I've been kicking around the idea of buying a cold saw. The Morse blades are made in the USA but the saw is made in Taiwan. From what I've read about it, it's a good saw. The vise uses an allen wrench and gets better reviews than the vises on other saws in this price range. I'm not even considering the Rigid saw because of the straight handle. The Milwaukee saw seems to get good reviews as well....except for the vise. Makita gets the same complaints as Milwaukee. The number one complaint I've read about with any brand including the one Morse sells is the blades don't last long when cutting heavy gauge steel. Unless I find another option in this price range I'm leaning towards the Morse Metal Devil or the Milwaukee. One of the problems with the vise on the Milwaukee is it's terribly inaccurate when cutting miters. Anyone on here have any first hand knowledge about the accuracy of the Morse saw when cutting miters?
yeah,I was seriously thinking of the Evolution saw and had made up my mind that was what i was gonna go with after seeing the local steel supply house carries them and all the guys in the yard used them so they must be good right??wrong! i did my research and they had many issues with them as you mentioned.One mainly being the quality of the frame being flimsy,lots of misscuts etc...The one that had the best reviews time and time again was the MK Morse "metal devil" and imagine that,it was the saw made in America! a novel idea...First thing that that got me was the quality,this thing is SOLID,no cast parts in the base,the quality is there you can tell.I don't work for Morse but if anyone is looking for a real quality tool,this is it!
yeah,i've read also that the blades don't last very long with heavier gage steel but i've had no issues with it,it still has all it's teeth.The miter cuts are dead on the saw doesn't pull the material out of the vise when you cut it,like most other brands with cheap vises,it's holds it straight and tight (yeah the actual saw is made in taiwan,but the supplies parts are 10X the quality of other taiwanese made junk)
i have the evolution / rage saw and love it.i find it very accurate,compared to an abrasive saw and no dust!!!! they were on sale at menards for 179.99 with a blade. i highly recomend this saw for the price its hard to beat!!
I picked up this abrasive Milwaukee for $20 on CL........... Cleaned it up and spent another $20 for a new cord and blade. I deal with the dust and used the $400 savings for goodies on the roadster!
I bought a Porter-Cable about 5-6 yrs ago and love it. No sparks flying around the shop. Their blades are good too. Around $300 at that time.
i have had a Milwaulkee abrasive saw for many years, still works great, then a couple years ago i bought a Milwaulkee cold cut saw, the second day i was cutting a piece of 1/2"x1/2" .062 wall tubing and for some reason just at the end it caught a tore out 5 or 6 teeth, a week later i bought a new better blade, about the second day i went to cut a piece of 2" angle iron and after about 1/8" deep cut it was so dull it would not cut anymore, the next week i had it sharpened and that time i did cut 3 or 4 pieces before it was dull, so then i put on an abrasive blade, that worked great for about two weeks when a bearing went, now it sits covered in dust and i'm back to the old saw, i'm thinking i should smash the hell out of the new saw with my backhoe.
I read somewhere, Amazon maybe, that the Morse saw is made in Taiwan. The blades are made in the USA.
The Metal Devil blades are great and will last a long time if used properly. Both cold cut blades (toothed blades) or abrasive blades will not cut well across a large flat surface. The toothed blades will over heat and damage the teeth and a abrasive blades will glaze and stop cutting. Heat is the enemy of a toothed blade and will ruin them instantly. The solution is to always try to cut across the section. Stand channel on edge and cut down with the chop saw, do not clamp it with the back flat to the table. Angle iron, lay with the edges of the two legs down and the point up, like a triangle. Flats, stand up on edge. I use a 7 1/4" Metal Devil in a std. hand held Skill saw for most of my metal cutting. I also put a 7 1/4" Metal Devil in a cheap ($50.00) Craftsman miter saw made for wood. I use the miter saw for small angles, tubes etc. For larger sections I use the Skill saw. With some practice and good layout lines, you can make very acurate cuts with the skill saw. The skill saw works well because it is always sawing across the section of the material, rather than feeding down like a chop saw. I cut almost all of the 5", 4" and 3" channel and angle iron for my car hauler bed with one Metal Devil blade in a skill saw. Mitres and all. I even split 6 foor lang pieces of 6" channel the long way, took only minutes (like sawing hard oak). A Skill saw and a blade will only set you back about a C-note and give you a very versitile tool. I just love those Metal Devils. The chips are hot and sharp, wear a face sheild, safety gl***es and long sleaves! Oh, another hint, I treat everything with a weld through primer first too, easy to see layout marks, easy paint prep later, that's why it's all silver. Here are some examples:
The Jalopy Journal
