Cold Saw Recommendations?

[Jon McElwain]

Hello all,

Probably more of a metal-working question, but I'm looking for recommendations on a cold cut/dry cut metal chop saw. Fein makes one, Dewalt, Rigid, Evolution, etc. I'm not looking at the $200 abrasive saws from the box stores, or the $1000+ commercial models. The ones I have looked at are in the $400 to $600 range.

Anyone have one they really like?

Thanks a bunch!

[Bill Dufour]

Search here....I like my startrite bandsaw thjere cold saws are rated good. but they have been out of business for decades. What blade diameter?
Bill D

[Bill Dufour]

Have you considered a power hacksaw, much cheaper to buy used.
Bill D.

[Frank Pratt]

I have an 18V Milwaukee carbide metal cutting saw. Only about a 6" blade, but it works very well for what I need. I've cut up to 5/8" thick steel with it (slow going though).

[Charles Lent]

My son and I own a welding shop.

We have both the 8 1/2" Milwaukee metal cutting circular saw and their metal cutting chop saw. They are about 6 years old now and they get used often. We haven't had any problems with either saw and would replace with same if a problem did occur. Blades are the only parts that have needed replacement.

Blade life is very dependent on how you use the saw. For the circular saw, ALWAYS use a saw guide, as any binding of the blade will damage blade teeth. The 7 1/2" metal cutting blades from Harbor Freight are slightly smaller in diameter, but much cheaper in price and last about the same as the Milwaukee and Freud metal cutting blades costing 3 X more. We are now using a store brand blade from Northern on the chop saw and it is holding up well. Don't expect these blades to last anywhere near as long as their wood cutting counterpart, but if you don;t follow my suggestions, you can destroy the blade in just one cut..


I mounted the chop saw to a Delta hand truck style miter saw/planer stand that is no longer available, but a slightly better version of the same stand design is now available from DeWalt.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200653252_200653252?cm_mmc=Bing-pla&utm_source=Bing_PLA&utm_medium=Power%20Tools%20%3E%20Saws%20%2B%20Acce ssories&utm_campaign=DEWALT&utm_content=50287 .

I also installed a 12" lazy Susan bearing between two plates under the saw. The lower plate is attached to the stand and the upper plate is attached to the base of the saw. This bearing lets you turn the saw to match the position of your stock when cutting miters, much like you can with a wood cutting chop saw. None of these saws offer the pivoting function and this works quite well. The saw is left attached to the stand, so it can be rolled around easily, left standing on end in the corner of the shop, and even slid into and out of the truck easily. Gas springs in the stand help you lift the heavy saw into the raised work position. Pictures of our saw and stand are attached. If you do this, get in the habit of cleaning chips off the saw and table before tipping the stand up on end. If you don't, chips will get into the lazy Susan bearing and jam it DAMHIKT.

For both saws, commit yourself to the cut and follow through all the way to the end of the cut. If you stop mid cut, the spot where you stopped will work harden and damage blade teeth when you resume cutting again. We cut almost everything up to 1" thick with these saws. They aren't as fast as cutting wood, but the edges of the cut look almost like they were finished on a milling machine.

We also have a DeWalt 19 volt cordless metal cutting circular saw. It doesn't see much use, but it is great to have when working off a scaffold.

Wear safety glasses, long sleeves, gloves, a full face shield, and button your shirt fully up to your neck, A leather apron is a good idea too. The chips are HOT and fly everywhere, even though both saws have chip collection.

Charley

[Joe Williams]

My son and I own a welding shop.

We have both the 8 1/2" Milwaukee metal cutting circular saw and their metal cutting chop saw. They are about 6 years old now and they get used often. We haven't had any problems with either saw and would replace with same if a problem did occur. Blades are the only parts that have needed replacement.

Blade life is very dependent on how you use the saw. For the circular saw, ALWAYS use a saw guide, as any binding of the blade will damage blade teeth. The 7 1/2" metal cutting blades from Harbor Freight are slightly smaller in diameter, but much cheaper in price and last about the same as the Milwaukee and Freud metal cutting blades costing 3 X more. We are now using a store brand blade from Northern on the chop saw and it is holding up well. Don't expect these blades to last anywhere near as long as their wood cutting counterpart, but if you don;t follow my suggestions, you can destroy the blade in just one cut..


I mounted the chop saw to a Delta hand truck style miter saw/planer stand that is no longer available, but a slightly better version of the same stand design is now available from DeWalt.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200653252_200653252?cm_mmc=Bing-pla&utm_source=Bing_PLA&utm_medium=Power%20Tools%20%3E%20Saws%20%2B%20Acce ssories&utm_campaign=DEWALT&utm_content=50287 .

I also installed a 12" lazy Susan bearing between two plates under the saw. The lower plate is attached to the stand and the upper plate is attached to the base of the saw. This bearing lets you turn the saw to match the position of your stock when cutting miters, much like you can with a wood cutting chop saw. None of these saws offer the pivoting function and this works quite well. The saw is left attached to the stand, so it can be rolled around easily, left standing on end in the corner of the shop, and even slid into and out of the truck easily. Gas springs in the stand help you lift the heavy saw into the raised work position. Pictures of our saw and stand are attached. If you do this, get in the habit of cleaning chips off the saw and table before tipping the stand up on end. If you don't, chips will get into the lazy Susan bearing and jam it DAMHIKT.

For both saws, commit yourself to the cut and follow through all the way to the end of the cut. If you stop mid cut, the spot where you stopped will work harden and damage blade teeth when you resume cutting again. We cut almost everything up to 1" thick with these saws. They aren't as fast as cutting wood, but the edges of the cut look almost like they were finished on a milling machine.

We also have a DeWalt 19 volt cordless metal cutting circular saw. It doesn't see much use, but it is great to have when working off a scaffold.

Wear safety glasses, long sleeves, gloves, a full face shield, and button your shirt fully up to your neck, A leather apron is a good idea too. The chips are HOT and fly everywhere, even though both saws have chip collection.

Charley

Thank you for this, can you tell me what a saw guide is? I haven't used a metal chopsaw but I want to at some point and this sounds like it's important! Is it a clamping fixture?

[Ben Rivel]

Wear safety glasses, long sleeves, gloves, a full face shield, and button your shirt fully up to your neck, A leather apron is a good idea too. The chips are HOT and fly everywhere, even though both saws have chip collection.

CharleyYes! Exactly why I only cut long metal stock on a horizontal bandsaw!

[Ole Anderson]

Aren't there two flavors of a metal circular saw? High speed with lots of hot flying metal chips and then a low speed true cold saw, that runs at around a hundred rpms? Haven't used either on steel. Have used my 3 hp 10" Kalamazoo chop saw with a carbide blade on lots of aluminum extrusions up to 2.5" diameter solid bar.

[Adam Herman]

there are actually 3 now. the old school choices of abrasive disk and true cold saw like you mention, and now the third which is what we are discussing here. ~ 1500 rpm with a carbide blade that cuts much cleaner and cooler than an abrasive saw, and not quite as "cold" as a real cold saw.

[Garth Almgren]

Thank you for this, can you tell me what a saw guide is? I haven't used a metal chopsaw but I want to at some point and this sounds like it's important! Is it a clamping fixture?
This is what I was picturing when he said using a saw guide with the circular saw:
359509 359510 359511

They work the same with metal as with wood. Just something to keep the blade going straight, to prevent wandering/binding.

[Kevin Groenke]

We had a Milwaukee 14" "dry cut saw" which is the 1500rpm carbide tipped blade variety popularized not too long ago by "Evolution" brand saws. Students stripped the gears in ours after maybe 18 months, if used exclusively by people who know what they're doing, it should last significantly longer. We replaced that and an old horizontal bandsaw with a new "stand-up" horizontal bandsaw (Jet 9140) which is fantastic and still "student-proof" three years later.

359620


There are considerably less expensive horizontal bandsaws that may be worth your consideration.

There is a forth option that has not yet been mentioned, the PortaBand (TM Milwaukee Tools) type saw. Most everybody now makes corded and cordless versions. We have a little 12v Milwaukee that always impresses when cutting conduit, 1.5" square tube, 1/2" dia rod, etc...

The best option is really dependent on use (materials and frequency), budget and available space.

[andrew whicker]

I have a milwaukee version of both the cold cut saw and porta band saw. Both are excellent.

I use the porta band for rough quick cuts (cheaper blade, quieter) and use the cold saw for accuracy. It's loud and can be nasty, but not as nasty as the abrasive saws.

I'd really like to get my hands on a wet saw. Those things look sweet.

[Charles Lent]

Garth answered your straight edge question in post # 10 for me.

It's the same thing that you would do to rip a straight line with a circular saw when cutting wood, but I use a straight piece of 1/4 X 2" strip of hot rolled steel or a piece of 1 X 2 angle and two spring clamps with this saw and cutting steel or aluminum. Allow for the width of the saw's base to blade dimension and clamp the steel strip to your work. Placing the guide to the right of the blade will keep the saw motor from hitting the clamps, but sometimes you will need to use it on the left. Double check to be certain that the blade will be cutting where you want it by placing the saw against the straight edge guide and looking at your cut line mark and the front edge of the blade. If it's good, pull the saw back from the edge, squeeze the trigger, and then feed the saw forward into the work. Keep your eye on the saw foot to keep it against the straight edge, and make the cut. It will cut much slower than doing the same cut in wood, but be patient and don't try to make it cut faster than it wants to. Don't stop cutting before you complete the cut or the stopping point will work harden and quite likely damage the carbide blade teeth when you resume the cut. We cut up to 1" thick mild steel with our Milwaukee saw and a good blade. You can get away using a blade with a few broken teeth if you are cutting thin steel, but use a good sharp blade when cutting anything thicker than 1/4". The cut edge will look much like an end mill on a milling machine cut it, but there will likely be a burr on the top edge that will need to be filed or ground off. Sawing steel this way does not significantly raise the temperature of the metal being cut. You can usually pick up the pieces with your bare hands immediately after the cut is completed.

We also have a Milwaukee Port A Band saw and a saw table from SWAG Off Road. The table allows the saw to be mounted vertically and has slots for a miter guide like is used on table saws. The saw can be easily removed from the table to be used without the table and then put back in the table easily. Only one thumb screw holds it in place in the table. We have found that this table makes the saw very handy for straight cutting as well as curve cutting of small parts. For convenience and safety we use a foot switch to run the saw and a small clamp to hold the saw's trigger at the speed that we want it to run. A tie wrap will work for this too, but needs to be cut off when the saw is used without the table.

Since getting these saws, our cutting torches and plasma cutters are only used for work that does not require clean cuts. These saws do most of the work now.

Charley

[John K Jordan]

Probably more of a metal-working question, but I'm looking for recommendations on a cold cut/dry cut metal chop saw. Fein makes one, Dewalt, Rigid, Evolution, etc. I'm not looking at the $200 abrasive saws from the box stores, or the $1000+ commercial models. The ones I have looked at are in the $400 to $600 range. ...


Jon,

I'm a bit late to see this thread. I didn't see where you mentioned the size and type of the material you want to cut and how perfect you want the edge right off the saw.

My experience with cutting metals may not help with choosing the saw you mentioned, but perhaps it will be of some interest.

I cut a lot of steel and personally prefer a metal-cutting bandsaw over a chop saw. I don't like the flying chips (or the sparks of an abrasive chop saw) I use a variable speed Milwaukee PortaBand for things like 2" or so square tubing and angle iron when I don't care so much about a square end (or I'm taking something apart away from the shop!) For anything bigger I really like the horizontal saws. Many of these are more new than the $1000 you mentioned but you might look for a used one.

Five or six years ago I bought this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004T9KT It works OK dry but it does have a coolant pump and a pneumatic cylinder to control the rate of cut - you can set it up for a long cut and come back later. Can be tilted up to make a vertical saw with a small table. No problem cutting 6" heavy wall square tubing, bar, or I-beams. The cuts are well square and flat enough for most welding and construction.

BTW, I put this saw in my little welding room beside a double door to the outside and roll it in front of the door as needed so the long end of 20' stock extends outside.

If you don't need a real square end a bi-metal blade in a reciprocal saw (sawzall) is very quick for smaller stock (such as 2" square tubing or 1" bar) or even a jig saw for sheet steel up to 1/8" or so. My favorite blade is the Milwaulkee "The Torch". And if you end up doing a lot of metal work there is NOTHING like a plasma cutter! The one I have will cut 1/2" cleanly and up to an inch or so with slop on the back. For farm use another advantage is it leaves no sharp edges and eliminates a lot of grinding or filing.

JKJ