Thread: Metal vs Abrasive blade for metal drop saw?

Originally Posted by bowseruni

Noticed some drop saws have metal blades, what are the advantages of each and where do you buy the metal ones (cutting steel only)

How thick a steel are you intending to cut

There are very different types of drop saws that use very different blades.

Cheaper High speed (3000 rpm) saws that use abrasive blades or tungsten carbide tipped blades. They are very limited in the thickness of steel they cut. They also make a huge racket and a lot of sparks when they cut.

Very Expensive, quiet, very low speed (20 t0 120 rpm) saws that use coolant (often called cold cut saws) but will cut solid steel bar. Also use carbide tipped blades but the blades are a bit thicker and more expensive.

100 x 50 x 3 RHS would be the largest.

I was watching one of those trick my truck shows and he had an identical drop saw to mine (different brand) and it was using a metal blade, wasn't slow like a Brobo saw quick like a normal drop saw

There are heaps of blades around
I know Bosch do several blades
Just do a search for "steel cutting circular saw blades)
This is is one example United Tools Product Catalogue 2010-11
Just watch out that you don't get one that has to low an RPM rating for your saw.

I much prefer my small metal bandsaw. Sure it's slow but it is very quite, no sparks, and I can leave it cut on it's own while I do something else and it then turns itself off, and it cuts solid bars. Plus if I wreck a blade it costs a whole $10 to replace. There are heaps of used ones around and I bought mine for the cost of one metal cutting circular blade.

Originally Posted by BobL

I much prefer my small metal bandsaw. Sure it's slow but it is very quite, no sparks, and I can leave it cut on it's own while I do something else and it then turns itself off, and it cuts solid bars. Plus if I wreck a blade it costs a whole $10 to replace. There are heaps of used ones around and I bought mine for the cost of one metal cutting circular blade.

I tend to agree Bob, but in the thick of a build the abrasive drop saw is quick (and nasty). The noise is a shocker, and the mess from the disc as it wears! But after buying a new one a while back at work something came up that really made the bandsaw look good: the bloody new-fangled guard! With three moving parts it needs three hands plus your head to get in there and line up a cut! A real hassle, and I ended up Vice Gripping the thing out of the way just to change a disc.

Another plus for the bandsaw is the clamp or vice has the ability to hold multiple pieces, like six 25x25's, which compensates for the slow cut rate.

Does yours have a coolant pump, Bob?


Cheers

Originally Posted by Andy Mac

I tend to agree Bob, but in the thick of a build the abrasive drop saw is quick (and nasty). The noise is a shocker, and the mess from the disc as it wears! But after buying a new one a while back at work something came up that really made the bandsaw look good: the bloody new-fangled guard! With three moving parts it needs three hands plus your head to get in there and line up a cut! A real hassle, and I ended up Vice Gripping the thing out of the way just to change a disc. Another plus for the bandsaw is the clamp or vice has the ability to hold multiple pieces, like six 25x25's, which compensates for the slow cut rate.

Yeah I agree about the guard.
I borrowed one of the abrasive disc jobbies and after using it for half an hour I gave up using it and found a BS on Gumtree and haven't looked back.

Does yours have a coolant pump, Bob?

Yep - full coolant WIP is https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/ba...91/index4.html.
I also adapted the vice so it can hold stuff right close to the blade.
I have regularly cut 100 diam stock with it and even made a 215 x 25 cut with this machine - it took 15 minutes but it did it.

Angle grinders and abrasive saws shower $hyte all over the shed but with coolant the metal dust ends up stuck to a magnet in the coolant drip tray (piece of green guttering)


The other metal cutting saw I like using is my old woodwork table saw with a thin kerf cutting wheel. Again it's slow, but unlike a drop saw or angle grinder it is quiet and I can use it up close and personal without the brown stuff dribbling out of my trousers.

There's more & more options out for cutting metal with saw tct saw blades these days, so with the increase competition comes price reductions. I remember when a 14" tct saw was over $1000, now you can get the slugger professional ones for around the $700 mark, there is also other options liked the einhell 10" slide compound saw which is geared to be able to cut plastic, metal , wood all with the one blade for around the $380 mark