Whats your fav. chop saw

[MattyL13]

Looking into buying a chop saw. what do you guys use and give me some pros/cons. i like to stick to pretty much dewalt and makita. can use them pretty hard around the house but wouldnt want to rely on them in a fab. shop. so far all my dewalt and makita stuff has worked great with some pretty hard residential use. i havent even looked at any yet jsut wondering what you guys like

Lord

[DRM]

Only had one, but my 14" Ryobi chop saw has cut a LOT of steel since I bought it back in 1995. Can't complain

[trainrech]

My favorite hands down - we splurged and bought a Dewalt carbide-tooth chop saw. The blades are pricey at $140 each, but when you finish your cut you can touch the cut edge with your bare hand as it was only warm. The metal shavings look just like you cut a 2x4 in half.

[preach]

What I have is a friend's that I let use my shop, it's a dewalt abrasive.

When I buy something it will have teeth, hopefully a horizontal band saw otherwise it will be a carbide.

[woody99]

Originally Posted by DRM

Only had one, but my 14" Ryobi chop saw has cut a LOT of steel since I bought it back in 1995. Can't complain

Had my Ryobi for a few years and not a problem so far (knock on wood)... and at Home Depot I swear I only paid about a hundred or so.

[NOODLES]

I had a harbor freight one for 1 yr, and only used it for about 10 cuts, smoked it, not a good buy.

[Rockabilly]

dewalt 871..

[GRMhick]

Originally Posted by NOODLES

I had a harbor freight one for 1 yr, and only used it for about 10 cuts, smoked it, not a good buy.

I pulled a dumber move and bought a USED harbor freight chop saw. That thing didnt last a weekend.

I am tempted to try out one of these ryobi's even though, i would like a milwalkee.

But for now, I am using a delta 10" Miter saw

[MiniMog]

There is a guy up here that buys pallets of used Harbour Freight stuff and I bought 3 chop saws off him for $40 and I am still on the first saw and I abuse the hell out of it. Its done 3 full race cages, 5 solo cages, 2 small cages and an un godly amount of muffler tubing cuts for a development program we are running...I guess I just got a good one...

[cj7jeep81]

I have the Makita chop saw, and so far no complaints.

[DRM]

Originally Posted by woody99

Had my Ryobi for a few years and not a problem so far (knock on wood)... and at Home Depot I swear I only paid about a hundred or so.

It's been almost 10 years, but I seem to recall I paid over $200 for mine, and I believe I got it from Home Depot as well.

I really have abused this thing - it is one of the first power tools I got out of HS, and it was a pretty spendy purchase - for me - at the time.

Not only does it still work well, I swear I could clean it up, wipe it down, and it seriously still looks almost new.

I have been VERY happy with thie Ryobi - can't say I have ever regretted it one bit

[broncofreak2000]

I have the black & decker professional model, no problems yet and I work it hard.

[64Trvlr]

Milwaukee

[jeeplord]

Get the DeWalt with the ergonomic handle (it's usually carried by decent contruction tool suppliers, not your Home Depot type tool) I use them at work and I'll take them over the typical DeWalt or Ryobi any day.

[weldpro]

The Makita 14 inch abrasive in IMHO the absolute best abrasive saw in this catagory. It is also as far as I can tell the ONLY saw made in the USA (Buford , Georgia). Mine still is not dead but just within the last week develpoed fawked cutting (not straight etc) this upon later inspection is due to the eventual overheating of the thin area close to the blade on the right side-looking at the blade. I took a machinsts square , found how far it was off welded up some flat stock , and bingo it works perfect again! I did replace it with Mak's 12 in carbide saw though (made in PRC ) , and that works much better than expected.
To give you an idea of how long this saw was in service , and some of the abuse etc:

Six years one month old
average 10 blades a month (721 blades ) (4.50 a bladebulk buying genuine mak blades=$3244 lifetime)
Served in the mud & snow for about a year off of a mobile rig

[frankenfab]

My favorite chopsaw is not a chopsaw at all, it's a band saw. I've only used brand name chopsaws (never a cheap one). They all are noisy, messy, and make crooked cuts.

With a bandsaw, you clamp the piece, turn it on, drop the blade, and go do something else. It is quiet and very accurate. I highly recommend you give a bandsaw some consideration.

Here's a little more information on bandsaws:

/forum/shop-tools/260984-band-saws-what-have-you-done-make-yours-work-better.html

[300sniper]

i've been eye balling the rigid at the depot. it has a cast base not a flimsy sheet metal base. also apears to have the strongest material locking mechinism out of all other machines i have seen. i have not used one yet to be sure. i've been using a contractor grade dewalt, not sure on the model number, it has plenty of power but doesn't cut very straight especialy on miter cuts. i think the unstraight cuts are inherent of abrasive saws blade flex tho.

[stomper4x4]

Makita 2414B 14" chop saw...Have cut alot of steel, from 4"x3/8" flat plate to 2"x3" rectangle to 4" round tube in the 5 years that i have had it with no probs..You have to be very patient to make straight cuts, but if you let the saw do the work and not force the cut it will come out straight...

[OverThrottle]

I have the Rigid and it has worked verywell for me. I've had it for about 3 years now. If I were looking for a carbide saw, I would probably look at PorterCable or Milwaukee. I personally would stay away from Dewalt. I have never had much luck with their stuff.

[Trailer Rails]

I have a Milwakee 14". It works well for me. If you want to spend some more $$ buy a horazontal band saw. The blades on a miter saw will deflect sometimes and that can be annoying. They are also messy and make alot of smoke/dust.

[stomper4x4]

The blade only deflects when you put to much force on the saw or if your useing a cheap ass blade...like i said before be patient, let the saw do the work, and you will get nice straight cuts...

[wheelsup]

Favorite abrasivve chopsaw is the one from Rutland tool
http://rutland.sccomputers.com/toolb...atpage=483&=Go

16" wheel, 3 hp. cut thru anything. loud , messy, but works.

Next choice for non hard materials is a Scotchman cold saw with a 16" blade, looks liek abig wood cutting miter saw, but blade runs at around 40 on slow to 120 rpm on hi.
Will cut perfect cuts, any angle you want, has flood coolant setup on it. Just do not cut any hardened material, the teeth dissappear real fast.
I also have a cheapo Ryobi 14" for light quick non critical cuts.
Brian A.

[John Smith]

Another vote for the Ryobi. I have had mine for about two years and have cut a lot of steel with it and it still works perfectly.

[jeeplord]

[QUOTE=frankenfab]My favorite chopsaw is not a chopsaw at all, it's a band saw. I've only used brand name chopsaws (never a cheap one). They all are noisy, messy, and make crooked cuts.
QUOTE]

The Milwaukee porta bans are so sweet for use in the garage, it lets you get things on and off the vehicle.

[Supergper]

IMO, the newest Ryobis are trash...we went through three of them in about three-four weeks...we ended up getting a Rigid and it kicks serious ass...I use a dewalt at my home and its been alright (no problems at all) but I like the rigid much better.