On Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:18:36 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:


ie, Say I had several lengths of 50 x 50 x 5mm steel box I wanted to
cut ...

You can buy SCMS which will do that
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/29848/...Mitre-Saw-230V

Yeah, I saw that and similar items but that would be a bit too rich
for me right now. I did see a couple of DeWalt jobbies on eBay but
they were either 110V (I have a transformer but it would make it all
more awkward) or millions of miles away and 'collect only' or still
too new / expensive.

No idea how long the 'universal blade' would last or what they cost though -
get the feeling they may be expensive..

The abrasive disk type disks seem to be pretty cheap (but consumable,
£15 / 5). The metal - metal cutting blades seem quite expensive. I
guess if I was bothered about the finish of the cut I'd either get the
metal blade version or drag the bandsaw out for general cropping of
steel stock (angle / bar / box etc). I think one of the 14" bench
abrasive crop saws would be more accurate than the gas axe, easier
than doing it by hand and more portable (take to tool to the job etc)
than the big horizontal band saw I've already got.

Ooh, and I like pretty sparks. ;-)

T i m