[laybackman]

I have a one stall garage that is bit wider than normal. The YJ sleeps in it and all my mechanics tools along with all my woodworking tools are in it. It is tight in there. If you fart in my garage it will not leave your body until you step out of the garage.... Annnd I am getting old so I should be unloading tools, or at least I should quit buying tools.......but instead I'm thinking I now need a second angle grinder for my flap disk wheel in addition to the one I now have that has a cutting wheel on it. Now I can just switch angle grinders instead of swapping disks. I just bought a chop saw for more accurate cuts....now you got my brain locked on a bandsaw. Something is wrong here. I know what it is.......I need more garage space...

 

[jgorm]

I change mine out when I get tired of flipping the metal to cut the other side.

+1, assuming the stop bolt is already all the way out! Mine lasted for a few years, but i don't cut a ton of metal.

 

[rustywrangler]

I have a one stall garage that is bit wider than normal. The YJ sleeps in it and all my mechanics tools along with all my woodworking tools are in it. It is tight in there. If you fart in my garage it will not leave your body until you step out of the garage.... Annnd I am getting old so I should be unloading tools, or at least I should quit buying tools.......but instead I'm thinking I now need a second angle grinder for my flap disk wheel in addition to the one I now have that has a cutting wheel on it. Now I can just switch angle grinders instead of swapping disks. I just bought a chop saw for more accurate cuts....now you got my brain locked on a bandsaw. Something is wrong here. I know what it is.......I need more garage space...

I don't even have a garage :rofl:

 

[wushaw]

Mine is collecting dust since I got a band saw. The cuts are in a different league, not to mention being able to walk away and do other stuff while it does the work!:laugh:

Martin

There is still a purpose for having a chop saw around.

 

[leftlanetruckin]

There is still a purpose for having a chop saw around.

And after making another 2 rear bumpers and 1 set of rock sliders, I am still waiting to see what it is myself.
Band saw and plasma cutter being used regularly, grinders are being used for flapper wheels and the chop saw is sat in the corner.
I honestly have not used it since getting the band saw, same as a good fab guy I know very well.
Never said I was going to sell it, just that I no longer use it myself.
Martin

 

[laybackman]

I don't even have a garage :rofl:

Then you are less restricted area wise than I am!!

 

[laybackman]

Okey dokey the latest on my quest for the perfect cut. I bought a chop saw from HF. It was supposedly a $149.00 saw on sale for $99.00! I saw a DeWalt unit for $199.00, but that is way more expensive isn't it? Not really. First the cheapo Chinese blade on the HF unit 'wiggled' and quit cutting after two cuts or so through 2" odd shaped piece of stock. So I bought a DeWalt blade from Lowes and swapped out the junk blade. Several cuts later the darn chop saw died! So the POS chop saw went back to HF. The clerk asked me if I wanted a replacement unit. I don't think she liked the fit of laughing I had taken in the store. So it was back to Lowes to buy the DeWalt unit I thought was too much money in the first place.

By the way the DeWalt is sweet! So you get what you pay for, seems to have been the lesson learned by me this time. Oddly enough I bought a compound miter saw for carpentry two years ago and that thing is very accurate and is a work horse but I did put a high end blade on it.

 

[leftlanetruckin]

Another thing to consider is a cold cut saw. They spin extremely slow, but the blades are expensive.
I was seriously looking at DeWalt DW872 Heavy-Duty 14" (355mm) Multi-Cutter Saw at Tools Plus
But the then I read about the blades chipping easily and they cost over $100!
Eventually I went the band saw route for the prior reasons.

Martin

 

[jsc7002]

I almost bought the Dewalt but then I found Milwaukee from Northern Tool for $220 and bought it and I absolutely love it! way better warrenty than DeWalt too, 5 years for Milwaukee, but now Im saving up for a cold cut or band saw.

FREE SHIPPING — Milwaukee D-Handle Chop Saw — 14in., Model# 6180-20 | Chop Saws | Northern Tool + Equipment

Congrats on the saw though its a lot better then using an angle grinder all the time lol

 

[laybackman]

Good alternatives you both mentioned but I may not use this saw too often at all, so price was my primary concern. It ended up being the wrong priority in this case because any tool that won't work is junk even if it is free!

 

[ImpactFabWorks]

I have a ridgid chop saw that I got for free from work. It works awesome and when I was still using it at work, I used it A LOT. boss just switched out because he likes to spend money

 

[JeepnTXJ]

Basically how much of a 14" abrasive saw blade is usable? I have one on a new chop saw that once it got down to about 12 1/2" - 13" in diameter it just didn't seem to want to cut anymore. My guess is, it's a junk blade anyway.

FWIW being more of a woodworker than a metal guy I was taught to let the tool do the cutting, so I am easy handed when it comes to using cutting tools.

You have to do the cutting with a chopsaw & metal. If you try to ease it through the steel, the blade will glaze over when it gets hot.
And, the thicker the blade, the longer it takes to cut the steel. Our 14" at work will get down to maybe 6-7" in diameter.

 

[laybackman]

You have to do the cutting with a chopsaw & metal. If you try to ease it through the steel, the blade will glaze over when it gets hot.
And, the thicker the blade, the longer it takes to cut the steel. Our 14" at work will get down to maybe 6-7" in diameter.

I agree I applied pfressure to the saw but I did not lay on top of it if you know what I mean. I definitely applied pressure to the saw but not to the point where the saw bogged down. The HF chop saw was junk anyway even with a good blade. Once I bought the DeWALT saw my problems went away. But the saw does cut best when going through the thickness of the stock as opposed to cutting through the face of the stock.