Dan wrote:
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".

How many cuts do you anticipate making?

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.

That would do the trick. Abrasive wheels leave the ends with big
melted burrs on them that you'll need to clean up.

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...)

A sliding compound miter saw (SCMS) will cut the metal with an abrasive
blade just like the Milwaukee cut-off saw. It won't have the built in
clamping mechanism like most dedicated abrasive cut-off saws. The scms
you have shown is near the bottom in terms of quality, and certainly
price. I wouldn't recommend it.

There are a number of different ways you could cut the steel. Oh - by
the way - if you go with aluminum that's a totally different story than
steel. I would recommend you NOT go with an abrasive blade for cutting
that. Use a carbide blade. Back to the steel. Abrasive blades are
lound, shoot fire, relatively slow and leave a horrible edge. An
alternative would be a dry cutting metal saw. This would leave a very
clean edge with only minimal clean-up needed. I'm not positive but I
think these saws run at a lower rpm than abrasive cut-off saws. In any
event, they'll run you about $400 with blade. You could also use a
portable bandsaw. Or you could take it to a steel
fabricator/welder/body shop/mechanic? and see how much he'll charge to
lop them up for you. I'm rambling, but there are alternatives.

If you only have say 15 or less cuts, what I'd do is get a decent 10"
"regular" compound miter saw (CMS). This won't have the slider, but a
Dewalt, Makita or Hitachi will only set you back around $175 and you'll
have yourself a really useful tool. If you end up cutting aluminum,
just use the stock blade that comes with the saw (or buy a cheapy). If
you end up going with steel get a few abrasive blades for it - they
should run you less than $10 a piece for sure. If the finished ends
will be exposed though, you're going to have to do some filing and/or
sanding to make them look good.

JP