Mitre saw blades
 

So the wife surprised me again.... This time with a Craftsman 10" compound mitre saw. Yay yay.
Anyways I love it, but I need some metal cutting blades. Cheapest i see is about $50
I assume I would want the blade because it makes less sparks and cuts better than an abrasive wheel, right....
Could i use a 10" abrasive wheel if I wanted to?
Where, what blades do you guys use??

LOL, I was just looking at something like this on craigslist, and doing some research, I found that the miter box saws that are purposely made for cutting wood, have a smaller motor and spin the blade at the wrong RPM for abrasive and metal cutting blades. A real bummer for me, as there are tons of nice makitas listed here since we were one of the harder hit areas in the recession as far as construction goes.

I thought about getting a slightly smaller abrasive wheel than the saw calls for, to speed up the wheel a bit, and then start by cutting slowly and see what happens. I read here and there about some saws are ok, and some grenade the head bearings almost immediately. Believe me, I am looking pretty hard since deciding to ditch the stock swingarm and build anew.

I've thought about getting a chop saw for just metal use, but decided not to after finding no local sources for blades that could handle steel tubing. in the long run, a band saw is your better choice.

I have not used it yet. I did find this saw blade http://www.ebay.com/itm/OSHLUN-SBF-1...item338341e75b
which is to run at rpms 5200 or less. My 15 amp mitre saw runs at 48 rpms.

Also came across this and...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGvexh3-HL8


That is the same blade. The description says it should work i like the option of having a saw that cuts both metal and wood with just the change of blades.

I know I am a pessimist, but all I can imagine is the teeth on that blade catching a piece of pipe or angle and slinging into something important. I know the abrasive wheels are semi inconvenient, but they can be much safer. I will be looking into acquiring a chop saw after I get this other project finished.

I agree, seems like too aggressive to cut any thing small or irregular like angle or thin wall tubing. A chop saw with a abrasive disc is the best bet for any buggy related type of project. there's several alternatives to the chop saw thing but they are dedicated cutting machines and a little pricy unless your into production.

Thanks for your opinions guys. I remain an optimist. I did see the reviews of pros and cons. I did go ahead and order a blade. I did order this blade. The one lowes sells is a 52 tooth and $79.
I will let you know how all works out.

I figured 80 tooth should be better than 52

Just an update,;everyone. My blade should be here tomorrow. I will let you know my findings.
I have been doing some reading and cold cut steel blades are more precise than the abrasive. Only thing is chop saws are geared with more torque and less rpm's than a mitre saw.
Fortunately my mitre saw has a max rpm of 4800.The cold cut blade has a maximum of rpm of 5200 . keeping me in the safe zone. I will have my shop vac collecting the shavings as I chop. :biggthumpup: (BIG PIMPIN)
Tomorrows agenda: Cold as balls with some bur free metal cutting.

Okay. So blade arrived. I mounted it and the shop vac, too.
Used a piece of 3/4'' x 3/4'' square tube. That blade melted through like butter.....:hail:
Did some 45 degree mitres and some 45 degree bevels. "same thing it went through.....:party:
Came out bur free and cool to the touch. Great blade.
It is safe to say this is a great blade for tubing off any kind and shape.

I then moved to the heavy duty 1.5'' x 1.5'' , 1/8'' thick stanless steel angle.
Figured I moved start with a 45 degree mitre cut. it initially cut through, but the started getting real loud metal cutting sound ( which is not abnormal ) it did cut through. But I want this blade to last. That is some HD stuff. And that is where the lower geared and high torque chop saws run at 2500-3200 rpms.
The high rpm on mitre saw is ideal for the tubing and precision cuts.