chop saw questions

[snwbdr]

what's the difference between chop saw and a mitre saw? is it possible to get a metal-cutting blade for a mitre saw? or would that not even work at all?

[hk'dontoys]

i'm not totlaly sure,but chop saws have a better clamping system and maybe a stronger amp motor. but in a pinch you could probably setup a miter for metal cutting.

[ShowStop]

Most mitre saws have plastic parts and sometimes dust bags. Using them as a metal cutting saw is not recommended. Yes, you can swap the blade with a metal cutting type, but be very careful not to damage the unit with the hot flying metal fragments. I would also recommend not doing really big cuts unless you cut it a little at a time.

[MuddButt]

what's the difference between chop saw and a mitre saw

A mitre saw is used to cut "Mitred" Joints in wood or metal, this means the angle of the cutting blade must be able to move left and right to accomodate such angles. For example cutting two peices of wood at a 45 degree angle and joining them.

A chop saw is usually not adjustable and cuts downward only.

[hk'dontoys]

my work just purchased a real nice dewalt metal chop saw with a mitre degree swivel table. it works great but cost like 600 or something.

[NorcalPR]

You can adjust chop says to angled cuts, but correct, it only cuts straight down.

-Phill

[Jfab]

I used to use one all the time at my shop before we got a band saw. It was a Milwaukee kinda like this one only older. It worked just fine, the key was to not use very much pressure and let the blade do all the work.

http://www.milwaukeeconnect.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=27&catalogId=40027&langId=-1&productId=284432&mainHeader=Tools&categoryId=189330&mainCategoryId=362&parentProd=281131

Oh yeah, you can set it on angles as well. ;)

Jayce

[Jfab]

DOH!!! :doh:

I just re-read the post and realized that he was talking about a mitre saw!

[shovelracer]

Asside from the differences mentioned above. Metal saws usually have better bearings and turn slower. Wood saws work, but wont last long. Correction they will work, but your cuts won't stay square as the bearings deteriorate.

[cedarbarn]

A mitre is an angle cut at 90 degrees (perpendicular) to the material.

A compound mitre is a multiple angle cut, done in one pass.

A chop saw will cut a piece of stock at an angle, but only 90 degrees (perpendicular) to the piece of material.

A compound mitre saw will cut compound cuts.

Compound mitre saws are speciallty saws. A chop saw will keep you busy building for a long time.

If you are cutting metal, get a saw made for cutting metal, it will have a clamp to hold the material.

[tcmaboy]

I've used a Dewalt unit to cut metal. The only problem I had was that the slot in the base for the saw blade had a plastic guard that melted. I like using a worm drive circular saw. It chews through anything you give it. Its really handy if you need to cut plate.

[grumpy]

yes it will work. a fab friend here uses one. like ShowStop said the plastic parts melt

[tony56]

I have a metal-cutting blade on my compound mitre saw and it works great. Had to put metal tape on all plastic parts to keep them from melting.

[cb77DEMELLO]

what's the difference between chop saw and a mitre saw? is it possible to get a metal-cutting blade for a mitre saw? or would that not even work at all?From what I have been told the Miter in most cases does not have the torq of the chop saw so you would most likely destroy the internals after a while?

I never tried it but I have wounderd the same thing! they do make mitre style shop saws but they are pretty pricy!

And with chop saws if you doing little jobs a cheap one will work but if you do allot you should get a decent one! We had a red milwaki (sp) we killed in less than a year and that wasn't even the volume we do now! We now run a dewalt brand, it has been used hard for at least 2 years and it's still works fine!

Blades are key to it working good, the thinner the better! We have tried all kinds of blades, the best being millwakii (sp) blades but I could never find them! the worst are the dewalt brand blades. We now found a decent one at Homedepot they tend to be the cheapest and last the longest.

I need to leave, I'm talking to much.

[Wgasa84]

From what I have been told the Miter in most cases does not have the torq of the chop saw so you would most likely destroy the internals after a while?

I never tried it but I have wounderd the same thing! they do make mitre style shop saws but they are pretty pricy!

And with chop saws if you doing little jobs a cheap one will work but if you do allot you should get a decent one! We had a red milwaki (sp) we killed in less than a year and that wasn't even the volume we do now! We now run a dewalt brand, it has been used hard for at least 2 years and it's still works fine!

Blades are key to it working good, the thinner the better! We have tried all kinds of blades, the best being millwakii (sp) blades but I could never find them! the worst are the dewalt brand blades. We now found a decent one at Homedepot they tend to be the cheapest and last the longest.

I need to leave, I'm talking to much.
And thinking too much. Atleast your spelling was on a higher note than usual. :rolleyes:

[boylem002]

And thinking too much. Atleast your spelling was on a higher note than usual. :rolleyes:

and not too many question marks?

[ptrautne]

From what I have been told the Miter in most cases does not have the torq of the chop saw so you would most likely destroy the internals after a while?


Most miter saw will have less torque because of the smaller motor but the biggest difference will be the gear reduction because metal cutting saws spin slower. If you use abrasive blades the miter saw will work fine but it is un-safe to use carbide blades on a miter saw.

[snwbdr]

thanks for your replies.....I already knew the obvious answer being that you can adjust the angle on the miter saw, but I wasn't sure about the torque differences in the motors and whatnot....So I guess I'll be looking for a cheaper chop saw since this'll be more of project thing than anything....so how do I go about making angle cuts with a non-miter style chop saw?

[Dick Foster]

With the amout of work you do, you should look into a cold saw, Jason. They are the shit for cutting tubing and all kinds of stuff with clean, precise cuts. Plus they are quite and the workpiece stays cool. It also helps keep the shop cleaner over cutting with abrasive disks.

[4xMatt]

a metal saw will spin slower. anyway the metal cutting blades run close to a couple hundred bucks ea.

[cvajs]

mitre is typically a wood saw using a blade with carbide teeth.
chop is typically a metal saw using Carborundum blade (or the like).
both typically run at higher rpms, chop usually has a bigger motor for the needed torq to cut through metal.

cold saw runs very slow with lots of torq, many have cutting fluid mechanisms, and use a special blade that uses special rake design (typically 0°).