Chop Saw?

[cheapta]

I'm finally starting on building the chassis for my P/T project and have run into a snag. I bought a cheap,Chinese 14" abrasive chop saw and put a decent DeWalt wheel on it. The saw really struggles when I'm cutting angles in.120 wall rect. tubing on it-the cross-section that the saw sees is quite thick and the saw just chokes. No kidding,it took me an hour to make two 45 degree cuts in a piece of 1-1/2x3 tubing last night.
I see Milwaukee or DeWalt saws for sale but, before I spend more $$ I want to be sure the tool will meet my expectations. The specs are actually the same as the cheap saw I bought. I would love to have a cold saw but it's out of my meager price range.
What are you guys using to cut chassis tubing quickly and accurately?

[Irnmike]

I have the milwaukie one and it struggles too. I recently saw a video on one called a Evolution Rage and it seems pretty good for the price. Best price I found was about $350

[brrymnvette]

This is what you want. This thing is unstoppable.

http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/614-Dry-Cut-Saw/EN/index.htm

Couldn't give you a price b/c I get it at cost.

[derekf]

The Google says it's about 725 bucks. Very cool looking saw though.

[Mkelcy]

The Google says it's about 725 bucks. Very cool looking saw though.

Northern Tool has two cold chop saws for (IIRC) $370 (house brand) and about $470 (DeWalt).

[parsonsj]

DeWalt and Makita make similar saws to the Ridgid. I've got the DeWalt saw, and have used the Makita in the past. Recommended, especially for steel and aluminum. Just not getting abrasive dust everywhere makes the whole fab experience a *lot* nicer.

The downside to these saws is that they won't handle stainless. I don't care what the manufacturer says. I've ruined at least 5 blades cutting stainless for exhaust sytems, even when using blades supposedly designed for stainless.

Now... if you want the best solution, use this:

http://www.vansantent.com/Saws/portable_bandsaw_ev90.htm

I will own the EV91S some day. It's an incredibly accurate saw, runs on 110V, new blades cost less than $30, and it can be taken to the job.

One day...

jp

[thetoystore]

been using the same makita for about 4 years now and built atleast a dozen frames for various cars. i love it

[cheapta]

Thanks for the input,guys. I had no idea cold saws had made it to the "portable,home-user" stage. I'm looking at the Evolution and the Ridgid. I've just come up from my shop again after spending an hour and 45 minutes making two cuts with the offshore saw. I'm done with that piece of c**p. I really like the no-dust aspect of them,too.

[parsonsj]

I prefer the Makita to the DeWalt. I bought the DeWalt since it was a 14" saw to the Makita's 12", but I think the Makita was more accurate and had longer blade life.

jp

[KWIKND]

X2 on the Dewalt Multi-cutter
We only use it on structural and solid bars and it chews thru everything. No stink no dust. I found it at HF for real cheap, they called and tried to replace with something else because it was out of stock, I told them I'll wait.

Dan

[XLexusTech]

I bought a dewalt off of craigs list. Guy used if for 1 project then it sat so he didn't mind selling it cheap ($75.00) I highly recommend looking on Craigs list.

[Declawed69]

My milwaulkee cut through a 6 inch piece of stainless that was 3/4 inch thick just fine... took about took maybe 2 minutes. My dad said it would take forever when he brought me the piece and it blew through it in my opinion. Although I did buy a reinforced blade from KBC tools that is good for stainless, actually bought 3 blades thinking they'd never last. It didn't look like it wore all that much when done.

The chunk of stainless was hotter than all hell when said and done.

[blown71]

I'm finally starting on building the chassis for my P/T project and have run into a snag. I bought a cheap,Chinese 14" abrasive chop saw and put a decent DeWalt wheel on it. The saw really struggles when I'm cutting angles in.120 wall rect. tubing on it-the cross-section that the saw sees is quite thick and the saw just chokes. No kidding,it took me an hour to make two 45 degree cuts in a piece of 1-1/2x3 tubing last night.
I see Milwaukee or DeWalt saws for sale but, before I spend more $$ I want to be sure the tool will meet my expectations. The specs are actually the same as the cheap saw I bought. I would love to have a cold saw but it's out of my meager price range.
What are you guys using to cut chassis tubing quickly and accurately?
the saw is fine it's the blade buy a metal cutting blade made of steel you will love it. bob

[PROTREE]

i have a dewalt i got at a swap meet paid $50.00 about 5 years ago still going strong no problems yet

[amx2334]

the saw is fine it's the blade buy a metal cutting blade made of steel you will love it. bob

Isn't the metal blade made for substantially lower rpm than the abrasive? Do they make a metal blade that can cut at 3600+ rpm?

[parsonsj]

Right. Check the speeds. I think the metal cutting blades run at 1800 rpm or so.

jp

[canadiantbone]

Right. Check the speeds. I think the metal cutting blades run at 1800 rpm or so.

jp

cold cut saws are the cats meow for cutting metal straight , unlike chop saws .metal blades run at a lower speed . When using a chop saw you are suppose to break the surface & continue to chop at the work piece .

[Jim Nilsen]

You can actually cut steel with one of the cordless saws and the carbide blade for metal cutting because of the lower rpm and the torque they have.

get plenty of batteries and your good to go!

[Camaroholic]

You can actually cut steel with one of the cordless saws and the carbide blade for metal cutting because of the lower rpm and the torque they have.

get plenty of batteries and your good to go!

O Rly?

I have a DeWalt 18V circular saw - one of these:

http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail.asp?productID=8184

you can get carbide metal blades for it?

I use it frequently for ripping through a random 2x4 or something quick and dirty, pretty handy to have (rather than pulling out the big saw).