off offer and jumped on it then.

I have been very pleased, I am sure others will chime in also.

http://forum.weldingtipsandtricks.com/v ... =30&t=7536

Good Luck.
R.J.

Poland308 · Sun Jan 17, 2016 10:58 am

There was a thread a little while back about cold cut saws the kind with a metal blade and carbide teeth. If you are getting one of those you will be fine. But if you mean a regular abrasive blade saw then you probably won't be happy with the results on thick materials. The abrasive blades that look like big grinding wheels tend to wander and flex as you cut. I've had 2 X 2 angle that was an 1/8 of an inch out of square just from the flex. If your trying to cut angles it only gets worse.

Backyardmech · Sun Jan 17, 2016 11:26 am

Yeah, well the ones I've been looking at come with the 14" cutting wheel that looks like a big cutting wheel for an angle grinder..so your saying these bigger cutting wheels flex when cutting? Ummm, i may have to re think this...

Poland308 · Sun Jan 17, 2016 11:57 am

Just check if that saw model will handle a good carbide blade then plan for the cost of the blade. Have you considered a porta ban saw?

sedanman · Sun Jan 17, 2016 4:34 pm

I just got this http://m.homedepot.com/p/Evolution-Powe ... /204302724 , it's awesome. I had an abrasive chopsaw for 30 years before this. Abrasive saws are not accurate, yes the blade flexes. If you are doing mitre cuts on an abrasive saw you lose capacity as the wheel wears, this does not happen with a carbide blade. Carbide blades will also cut aluminum which an abrasive blade will choke on.

GreinTime · Mon Jan 18, 2016 1:15 am

I used the Evolution saw like the one linked above on all kinds of random shit at the race shop I worked at, and never had any issues with it cutting whatever I clamped in it. As long as you let the blade do the work and don't try and hog on it, it will cut with remarkable accuracy (typically as accurate as the line you made [FACE WITH TEARS OF JOY])

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

camardelle · Mon Jan 18, 2016 10:00 pm

I picked a metal cutting saw with the metal blade over the Christmas break. It blows my abrasive disc chop saw away. And the price was under $400.

camardelle · Mon Jan 18, 2016 10:10 pm

https://vimeo.com/152232843

Backyardmech · Mon Jan 18, 2016 11:20 pm

Well over the weekend I was at our local hardware store, some of use might know the store. Canadian tire.....I thought for now I could get away with going cheap...got a 14" adrasive cutting saw. Burnt out the motor after about 8 cuts. Took it back and got my money back...told my fiancee"see i need quality tools.

So back to saw shopping again...thanks for the info and help guys...planning on upping the budget..

Boomer63 · Wed Jan 20, 2016 12:48 pm

I like the Ridgid chop saw with the 14" blade. I use 1/8" blades, the will stand up to a lot of abuse and not shatter. The Ridgid saw has an extra long 'fence' (as opposed to say a Dewalt), which holds the material in place when cutting. This is especially useful when cutting angles, it just holds great. They last me a long time, and take a lot of abuse.

BigD · Thu Jan 21, 2016 11:20 am

Hey there fellow Canuck. Princess Auto to the rescue:

http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/1 ... -p8539009e

I'm kind of pissed that the sale is on now as I've been hounding it for a long time but I got a great deal on the Dewalt so I got that. My friend has the PA saw, I've used it several times, it's just as good. I will probably pick up the replacement blade while it's on sale, same fitment:

http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/1 ... -p8539843e

Tom Osselton · Thu Jan 21, 2016 1:54 pm

Another Canuck!
I bought the Evolution haven't used it yet but soon will on a welding table at Protospace. I still need to pick up a aluminum blade for it. I'm currently gathering parts for a larger router the ballscrews are 350mm x 900mm x 1150mm so it should be interesting.

AKmud · Fri Jan 22, 2016 1:21 pm

I've got a Ridgid 14" abrasive chop saw and a Morse 14" Metal Devil (~$500 on Amazon) dry cut saw. Since I bought the Morse (about 2 yrs ago), the Ridgid rarely comes off the shelf. The dry cut saws are much more accurate and fast for general cutting. If I need to cut something really heavy like an I beam or large solid bar stock, I'll get the abrasive out simply to save the blade on my Morse.

Antorcha · Sat Jan 23, 2016 12:11 pm

I had the Dewalt. Vice was garbage. Sold it.
I have the 12" Makita and a 14" Morse..and a 8" Milwaukee circular metal muncher.
I use the Makita the most.The Milwaukee on plate. The Morse on occasion for bigger angle-tube and especially pipe. It has the V jaws in the vice.
I made V-jaws for the Makita too.
Watch the whole video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1DYRWDVquo

Antorcha · Sat Jan 23, 2016 12:36 pm

Another good vid. Makita this time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGBlnlo_D3c

Boomer63 · Sat Jan 23, 2016 1:06 pm

Antorcha wrote:Another good vid. Makita this time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGBlnlo_D3c

Wow! From the video, that Makita really looks great! I will have to check that one out! Thanks for posting!
Gary

p40whk · Tue Jan 26, 2016 5:01 pm

What about the Portaband type saws? I see a lot of these used with the Swag Offroad table and from what I've read pretty accurate. You can pick those up used on Craigslist pretty cheap.

I'm in the market for a saw for the same reasons above, my abrasive disc chop saw just isn't accurate enough so this thread has my interest.

AKweldshop · Wed Jan 27, 2016 4:18 pm

Evolution raptor 380 14" dry cut chopsaw is great saw. They run just over $400
I've got lots of pics of cutting if you like.

LtBadd · Wed Jan 27, 2016 5:33 pm

AKweldshop wrote:Evolution raptor 380 14" dry cut chopsaw is great saw. They run just over $400
I've got lots of pics of cutting if you like.

Sure, post them, a video would be cool too

p40whk · Thu Jan 28, 2016 12:18 pm

Not having seen these Dry Cut saws I will say I'm impressed, I've been looking at the Portaband saws with the Swag Offroad table and now think one of these would be a better option.

For those of you that have used the Evolution brand They have a Rage2 for around $189 and the Evosaw380 (old Rage3) for around $400. Do you really get that much better saw for the extra $200 or is the Rage2 sufficient for the hobbyist?

I also noticed that Northern Tool has one for $300 that has a cast base but stamped fence http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200641810

I didn't want to start a new thread since much of the info is here, just wondering if anyone could compare the different saws?

Revocide · Sat Jan 30, 2016 2:54 am

To the OP

Having a Makita cold cut saw as seen in the demo video I gotta say that it is a no brainer to get one of these. The price is kind of off putting but the quality of work it does is amazing. The blade wont wear down on you either.

This machine has a 12" blade (305mm down here in OZ), solid frame, solid clamping set up, quick fence angle adjustment.

Since buying this beastie I have cut my way through about 500kg of 25mm square tube, 40 x 5 flat bar and the odd piece of 120 x 80 x 5 angle. Cuts mitres perfectly, little or no clean up to make good joints.

Tips to the new user, ensure the piece you have cut off is nowhere near the blade when you lift the saw out of the cut. Very interesting things happen when one of those 60 carbide teeth bite into an off cut. My blade has 57 teeth now, still cuts fine though.

And those blue chips from the cut metal will easily stick to soft skin or polyester clothing

My 2 cents

Revo

Antorcha · Sat Jan 30, 2016 12:45 pm

p40whk wrote:Not having seen these Dry Cut saws I will say I'm impressed, I've been looking at the Portaband saws with the Swag Offroad table and now think one of these would be a better option.

For those of you that have used the Evolution brand They have a Rage2 for around $189 and the Evosaw380 (old Rage3) for around $400. Do you really get that much better saw for the extra $200 or is the Rage2 sufficient for the hobbyist?

I also noticed that Northern Tool has one for $300 that has a cast base but stamped fence http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200641810

I didn't want to start a new thread since much of the info is here, just wondering if anyone could compare the different saws?

The portaband and table has it's place too. Small parts with curves.

p40whk · Sat Jan 30, 2016 12:55 pm

Antorcha wrote:
p40whk wrote:Not having seen these Dry Cut saws I will say I'm impressed, I've been looking at the Portaband saws with the Swag Offroad table and now think one of these would be a better option.

For those of you that have used the Evolution brand They have a Rage2 for around $189 and the Evosaw380 (old Rage3) for around $400. Do you really get that much better saw for the extra $200 or is the Rage2 sufficient for the hobbyist?

I also noticed that Northern Tool has one for $300 that has a cast base but stamped fence http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200641810

I didn't want to start a new thread since much of the info is here, just wondering if anyone could compare the different saws?
The portaband and table has it's place too. Small parts with curves.

Is that the Harbor Freight model? If it is, I saw that they got great reviews but haven't seen any from people using them for metal cutting. If they are decent I may go with both saws since these can be had relatively cheap.

AKweldshop · Sat Jan 30, 2016 7:40 pm

Well here's a few pics.

I'm sure I have more tho.

Can't beat the accuracy and solid base for cutting miters. Amazing that it's still on the original blade, being that it's cut lot of 3/8" and 1/2" flatbar.

Any more then that, you'll just have to take my word as a professional fabricator that it's a good saw.