Carbide Blade Chop Saw

[Bert Bitter]

Got the old abrasive 14" chop saw. Loud, sparks and dust every where. I've moved it outside.

So how hard could it be to make a Steel blade carbide chop saw? I think a slower speed and a little more torque with a good mandrel should do it. Anybody else try this? I've also heard that the blades last longer and in the long run are cheaper than the abrasive blades and don't need coolant.

Regards
Bert

 

[schmism]

you might do some research first. I dont think it will be that easy. a quick google of cold saws (which i what you want to convert it to) indicates high HP and very low speed. like 3-5 hp and 26 rpm blade speed. significantly diffrent specifications than your current saw.

 

[gsganzer]

Milwaukee makes one.

Milwaukee dry cut saw

 

[wingbone]

Keep an eye on craigslist. I actually searched occasionally places that weren't local and found one in Ohio(I'm in SC). I got a Porter Cable 1410 for $90 plus shipping which I considered a great deal. They pop up from time to time. There is actually a Milwaukee on the craigslist in Madison right now, but they are asking $350. I haven't even used mine yet but I've read nothing but great reviews on them.

 

[Travelover]

Harbor Freight makes one that has gotten surprisingly good reviews here on TBN.

 

[Millsonwheels]

I saw that the one on the link there is rated for 1500 rpms would this particular blade operate better at a slower speed than that?

 

[wingbone]

The only HF saw I have seen is the circular saw type metal saw, not the chop saw type. If they do make a dry cut chopper at a good price, it'd be a great seller. I've heard the circular saw works great, too.

 

[jenkinsph]

Dewalt, makes a carbide blade for chop saws that works very well, I have used one to cut steel pipe and box tubing. Works at normal speeds for all chopsaws, not nearly the amount of sparks as an abrasive saw.

 

[Jeepnford]

There's a company called Evolution that makes a dry cut chop saw. I have one of the circular types and it works pretty good.

 

[oughtsix]

Got the old abrasive 14" chop saw. Loud, sparks and dust every where. I've moved it outside.

So how hard could it be to make a Steel blade carbide chop saw? I think a slower speed and a little more torque with a good mandrel should do it. Anybody else try this? I've also heard that the blades last longer and in the long run are cheaper than the abrasive blades and don't need coolant.

Regards
Bert

Wow, the replies didn't really seem to answer your question. Yes, it seems easy enough. A 1725rpm 3hp motor and a couple of pulleys driving an arbor with a slightly bigger pulley so it runs a little slower ~1500rpm.

I haven't been able to figure out the arbor yet though. I'm thinking something around 1.25" cut down to 1" on one end and threaded. It seems like most saws use a left hand threaded nut. I have an old Atlas 12" lathe but no threading capability. A couple of round disks like washers to distribute the clamping force on the blade.

Then just a couple of pillow blocks to hold the arbor.

Then I start wondering what would happen if you put a mist coolant system on such a beast? Would it greatly extend the blade life by keeping the heat down?

Yes, I have considered it quite a bit. I gave up and purchased an old industrial Radial Arm Saw which works beautifully with an abrasive blade. It is a 3ph saw so I am running it on a VFD. I have a bid on a Freud Diablo Steel Demon 12" blade. I don't know if I will have enough torque to drive this dry saw blade though.

What to use for a vise to hold the work though?

 

[SensibleNick]

A nice way to drive one would be a a 3ph motor on a 90degree worm-drive gearbox. Mounting the blade on the gearbox is relatively easy, but getting the whole assembly to remain straight and true while cutting is going to be the hard part.

Those blades don't forgive misalignment easily.

While the other replies of "check craigslist" etc don't answer your original question, They probably are the most useful if you aim to save time and money.

 

[Egon]

Have you considered a powered Hacksaw?

 

[Brad_Blazer]

If you are looking for a Chinese dry cut saw:
FREE SHIPPING — Northern Industrial Dry Cut Metal Saw - 14in., Model# RP2814A | Chop Saws | Northern Tool + Equipment

 

[gsganzer]

Have you considered a powered Hacksaw?

Egon,
That was exactly my next suggestion. I have a Milwaukee Portaband and it's been great. If I was doing a lot of cutting, I'd go the next step up and invest in a horizontal bandsaw.

 

[toy]

Have you considered a powered Hacksaw?

I used my power hacksaw yesterday to cut out two mirror brackets, it worked like a champ. The thing about this power hacksaw is that it was made by MF. CO. Millers falls Mass. USA. with a patent date Aug 8 1892 and another date jan 12 1893. It uses regular hacksaw blades that you can buy anywhere anyday of the week. The saw started out it's life I believe as an over head belt driven machine but was converted to have it's own motor. The rod that drives the saw is made of wood and I looked it up on the internet and it looked in the picture like that was the way it came. I also have a jet power hacksaw that uses a 14" blade that I am going to convert over to use a regular hacksaw blade if I can't find 14" blades for it. The jet saw was made in 1991 or thereabouts, you would think that the blades for it would be readily available but so far I haven't found any.

 

[toy]

gsganzer in my post I was talking about a real powered hacksaw and not a band saw type saw. You can start it out sawing and when it cuts through the metal it automatically cuts itself off. A lot of people might not like a saw like that but I enjoy using that old hacksaw, and if you have something else to do you can leave the hacksaw and do what ever else you need to do.

 

[oughtsix]

The brand new power hacksaw blades I have hanging in my shop are about 2" wide 1/8" thick and about 30" long. I don't have the saw they go to but I do have a bunch of brand new blades. When I was given the blades I was told the saw was a great cutter and did angles very well.

I still think that a Dry saw is a pretty easy build. The geared head saw seems like it would be more applicable to a cold saw that runs in the 50rpm range and uses HSS (High Speed Steel) circular blades constantly cooled by a stream of coolant.

I think you could easily build a belt driven drysaw. Using just about any split phase motor you can find for cheap. A couple pulleys, a couple pillow blocks and an arbor. Any one have an idea for an arbor to securely hold a 1" blade without having to have it custom turned and threaded?