Metal cutting - oxyfuel cutting, plasma cutting, machining, grinding, and other preparatory work.
Boomer63
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I like the Ridgid chop saw with the 14" blade. I use 1/8" blades, the will stand up to a lot of abuse and not shatter. The Ridgid saw has an extra long 'fence' (as opposed to say a Dewalt), which holds the material in place when cutting. This is especially useful when cutting angles, it just holds great. They last me a long time, and take a lot of abuse.
BigD
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Hey there fellow Canuck. Princess Auto to the rescue:

http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/1 ... -p8539009e

I'm kind of pissed that the sale is on now as I've been hounding it for a long time but I got a great deal on the Dewalt so I got that. My friend has the PA saw, I've used it several times, it's just as good. I will probably pick up the replacement blade while it's on sale, same fitment:

http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/1 ... -p8539843e
Tom Osselton
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Another Canuck!
I bought the Evolution haven't used it yet but soon will on a welding table at Protospace. I still need to pick up a aluminum blade for it. I'm currently gathering parts for a larger router the ballscrews are 350mm x 900mm x 1150mm so it should be interesting.
AKmud
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I've got a Ridgid 14" abrasive chop saw and a Morse 14" Metal Devil (~$500 on Amazon) dry cut saw. Since I bought the Morse (about 2 yrs ago), the Ridgid rarely comes off the shelf. The dry cut saws are much more accurate and fast for general cutting. If I need to cut something really heavy like an I beam or large solid bar stock, I'll get the abrasive out simply to save the blade on my Morse.
Antorcha
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I had the Dewalt. Vice was garbage. Sold it.
I have the 12" Makita and a 14" Morse..and a 8" Milwaukee circular metal muncher.
I use the Makita the most.The Milwaukee on plate. The Morse on occasion for bigger angle-tube and especially pipe. It has the V jaws in the vice.
I made V-jaws for the Makita too.
Watch the whole video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1DYRWDVquo
Antorcha
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Another good vid. Makita this time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGBlnlo_D3c
Boomer63
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Antorcha wrote:Another good vid. Makita this time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGBlnlo_D3c
Wow! From the video, that Makita really looks great! I will have to check that one out! Thanks for posting!
Gary
p40whk
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What about the Portaband type saws? I see a lot of these used with the Swag Offroad table and from what I've read pretty accurate. You can pick those up used on Craigslist pretty cheap.

I'm in the market for a saw for the same reasons above, my abrasive disc chop saw just isn't accurate enough so this thread has my interest.
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Evolution raptor 380 14" dry cut chopsaw is great saw. They run just over $400
I've got lots of pics of cutting if you like.
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AKweldshop wrote:Evolution raptor 380 14" dry cut chopsaw is great saw. They run just over $400
I've got lots of pics of cutting if you like.
Sure, post them, a video would be cool too
Richard
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p40whk
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Not having seen these Dry Cut saws I will say I'm impressed, I've been looking at the Portaband saws with the Swag Offroad table and now think one of these would be a better option.

For those of you that have used the Evolution brand They have a Rage2 for around $189 and the Evosaw380 (old Rage3) for around $400. Do you really get that much better saw for the extra $200 or is the Rage2 sufficient for the hobbyist?

I also noticed that Northern Tool has one for $300 that has a cast base but stamped fence http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200641810

I didn't want to start a new thread since much of the info is here, just wondering if anyone could compare the different saws?
Revocide
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To the OP

Having a Makita cold cut saw as seen in the demo video I gotta say that it is a no brainer to get one of these. The price is kind of off putting but the quality of work it does is amazing. The blade wont wear down on you either.

This machine has a 12" blade (305mm down here in OZ), solid frame, solid clamping set up, quick fence angle adjustment.

Since buying this beastie I have cut my way through about 500kg of 25mm square tube, 40 x 5 flat bar and the odd piece of 120 x 80 x 5 angle. Cuts mitres perfectly, little or no clean up to make good joints.

Tips to the new user, ensure the piece you have cut off is nowhere near the blade when you lift the saw out of the cut. Very interesting things happen when one of those 60 carbide teeth bite into an off cut. My blade has 57 teeth now, still cuts fine though.

And those blue chips from the cut metal will easily stick to soft skin or polyester clothing

My 2 cents

Revo
Antorcha
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p40whk wrote:Not having seen these Dry Cut saws I will say I'm impressed, I've been looking at the Portaband saws with the Swag Offroad table and now think one of these would be a better option.

For those of you that have used the Evolution brand They have a Rage2 for around $189 and the Evosaw380 (old Rage3) for around $400. Do you really get that much better saw for the extra $200 or is the Rage2 sufficient for the hobbyist?

I also noticed that Northern Tool has one for $300 that has a cast base but stamped fence http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200641810

I didn't want to start a new thread since much of the info is here, just wondering if anyone could compare the different saws?
The portaband and table has it's place too. Small parts with curves.
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p40whk
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Antorcha wrote:
p40whk wrote:Not having seen these Dry Cut saws I will say I'm impressed, I've been looking at the Portaband saws with the Swag Offroad table and now think one of these would be a better option.

For those of you that have used the Evolution brand They have a Rage2 for around $189 and the Evosaw380 (old Rage3) for around $400. Do you really get that much better saw for the extra $200 or is the Rage2 sufficient for the hobbyist?

I also noticed that Northern Tool has one for $300 that has a cast base but stamped fence http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200641810

I didn't want to start a new thread since much of the info is here, just wondering if anyone could compare the different saws?
The portaband and table has it's place too. Small parts with curves.
Is that the Harbor Freight model? If it is, I saw that they got great reviews but haven't seen any from people using them for metal cutting. If they are decent I may go with both saws since these can be had relatively cheap.
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Well here's a few pics.

I'm sure I have more tho. :)

Can't beat the accuracy and solid base for cutting miters. Amazing that it's still on the original blade, being that it's cut lot of 3/8" and 1/2" flatbar.

Any more then that, you'll just have to take my word as a professional fabricator that it's a good saw. :)
Last edited by AKweldshop on Mon Feb 01, 2016 6:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Just a couple welders and a couple of big hammers and torches.

Men in dirty jeans built this country, while men in clean suits have destroyed it.
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sedanman
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You can't do this with an abrasive chopsaw. This is 2" square tubing 1/4" wall.
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sedanman
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I have no idea why the picture is upside down.
C7Z
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If you decide on a chop saw the "Carbide-tipped blade" saws, although more expensive, are superior to the abrasive blade saws. I have a Makita LC1230 that I recently used to build a pipe fence around some properity I own. It cut 2" sched 40 pipe like it was butter and very accurately.
http://makitatools.com/en-us/Modules/To ... ame=LC1230
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That Evolution saw did all the cutting on This welding cart......



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Just a couple welders and a couple of big hammers and torches.

Men in dirty jeans built this country, while men in clean suits have destroyed it.
Trump/Carson 2016-2024
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AKweldshop wrote:That Evolution saw did all the cutting on This welding cart......
Now that's quite the welding cart, well done!
Richard
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LtBadd wrote:
AKweldshop wrote:That Evolution saw did all the cutting on This welding cart......
Now that's quite the welding cart, well done!
Thanks, it turned out ok.
Just a couple welders and a couple of big hammers and torches.

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