I use my chop saw for Hard steel, my band saw for the rest. Many chop saw
wheels will NOT cut aluminum worth a dam. Its also way to cold outside for
me to want to cut a bunch of steel with my chop saw, and theres no way I
want all the grit on my machine tools. The whole filling my shop with grit
and sparks is not on my list of things to do. The chop saw stays in the
garage. I can clean tools, eat, drink beer, go relieve some beer, hell maybe
post to this group while my band saw does the work.
"Robin S." wrote in message
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"Grant Erwin" wrote in message
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Are you counting the sweepup time afterwards for all that swarf? :-)

Bandsaws are much cleaner and quieter; also smaller chop saws don't
work very well on larger solid stock. The smaller chop saws were designed
for steel 2x4 studs they use in new construction, *not* for cutting e.g.
1" solid square steel bar. I tried once and the blade cut down about
halfway
and then would simply go no further. There had been a ball bearing or
something in the steel before it went to Asia to be remelted and the
intense heat of the grinding cut hardened it white hard locally. I showed
this half cut to a few guys all of whom were amazed. Wouldn't happen
with aluminum, of course. I'll take slower, quieter, less messy and more
precise every time in my little home shop.

Abrasive chop saws go through virtually anything metal. This includes
hardened steel like "Thompson rod", tool steel punches/die inserts, lathe
tool bits, and endmills as well as aluminium, brass, copper, etc.

While I wouldn't want to cut a 4" square bar, 1" square is no problem.

I can understand someone inside their home not wanting to run one of these
as they are indeed very loud and create a fair amount of dust. However,
when you're getting paid for your work (as the original poster is, and
others within this group are), you don't always have the luxury of using a
process which is not the most efficient available.

At work we have (automatic) bandsaws, power hacksaws, abrasive chop saws,
cold saws, hacksaws, chisels, etc. They are each used as it is
appropriate.

Regards,

Robin