[lowROLLERchevy]

This saw is pure trash. Save yourself $400 and get a craftsman abrasive chop saw.

The base is stamped sheet metal, and as such its got the dimensional accuracy of your average cake pan. Would you use a cake pan as the starting for an industrial saw? Didn't think so. Lay a straight tube in the vise and it rocks side to side

The backstop has to be slid forward to do 3" or smaller tubing, and there is NOTHING to keep the backstop square. the lil angle gaige tells you NOTHING because the slider has so much slack the backstop also moves left and right when its unlocked.

You wind up having to set the back stop angle using a protractor against the blade

And then when you make a cut, the blade takes a meandering path through the material. The blade moves almost an 1/8 to the right by the time your finishing your cut.

And the story about how nice the cuts look and how theres no burr, blants lies. There is NOTHING about this saw i find to be worth $500. Every cut i made with it made me want to wrap a chain around it and use it as a mace while standing on the table at a Dewalt corporate meeting.

If your considering this saw, i suggest you take a step up in quality and instead find a goat that likes chewing on tin cans, you'll get a better cut.

[NEW INTERIORS]

The ones I have seen cutting some steel,Sure did work fine.... One thing to remember about the steel cutting blades is, Let the saw do the cutting, It isn't like the abrasive chop saw....you don't have to push down hard.. The harder you push down, The more the blade will walk, Let the saw do the cutting seem's to work fine... I have been wanting to get one, Just didn't yet... Again the one's I have seen worked great... I'm not trying to call you a liar.. Just telling you what I have seen...

[willowbilly3]

I have a Dewalt that gets occasional use, might be 5 years old. I do have to use a speed square to check it after I move it and need a perfect cut but most of the time I square up my pieces when I weld so a slight inaccuracy isn't an issue. If the wheel is wandering it's because you're crowding it, usually because you have a crappy wheel. The one that comes with them is junk. I use Brill-Blade wheels and they cut great and last real good.

[lowROLLERchevy]

i hardly used any pressure at all and the cuts still looked like trash and came out crooked. And Ive certainly spent alot of time in my life cutting tubing.

This saw gives an edge that looks like i used a wood blade to make the cut.

Ive gotten FAR better cuts using bandsaws / circular wet saws that had 1/4 of their teeth missing

[NEW INTERIORS]

Originally Posted by lowROLLERchevy

And Ive certainly spent alot of time in my life cutting tubing.

Well no one is saying you don't know how to cut tubing... Just letting you know the ones I have seen in action, work better then any abrasive chop saw I have ever used... Did you try a new blade.. And if so what kind ???

Did the saw just start doing this, Are did it always do it ???

[NEW INTERIORS]

Originally Posted by willowbilly3

I have a Dewalt that gets occasional use, might be 5 years old. I do have to use a speed square to check it after I move it and need a perfect cut but most of the time I square up my pieces when I weld so a slight inaccuracy isn't an issue. If the wheel is wandering it's because you're crowding it, usually because you have a crappy wheel. The one that comes with them is junk. I use Brill-Blade wheels and they cut great and last real good.

Willowbilly3.. I think he's talking about a metal cutting chop saw with a metal blade...Not a abrasive chop saw... The metal cutting chop saw has lower RPM's then the abrasive chop saw...

[matt167]

DeWalt chop saw/ metal cutting saws do not get great reviews.. Seems as the Evolution Rage saws are what gets the great reviews.. I did lots of shopping before I bought my Ridgid 4141 abrasive cutoff saw.. The base model Evolution Rage dry cut saw is just over $200, and I came very close to getting it, but figured I would get a really nice abrasive saw rather than a base model dry cut... The Ridgid 4141 abrasive cutoff, fits what I need perfectly, and with an 1/8" DeWalt ( Think Norton makes them ) blade, it makes near perfect cuts, and the miter marks on the fence are near perfect when lined up with a quick square, which I verified accurate with a protractor.

I steered well away from the DeWalt for the chinceyness that Lowroller described.. Only downside to Ridgid is they do not make a dry cut saw.. The same parent company that makes Ridgig, makes a lot of Craftsmen power tools. chop saws included

[lowROLLERchevy]

This is the saw for anyone thats wondering http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...ct_48565_48565

Take a look at that base. Glorified cake pan i tell you.

Originally Posted by NEW INTERIORS

Well no one is saying you don't know how to cut tubing... Just letting you know the ones I have seen in action, work better then any abrasive chop saw I have ever used... Did you try a new blade.. And if so what kind ???

Did the saw just start doing this, Are did it always do it ???

Replacement blades (if we do assume thats the problem) are $100, for the Northern Industrial brand, 180+ for the Dewalt brand and $145 for the Milwaukee brand. Paying $100+ to fix a brand new $500 saw is beyond stupid.

This saw is BRAND NEW. My buddy picked it up at the winter tool fair and just today it got tested for the first time. And no stores around here stock this thing either, so we cant even drop it back in the box and take it to Sears and say "i lost the receipt"

[willowbilly3]

Originally Posted by NEW INTERIORS

Willowbilly3.. I think he's talking about a metal cutting chop saw with a metal blade...Not a abrasive chop saw... The metal cutting chop saw has lower RPM's then the abrasive chop saw...

Oops! my bad. I've never used one of those.

[NEW INTERIORS]

Originally Posted by lowROLLERchevy

Paying $100+ to fix a brand new $500 saw is beyond stupid.

Sound's like you already have it figured out !!!!
I guess I shouldn't have open my big mouth

[Irelands child]

A-h-h-h-h another of the Stanley Black and Decker owned fine companies gone to h e l l. This is a list from late last year:

DeWalt
Porter-Cable
Delta Machinery (sold to Chang Type Industrial Co., Ltd in Jan 2011 )
DeVilbiss Air Power
Kwikset
Baldwin
Weiser Lock
Price Pfister
Emhart Teknologies
Oldham Blades
Black and Decker Firestorm
Vector

Isn't this a fantastic line up of formerly great companies taken down to junk level, close to Harbor Freight Chinese quality?

Dave W

[timothale]

I looked at them and asked why do they cost so much more that the abrasive saw to have a motor that just runs slower with the required torque. I looked at the extra saws I have and thought for a minute I could do an arbor, pullies belts and slow down one of the wood saws. I have a 14 In turret wood saw and a 14 in radial arm I haven't used in 10 years, They were handy to use when framing houses using a lot of 4 X beams. cut in one pull.

[35WINDOW]

lowroller,

Sorry to hear you don't like it-I have one, and my expectations must be set awfully low-once, through my own negligence, I have had the material I was cutting get loose (it can throw metal well!) , but other than that, I have been really happy-

My cuts only requre grinding a small "tab" that is left (w/a 3" roloc-50 grit), and, as far as I can tell the cuts have been straight-is the base stamped? Yes, it is-I would have liked it to be cast, but it's not a cold saw with a cold saw price.

I have found a guy who can sharpen my old Blades for $35, and they have worked fine. I get about 4-500 cuts per sharpening. I use the clamp if I can, and make sure the Blade is straight to the cut, same as I do with my Table Saw. Airgas sells a new 14" Blade for $109-

Would I buy it again? Probably-it does have it's down sides, but I like the clean cuts and no sparks. To each his own-

I bought mine when it was the only game in town-now Milwaukee has one, and if I were buying today I would look closely at it, as I am a Milwaukee guy-

[lowROLLERchevy]

I doubt your standards are to low, Its probably more a matter of intended use of the cut material.

what thickness material are you cutting with it? Im doing 16-18 gauge exhaust tubing. I tried it out on steel, but the plan is to use stainless for the build we are doing.

Now on the flip side of things, ALSO in the garage is a cheap miter saw for wood, 8" if i remember correctly, and its got a abrasive blade on it. The cuts THAT saw makes in 3/8 plate are quite nice. Would think the cheap saw w/ the abrasive blade would do lesser quality work....

[35WINDOW]

Originally Posted by lowROLLERchevy

I doubt your standards are to low, Its probably more a matter of intended use of the cut material.

what thickness material are you cutting with it? Im doing 16-18 gauge exhaust tubing. I tried it out on steel, but the plan is to use stainless for the build we are doing.

I've only cut up to about 1/2" material with it-mostly I cut between 18 gauge and 3/16"-you shouldn't have any problems with Stainless-

It's not the Tool for the everyday fabricator. I realize it does cost more than an Abrasive Wheel, but I really hate the sparks that an Abrasive Wheel makes, and I appreciate the finish I get.

Again, the new Milwaukee comes with a cast iron base, so I think if I were doing it again I'd look really hard at it-