[matt167]

I have an older Harbor freight 14" chop saw that I cut my old frame with. it was the old $50 special, it worked good for 2 years however, I suspect it was flexing during the cuts because I had to do a lot of grinding to get some peices to match good.. among other things, I never found the angle finder the best. I set it at 45* and it worked but I never trusted it.

I went out today looking for a new saw for a new frame. went to HF first, found they don't even sell the $50 special anymore. the cheap 1 is $69, and is cheaper looking than the 1 I had. the $149 1 looks 'ok'. went to lowes, and looked at the cheaper Hitachi, and for $179, it looks the same as the HF saw. still has the angle finder I don't trust.. I looked at the compound miter saws and liked what I saw. never really looked close to them before as I'm not a wood worker. but the angle finders are accurate and easy to set, and the saw itself nice and sturdy .. went looking and found 10" abrasive wheels to fit, rated for 6,100 RPM.. picked up a cheaper ( but not cheapest ) Skil brand 10" saw and a couple deWalt abrasive discs.. saw is 15 amp and spins at 5,000 RPM... is this going to be safe/ work ok? I just want accuratly make cuts to build a new frame. probably use 45* cuts mostly thru 2x3x 11 gauge but will also cut 30ish degree in smaller stuff. and some wood ( with the right blade ) from time to time

[speedydeedy]

It will work with abrasive blades but not with carbide,it would have to turn slower. The problem is with the 10" blade. Unless you never cut anything very deep,remember a 10 " blade won't cut 5" deep.Maybe not quite 3".The chop saws use a 14" blade and I find myself quite often needing the whole depth. Especially after the blade wears down to 12".

[matt167]

I was thinking about the decreased cutting depth, but I'm cutting 2x3 on it's side. the other concern was the speed, as I know chop saws spin at 3,500 RPM. 5k is beyond the optimal speed. HF had some miter saws that spun at 4,300 RPM, but they looked cheap