Dry or Abrasive chop saw

Planning to buy a chop saw soon, anyone ever use dry cut chop saw, is it really worth the extra money over the usual abrasive wheel?http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...t.php?attachmentid=1639880&stc=1&d=1337141591

 

those work very good!

 

I have that milwaukee, i would never go back to the abrasive. Down side is the blades are expensive and the milwaukee blades aren't very good.

 

I tossed two 14 inch chop saws with cut off wheels in the dumpster a few years ago after one of the blades on one exploded on me. I turned it on and bent down to pick up something and heard this unGodly explosion. The blade became shrapnel and it all went over my back and imbedded into the garage wall. If I had been standing up it would have been curtains. I never trusted them after that and didn't want any one of us using them.

The one with the steel blade looks a lot safer.

Don

 

Those blades are the way to go. The abrasive blades wander a lot making it nearly impossible to get a square cut. The steel blades flex less. buy it. wear earplugs.

 

i have a Makita that ive had for quite a few years, the blades are exspensive but damn do they make a nice cut. if you need to shave an 1/8" off your previous cut it will do it like nothing, where the abbrasive blades will flex off the cut.. if you dont get the blades hot, they last quite a long time..

 

What brand of blades you found to be better?

 

yip totally agree on the dry saw, they are definatly the way to go.

 

Friend has had one for some time now. Blades are expensive but you don't have all the sparks flying around the shop.

 

I picked up a Brobo at a bankruptcy sale and damn that thing cut clean, no burr and very little noise , the only problem was the coolant mess. I've been away from the business for several years so it's neat to see new stuff . I agree those abrasive saws are a mess , I still have one buried in the garage somewhere though. Someday I keep telling myself.

 

i have one, cuts are nice and clean and they cut without all the dust, smoke and sparks. blades can be sharpened and teeth can be replaced.

 

I tried two saw blades before I returned to an abrasive one.

Although they make a very inpresive cut and last a long time, if you agressivly try to cut thick metal, (3/8" or 1/2") the teeth get hot and fly off the blade.

 

At the steel shop I used to work at we used the abrasive, dry, and coolant saws. Either get a dry or wet they work loads better than the abrasive

 

The abrasive saws make a goddam mess of everything...
The expensive carbide blade cutoff saws go dull in a heartbeat if the metal moves in the vise. They do cut clean when all is well.
Get yourself a horizontal bandsaw. I gave away my carbide saw to a automotive school and my abrasive saw collects dust under the workbench.

 

ditto on the bandsaw saw a demo on this at sema.... femi saw

 

I have to agree with Chaz. Since I got my horizontal band saw I haven't drug the chop saw out from under the bench. I usually used the chop saw outside so I didn't have to spend more time cleaning things up than I did cutting.

 

everything you want to know about metal dry cut off saws

http://www.mkmorse.com/products/index.aspx?product=75

these things are bad ass

they also do not heat and warp the metal

although you do need different blades for cutting different metals
( alum/stainless/low carbon steel)

mk morse quit selling abrasive blades after they devloped the metal baldes

 

I've got a Craftsman abrasive saw, and I'm very happy with it for what it is... They're all messy and loud, and shower sparks.
I have mine on a cart at the front of the shop, and when I use it, I wheel it outside to let the mess out there.
For precision cuts, I use a horizontal bandsaw. I'm never in that much of a hurry, that I need to cut quicker than the bandsaw.

-Brad

 

I was going to say the same thing as the others about a horizontal bandsaw being my preference. I really don't see anything a chop saw of any type would do that a horizontal bandsaw couldn't do better. They are safer, the cuts are very precise, and we have cut extremely odd angles in stuff by being creative with how we shim the piece in the vice.

Ours is a Jet that is probably 8 years old, and aside from replacing a blade every couple of years it has never been any trouble at all, and I can't begin to guess how many cuts it has made over those years. It is a horizontal/vertical model and I have to admit the vertical function is not as good as the horizontal function.....the blade is a little to wide for intricate curvy cuts. But we bought a true vertical bandsaw for that purpose and love that one as well.

Don