Fabrication - (video) circular saw - cutting 1" steel plate

[MitchJi]

Hi,

A normal (wood) circular saw can do the cutting but the inside of the saw needs to be protected from the metal chips.
[youtube]2VwFPXh1oo8[/youtube]

Milwaukee 6370-21 Metal Cutting 8" Circular Saw

This thing is friggin' awesome! Its well balanced, very powerful, smooth and easy to use. I never knew I wanted one until I had one...

Here's the saw on Milwaukee's Website:
http://www.milwaukeetool.com/power-tools/corded/6370-21

1/2" steel plate (about 11:00):


2" Steel tube (about 14:50):
View attachment 1

1" steel plate (about 12:30):

 

[liveforphysics]

I bought the cordless Makita metal cutting circle saw. It's been pretty amazing for ripping through sheet metal, haven't tried it on anything thicker yet but it goes through 1/8" mild steel sheet and aluminum sheet like it's butter, and the original blade still seems as sharp as new.

That saw cutting 1" steel is pretty damn amazing. That's a serious cutting tool.

 

[Xrain]

I used a slugger saw for cutting sheet metal and such in a metal shop quite extensively for a few years.
http://www.trick-tools.com/Fein_Slugger_7_inch_TCT_Circular_Saw_MCSL07_2181#.UmiYyuKsozA

It was great for sheet metal and stuff up to a quarter inch, but I probably wouldn't spend my time cutting 1/2 steel with it; since you would go through blades pretty quick. Chop saws are better for thicker metals, and if the plate is too big for a chop saw, plasma cutter or a track torch is the way to go.

You can see what I mean in that video, he is creating a lot more sparks cutting that 1/2 in. That means you are heating up the blade tips pretty hot and they will dull quickly. If you really want to cut thick stuff with a circular saw use some cutting oil when you do it to keep the blade temps down.

That Milwaukee is pretty damn awesome tho, from the looks of it better than the slugger saw I used to use... I want one...

 

[e-beach]

Looks like a good saw with a big motor, but it really is the blade after-all. Big motors are a nice thing but a 1/2 hp motor will do the same thing with a good blade, just takes longer because you have to go slower. Oil helps...makes a big mess though.

 

[Xrain]

Oil helps...makes a big mess though.

That is most definitely the downside!

On the upside, it will teach you to use safety glasses REAL quick. :wink:

 

[Dauntless]

You get something like spray Pam, as in for cooking, so you can spray it on and wash it off. Can't say I've figured out a good work flow for it, but it did seem to help.

 

[gestalt]

When I worked in the ship yard we had these things called a "meat axe". It was an angle grinder with the guard removed and the grinding wheel replaced with a metal saw blade used for some other tool. Cut through thick alluminum like butter but had a tendancy to "walk" up dudes faces.

I always thought it was crazy guys used them even after some pretty grizzly accidents and a complete violation of OSHA standards.