Thinking about splurging on one. Don't do a LOT of metal cutting, and my Milwaukee 14" abrasive chopsaw works okay, but it's dusty and slow.

If you have one (or another brand of the same tool) how do you like it?

Is it enough of an improvement over abrasive saws to be worth the $500-ish price tag? Assuming normal usage (ie not abusing it) how's the blade life? At $100 a pop for mild steel carbide blades, that's a consideration.

Other comments/input?

Paul, I had an abrasive chop saw. I ended up swapping out the blade on a wood chop saw to one of the Evolution blades. It was a game changer. Literally made the most incredible differences in all the joints I welded. Everything fit perfectly. Cut time was half that of the abrasive blade, and there was so much less of a mess to clean up. It was just metal shavings, not metal and black sand and shit.

The abrasive blades flex and you end up with a cut that has blade deflection in the cut. One side of the 45° is good, and the other side has gaps.
With the Evolution blade, every cut was perfect and every joint fit tightly. A few were so perfect that I had to bevel the edges to weld it together.

That said, I really wanted the Evolution saw, and the table in the saw. I just didn’t have the budget for it at the time.

I hope that is helpful.

I have the Fein Slugger that is similar. It works great. Nice cuts and minimal heat. The only thing I wish it had was a more precise miter on the clamp. I always check my 90 and 45 with a square before cutting rather than rely on the markings. Blade life is fair, not great. I work with a fair amount of 3/16 wall square tubing and I'd say the life is measured in hundreds, not thousands of cuts.

As a hobbyist, I have enjoyed using mine. Have to agree on the sloppy miter.

I have a portaband (great for small stuff) a 14" bandsaw that I geared down and put a metal cutting blade on (better, but still a PITA for cutting off longer stock and I need to speed it up a tad) a Milwaukee 14" abrasive (noisy, slow and dirty) an assortment of 4.5 inch grinders and slitting discs and such, plus O/A torch and a small plasma cutter, so I don't NEED another way to cut metal.

But, per the cartoon, what does need have to do with anything? I went ahead and ordered the 15"Evolution while the CFO is in a generous mood.

Can you put just the blade in your existing chop saw?

The dust is a little bit from metal particles, but mostly from the abrasive blade itself as it wears down. In any kind of confined space you should probably wear some kind of respirator.

The evolution is worlds beyond an abrasive saw, faster, better cut and finish quality, relatively sparkless,not as precise as a good bandsaw, but WAY faster, and good enough for the majority of of the required cuts. Blade life is long if you are careful and always properly clamp your material. Still makes a mess, but no smoke and cleanup is easier I think.

I have a DeWalt chop saw with an abrasive wheel and I HATE using it (because of the wheel). The flex in the wheel is annoying as hell and makes measurements junk.

I think I may pick up one of these blades for it.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Can you put just the blade in your existing chop saw?

The dust is a little bit from metal particles, but mostly from the abrasive blade itself as it wears down. In any kind of confined space you should probably wear some kind of respirator.

In general, a reg chop saw is too fast.
Yes, it can and does work with the correct blade but it can have a lot more sparks and heat than desired or optimal.

mine works great I use it all the time, you can buy oshlun blades for it and they are cheaper plus my local saw shop resharpens them for 15 bucks each. one thing you must do is never cut anything sketchy if its not clamped down properly you can kiss that blade goodby as it will take several teeth with it, ask me how I know, I cut mild steel, aluminum and stainless steel with mine. these are 100 times better than an abrasive saw.

Hmm. News to me. I have done quite a bit of cutting and welding in mild steel of various kinds of stock for about thirty years and all I have ever used is abrasive blades in a chop saw most likely very similar to yours (when I wasn't using a torch or a mini grinder with cutting wheel). Makita, Bosch, Hitachi. I learned initially with stick welding but soon moved to MIG. I have never had a problem with cutting or welding and usually manage to get things square and plumb enough for anything less stringent than engineering specs. I would wonder,too, (as you do) if something else was worth the cost or would give you more accuracy than you need or can correct with your weld; I don't need the gaps to be minimal or non-existent. Certainly not precise to the point I would have to bevel the parts to give myself weldable penetration (as Beancooker mentions). Maybe in production work were accuracy or speed was more important, but in the applications you suggest or imply, might not be worth the expense. My 2 cents.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

In general, a reg chop saw is too fast.
Yes, it can and does work with the correct blade but it can have a lot more sparks and heat than desired or optimal.

Yep. Just checked; my DeWalt chop saw is 4000rpm. That is way too high for these blades. Most of them are limited to 1600 or less. Looks like I'll just keep an eye out for a decent horizontal bandsaw at auction.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: flesheatingvirus,

Well, I'm not sure if I'm ticked off or relieved.

Got an email that the saw was backordered with no ship date.

That plus a little buyer's remorse prompted me to cancel the order. It was mostly just the urge to have a new toy anyway.

I have a beat up DeWalt circular saw that I use to cut aluminum. I think I'll just try a steel-cutting blade for that. Should be handy for cutting sheet goods.

quote:

posted February 27, 2025 07:13 PM Hide Post
mine works great I use it all the time, you can buy oshlun blades for it and they are cheaper plus my local saw shop resharpens them for 15 bucks each. one thing you must do is never cut anything sk etchy if its not clamped down properly you can kiss that blade goodby as it will take several teeth with it, ask me how I know, I cut mild steel, aluminum and stainless steel with mine. these are 100 times better than an abrasive saw.
 
Posts: 5731 | Registered: February 09, 2003

Well, it's a moot point, but I would ask Benchmade what steel-cutting saw they used