I have a project which will require cutting metal bar stock, either
steel or aluminum (haven't decided yet), approximate cross section 4
1/2" x 1/4". Chop saws are available for this, like this Milwaukee
example at Harbor Freight:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=39755

Blade is a 14" abrasive cutoff wheel.

Also available are compound miter saws, generally used for wood, usually
with blades up to 12" in diameter. Since I own neither type of saw at
the moment, and since the compound miter saw would have greater utility
for me, I am wondering if there is any reason I couldn't just use a 12"
abrasive cutoff wheel in a compound miter saw to cut metal. I see the
above cutoff saw has a max rpm of 3900. As an example, this compound
miter saw is rated at 4100 rpm
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=91852,
so speed shouldn't be an issue. There are 12" cutoff disks for metal
rated at 6300 RPM max http://www.doityourself.com/invt/6805881. So it
seems like there's no problem with doing this, unless I'm missing
something (wouldn't be the 1st time... ;-)

Dan