Chop Saw Reccomendations

[Industrial Toys]

Makes me wonder if a cold saw is just the latest fad, must have thing.

I just wanted one to do long straight, factory looking cuts. Hard to get with plasma or torch. Seen youtube videos of guys building electric trolley for torch and plasma. That would be cool to have.

 

[PILOON]

Back many years just about when chop saws came into being, being poor/cheap I made my own.
Used a short (2") double bearing pillow, bolted onto 1 x 2 tubing, and mounted a plate to accept a 1/2 HP motor I had.
Linked motor to pillow bearing with V belt.
Fastened a handle of sorts, welded all that on a flat plate with a welded angle to act as back stop.
Once tested I created a blade guard with scraps.
We used that 'rig' for many years and the total investment was blade, belt and V belt as all the rest was recycled stuff on hand.
It was reasonably accurate for 90 deg cuts but that was all,

Long gone now and replaced with a $40.00 yard sale find 12 inch Makita* unit.
Best yet is a buddy provides me with his blades once he's worn them down to 12".

As a project, since I still have the double bearing, and lots of metal I might just consider creating a a 'cold cut' version based on my old design.
Thing is the cold cut saws want a totally different RPM setup than conventional friction chop saw but as per my early design that would simply be selecting proper pullies.
(I believe the blades are close to a regular carbide wood type but simply with a negative cutting angle so perhaps re grinding a much cheaper wood blade would do the trick)

*The newer 14" units all use the same power heads so my 12" unit is ultra robust.
12" works just fine for my needs.

 

[user.69169]

Cold saws wid round blades been around 25 years. Blades are still nightmares and EXPENSIVE to run. Blades become better cold saws will be new gotta have. BIG problem, man driving de saw. Gotta know what he cutting and how to cut it.

Steel center here cuts tons per day 5 days a week. Computer pretty much runs saw, AFTER man running saw pushes cut button. Cutting scheduled by type of material to maximize blade life and minimize changes. Bandsaw is pretty accurate because man driving it knows the job. If cold cut was more cost effective bandsaw would be gone to pasture.

Plazma + straight = tricks of trade. Workin on a sled now dat will ride along a scrapped out 4 foot aluminum level wid 4 wheels dat are really bearings from lawn tractor wheels. Slow progress because I don't make enough long cuts to justify time to make dat tool first. Thought some about electric drive or maybe battery drill to move torch, even picked up garage door opener for chain and sprockets, to pull sled, just can't justify de time to build. Maybe I use level for something else and make track from couple fence T posts. Nubbins would minimize contact heat transfer and avoid track warp dat way. Cheap build but I gotta have a need for de tool and a place to store it when not in use. Indoor burn & grind table wid exhaust ahead in line. Farther along too, even got water catch for sparks & dust figured out along wid ceramic tile walls to bounce sparks into pan and exhaust is figured out too. All tested using cardboard box for testing and exhaust worked better den dreamed it would. Hard part was finding somebody who still smokes to test air flow.

 

[workinonit]

I have a 14" Milwaukee that is pretty accurate. I use cold cut metal blades when I need accuracy and run abrasive blades when it doesn't matter. Between that and my plasma cutter with some angle jigs I can make pretty much any cut I need. My preference would be a nice horizontal band but I just don't have the space for the Bailey I want.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Makes me wonder if a cold saw is just the latest fad, must have thing.

I just wanted one to do long straight, factory looking cuts. Hard to get with plasma or torch. Seen youtube videos of guys building electric trolley for torch and plasma. That would be cool to have.

There's been "tracks" for gas torches to follow for ages, the torch follows the track for a straight cut.

I've used one quite a bit, once set up, they work quite well.

SR

 

[Industrial Toys]

Kind of wanted a motorized one. Not much out there. You would think someone could make a cheap one.

 

[dragoneggs]

When I was shopping for dry-cut saws I looked at Evo and Dewalt. That was all the stores around me had and I was not impressed with the quality of either one of them.
so I started hunting on the internet and finally bought a Fein.

It's a higher quality and was square straight out of the box....this one from this company;

FEIN-729536112 | Acme Tools

I wish I knew about dry cut saws before I bought my Dewalt abrasive chop saw. I hate it. Nothing against Dewalt... got plenty of their tools, it's just the abrasion wheel. Having a hard time justifying the upgrade and I still might make if I do more cutting but if I had to do it all over again, I would have spent the additional funds for a dry cut. That Fein is now on my list added as an option to the EVO and Dewalt.

 

[user.69169]

Seem to be a bit of ??? bout de saw in de link.

Scrolled down lookin for more nfo and found dis.


☆☆☆☆☆
☆☆☆☆☆3 out of 5 stars. MRagonese · 4 months ago
Not "fine"
Putting the Fein name on this certainly baited me into buying this saw because all of the Fein tools I have are Made in Germany. Nowhere on this saw is the name Fein. The tag does say "Made in Taiwan". Talk about misleading. I've seen the name Jancy on it elsewhere. Also note there is no way to adjust the blade perpendicular to the table. Most machinery would provide some form of adjustment for that. It is what it is now and after it wears out to any degree. While the saw table and vise are better than the Dewalt, there's nothing else that strikes me as great. It cuts the same as the Dewalt. The blade has a bit of a vertical oscillation too for some reason. Overall, it was ok to keep but I do have a fair amount of disappointment

✘ No, I do not recommend this product.

 

[dragoneggs]

Seem to be a bit of ??? bout de saw in de link.

Scrolled down lookin for more nfo and found dis.


☆☆☆☆☆
☆☆☆☆☆3 out of 5 stars.MRagonese · 4 months ago
Not "fine"
Putting the Fein name on this certainly baited me into buying this saw because all of the Fein tools I have are Made in Germany. Nowhere on this saw is the name Fein. The tag does say "Made in Taiwan". Talk about misleading. I've seen the name Jancy on it elsewhere. Also note there is no way to adjust the blade perpendicular to the table. Most machinery would provide some form of adjustment for that. It is what it is now and after it wears out to any degree. While the saw table and vise are better than the Dewalt, there's nothing else that strikes me as great. It cuts the same as the Dewalt. The blade has a bit of a vertical oscillation too for some reason. Overall, it was ok to keep but I do have a fair amount of disappointment

✘ No, I do not recommend this product.

Interesting.

 

[tomplum]

First I had a Lowe's 14" special abrasive saw. Used the snot out of it. Cut lots of channel, bar, tube, pipe. Ran it until I let the smoke out of it. They do the job, blade really flexes if you get on it but overall the make your life a lot easier. Dirty, but easier. Bought a Northern cold cut 14 " saw after that which I still use. That's old too now. The Evo blades $85 -are what I've bought. It cuts much better than the 1st saw. It has a quick release vise and in fact the base looks nook and cranny identical to the Fein listed above sans that mine has a tin adjustable material stop on the RH rear. Dunno about the rest of the saw. It will cut square , but higher stock such as this 4" channel I was cutting vertically is like an 1/8" off top to bottom. Why don't any of them make that axis adjustable?! Good enough for what I do? Would like it better so the next step is a decent band saw. I cut a lot of stuff that I probably shouldn't with this cold saw. Yesterday I cut 2x6 heavy rectangular tube flat with it. About 15 cuts which were nice as could be. Patience and remembering what the blades cost help. I have a Hypertherm plasma, but only use it outdoors. My problem is I can walk away from really building for months at a time. So most of what welding I do is basic repair. Having a steady hand helps but it takes me half a job to remember tricks on cutting with the plasma. Or welding uphill for that matter.
If you get an Evo or similar, it will work well with square tube and angle. 2 inch should be square and relatively true. It will make your fit up better. Next are good fit up clamps and set up tables. Enjoy the slippery slope!