TECH: easier cutting for longer pieces of steel

a while back, i read about the newer carbide tipped steel cutting circular saw blades and how well they performed. building the PU ment some frame rail boxing, and i needed a way to cut the plates nice and straight. . . the first couple i cut with an abrasive wheel in my skillsaw... MESSY NOISY and friggin dangerous with all them sparks and heat around a motor designed for wood and not steel, not to mention the chance of the abrasive wheel blowing up when bound.

so, i got one of these wheels... morse "metal devil" 7 1/4" for a power saw... HOLY MOLEY!



they cut cool, fast and clean. almost as fast and clean as a regular blade in wood.

anyhow, here are a few pics of some of the plates i cut the other night for the repair work on the back of the PU frame.

first shot shows the piece to be cut marked and sitting on a piece of lightweight styrofoam. the foam makes a great backer piece that you dont have to worry about cutting into a table, or not having the workpiece suspended over the edge of the bench and fallin on your foot or cuttin off the dogs tail when it lands.



in this pic, you can see the clean edge of the piece after the first cut. . . take a look at the foam, and you can see that the chips from the steel DO create a bit of heat, but trust me its not hot to the touch even right after cutting... cools fast. besides, its cheap styrofoam, and meant to be disposable.



in these last two pics, you can see how well the blade cuts... just a touch with the flap disc, and SWEET fitment onto the frame. . .

think of these blades as a poor mans plasma cutter!

enjoy!

 

Cool, how much did you pay for that and where did you buy it?

 

That is cool. I have used the abrasive blades and they give me the nerves.
Where did you find 'em?

 

Thanks for the tip.
I would imagine that blade is faster than any plasma.
Now to find something that cuts steel as fast that has arc shapes.
metal blades in jig saws just dont cut it. pun intended.

 

Northern Tool in burnesville MN is where i got mine, they got a website and have internet sales i think... i'm would believe just about any decent tool place or professional jobber supply would have em. cost me under $50 clams

 

That looks like just whatI need to cut some 1/8 " steel plate.

How thick was the plate you cut, and which blade (40T=40 tooth blade maybe)?

Thanks!

Slonaker

EDIT: Videos of it in use... http://www.metaldevil.com/seeing.html

 

Thanks for the tip, Bob Villa. I was just thinking of spending another $20 on sawzall blades but this might do me better. Have you cut much with it? I wonder how long the blades last. Probably longer than a sawzall blade in a flopping fender.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000E8HTU2/nextag-tools-20/ref=nosim

Answered my question, too: More than 700 cuts through 12-inch by 3/8-inch aluminum plate. Our testers wore out before the blade did.

There are a ton of different sizes and teeth counts.

Thanks for the idea on the foam. I have access to that stuff in large quan***ies and I never thought of it before.

 

i believe yes, they are 40t blades. as far as how long they last, well according to the advertising and reviews i have read, this one should last the average car guy a solid 10 years or so depending on how much you bind your cuts, and how well you treat the blade. as far as thickness i have cut myself?

1/2" bubba... an thats no ****. like a fat guy goin through the buffet line baby

 

nice review, might have to pick one of those up.

 

yea, the foam idea i got years ago cutting 4x8' plywood sheetgoods for laying out cabinet pieces before final milling in my inside shop... limited space down there and a whole sheet of plywood dont work down there

 

1/2" STEEL?!? That's pretty impressive! Looks like you even got a slight curve. Gotta get one, if it was 1/2" steel you were cutting.

 

Do they make a 10" for a table saw?

 

http://www.mkmorse.com/

 

Could I get one of those for my 10" Delta Miter Saw? What did you put yours in? I can see it in the picture, but I'm not around saws enough to know the difference.

 

Very nice...you might have just saved me $200 for the chop-saw I was going to buy for the same type of work.

Bryan

 

now that would be some ****!!

 

http://www.mkmorse.com/
They make them up to 14", see the link above, even has video.

 

we use one over here alot it cuts 1/2" super nice. it makes alot of noise but it cuts fast with little to no sparks and keeps it real cool. we purchased ours from Kimball Midwest and purchased a heavy duty saw with it too. which if you use it alot i would recomend.

 

Never mind I blew up the picture and I can clearly see what you used. Sorry.

 

UN****ING REAL, i just watched the video, very impressive,very!

 

http://hawksawblades.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=MD725

 

Damn. Looks like a heavy duty circular saw just crept up on my tool wishlist! Thanks for sharing.

 

http://hawksawblades.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=TSBS&Category_Code=CSB


this link shows all available sizes

 

ANY carbide-tipped circular saw blade will cut metal - I cut the heavy gauge tailpipes on my car with a ripping blade designed for plywood. It probaby won't last as long as the blades you're talking about, but they're cheap and if someone only wants to make a few cuts they work just fine. (And I've used the same saw and blade since then on plywood and it still works fine!)

 

yes, any carbide blade will cut steel... however, its the brazing process and the quality of the carbide that makes the difference in the overall quality of the blade... trust me, you dont want to cut steel with a regular "el chiwanese" blade... i have had the ****in carbides of those dime store toss out blades come out cutting oak, and thats a bit less than a chunk of steel.

 

yea, a screw drive saw would be ideal for this, but not needed... the craftsman saw i use is holding up fine and its seen miles of lumber before even lookin at this blade

 

Sizes available: 5-3/8" x 20mm* x 30 and 50 tooth, 6-1/4" x 5/8" x 48, 56, & 60 tooth, 6-1/2" x 5/8" x 40, 48, and 60 tooth,6-3/4" x 20mm x 40, 48, and 60 tooth, 7" x 20mm x 30, 36, 48, 54, and 68 tooth, 7-1/4" x 5/8 KO x 40, 50, 60, and 68 tooth, 7-1/2" x 20mm x 40, 50, 60, and 68, 8" x 20mm x 40, 50, 60, 68 tooth, 8-1/4" x 5/8" KO x 50 tooth, 9" x 1" x 40, 48, 60, 68, 80 tooth,10" x 5/8" x 52 & 80 tooth, 12" x 1" x 60 and 80 tooth, & 14" x 1" x 72, 80, and 90 tooth.
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http://bandsawblade.com/mkm_metal_devil.htm

 

EXACTLY!!!

 

I've used these before and my circular saw didn't last too long. I attributed the failure to the small steel fragments being pulled into the motor by magnetics. I believe the purpose built metal cutting circular saws address this problem as well as torque requirements. I think this effect would be even worse with a table saw (motor beneath) , but not so bad with a miter saw.

I intend to try again, but pay closer attention to keeping the saw clean. May place some external magnets on the saws body.

 

Yep, here's the official site: http://www.metaldevil.com/


~Jason