On Feb 11, 1:26*pm, "Pete C." wrote:
Bob La Londe wrote:

wrote in message
....
On Feb 11, 12:08 pm, "Bob La Londe" wrote:
"Bob La Londe" wrote in
...

Ok... I have had a couple chop saws over the years. My first one was an
HF
one. It worked great for years even though I had bought it thinking I
was
only going to use it for one job. It still works, but the brushes are
about
toast. If I could find which tool box I tossed the spare brushes in it
would be a great spare. In the mean time I purchased a Ridgid one.
Mostly
because I had such great luck with their table saw. Awesome power and
consistent settings. (what does a table saw have to do with metal
working?
I use it to cut and shape aluminum) Anyway, when I went shopping for a
(wood cutting) band saw I bought Ridgid. It worked great and I used it
for
all the detail cuts when I did the hardwood floors in our house, and for
tons of projects since.

Oops. Starting to sound like a Ridgid commercial. Didn't mean to.
Anyway,
I have found I get pretty decent cuts in rolled steel tube, square,
angle,
and even with my Ridgid chop saw using fiber reinforced 14" cut off
discs.
They last long enough that I can actually finish a project or two
without
replacing them. However as all people do I have begun to wonder if a
band
saw might do a better job for some things. I don't think I would use my
vertical band saw for this, but rather invest in one designed to work in
place of a chop saw. I have heard lots of folks say it's the way to go
for
cutting steel, but my own personal experience tends to make me wonder.
I've
only watched folks cut steel with a band saw a couple times, and its
been
a
long time ago, but on bigger pieces it seemed to me that it tended to
walk
off to one side and make an angled cut instead of cutting straight
through.
What am I missing? Is it worth it? The base models from the import
stores
seems to cost the same as a good quality name brand chop saw and go up
from
there.

I want straight cuts, and I would like to not have to spend as much time
doing clean up on the cuts. I'm also considering a tounrey blade in a
miter
saw for some things, but I am concerned about the listed RPM ranges..

Bob La Londe
www.YumaBassMan.com

P.S. I almost never use my torch anymore for cutting anything. Maybe
blowing off bolt heads, but that's about it.

If you only need to do chop-saw style cuts, maybe a cold saw?

I had no idea they existed until I came here, now I dream of getting
one after I get my lathe and mill put back together.

Yep. *I am considering a Tounrey blade in a 12" mitre saw for some things,
but they seem to spec to spin a lot slower than the average mitre saw or
chop saw.

Bob La Londe
www.YumaBassman.com

Those blades are for use in the dry cut metal saws, not normal high RPM
mitre saws. The dry cut saws are geared down a good deal. They are an
intermediate level metal cutting chop saw, between the cheap abrasive
chop saws and the expensive cold saws.

Yeah, the cold saws are on the order of 50 rpm. Like a round, stiff
bandsaw blade with bigger teeth.

Dave