Miter Saw capable of wood AND metal?

[SR5Dave]

I'm looking for a good miter saw for around the house stuff.. and I want to use it for all the stuff w/ my rig too. The DW Multicutter seemed cool, but it looks like its perfect for metal and metal only. Whats the best saw for wood and metal? I don't mind spending a bit more for a good one cause its replacing two tools.

Thanks guys!
Dave

[LAWMAN]

Dont know if thats possible due to the rpm's. Wood cuts at a much higher RPM than metal

[SR5Dave]

Originally Posted by LAWMAN

Dont know if thats possible due to the rpm's. Wood cuts at a much higher RPM than metal

Yeah, I was hoping there might be a two speed one out there or something. Maybe I could get a wood one and either change gears/pulleys and blades or get a potentiometer

[LAWMAN]

lol you would be better off buying the Dewalt multi cutter and then put a wood blade on and be patient. Hell you would not even really need to change the blade.

[SR5Dave]

Originally Posted by LAWMAN

lol you would be better off buying the Dewalt multi cutter and then put a wood blade on and be patient. Hell you would not even really need to change the blade.

Maybe I'll email Dewalt and ask em what they reccomend. Hopefully they won't sue me for selling this yellow pencil with a red eraser

[K2Orion]

I've got a Craftsman compound miter saw that I got when I remodeled my mom's kitchen for her 1 year on x-mas break. It rarely got used for wood and was just collecting dust while I went through cutoff wheels for my 4.5" grinder. Finally I just said screw it and bought a cutoff blade for a chopsaw and put it on the miter saw. It works, just make sure to remove the dust collection bag first. A polyester bag full of sawdust flames up real good when you start hitting it with sparks.

[SR5Dave]

Originally Posted by K2Orion

I've got a Craftsman compound miter saw that I got when I remodeled my mom's kitchen for her 1 year on x-mas break. It rarely got used for wood and was just collecting dust while I went through cutoff wheels for my 4.5" grinder. Finally I just said screw it and bought a cutoff blade for a chopsaw and put it on the miter saw. It works, just make sure to remove the dust collection bag first. A polyester bag full of sawdust flames up real good when you start hitting it with sparks.

Bravo! That woulda been a darwin award for sure man

So I guess either one is capable of the other, but is one designed to do both? Guess I'm asking for too much?

[randii]

So I guess either one is capable of the other, but is one designed to do both? Guess I'm asking for too much?

Tough to go two ways, with the blade turning directly off the electric motor shaft.
* The metal can do the wood work, when fitted with the right blade, but the RPMs are wrong.
* The wood can do the metal work, when fitted with an abrasive blade, but the RPMs are wrong, and I'd expect to dramatically shorten the life of the wood saw.

I've used different-sized metal abrasive wheels and wood blades to dink with the cutting speed at the kerf, and have a Harbor Freight Chicago Electric miter saw that is pulling dual duty. It had kinda spotty alignment out of the box, when cutting hard cross-grain in wood... no surprise that cutting angles in metal hs resulted in even worse angle-holding capability. All the plastic on the saw is at least pock-marked from spraying hot-metal, and in some case has melted and burned.

This sort of use beats the hell out of the tool, luckily it was a harbor freight cheapy. It is minimally acceptable for rough cuts, but expect to get metal in your wood (that's rust, folks) and wood in your metal (sawdust flares up when you weld). If you have space for only one tool, are willing to shorten that tool's life, AND don't need precision, this can be made to work -- but you need realistic expectations, going in.

Randii

[SR5Dave]

Originally Posted by randii

Tough to go two ways, with the blade turning directly off the electric motor shaft.

You're saying I can't have a bisexual miter saw? So if anything, a metal one with a wood blade would be the best? I'd hate to buy two, just seems so silly since they're almost the same thing!

[Dr. Deuce]

I got an old mikita 12" wood saw that I put a metal blade on and it works great! I've been cutting 1/4" all day long. So dont know- but it works.

[Abugarcia]

Just make evreything out of steel
Problem solved.

[Dr. Deuce]

Originally Posted by Abugarcia

Just make evreything out of steel
Problem solved.

Problem solved!!

[SR5Dave]

totally! I think I am going to go with the DW multi cutter cause its an awesome metal cutter and it should do OK at metal if I change blades and go nice and slow (about a third the speed, seeing as the RPM is 1/3)

If anyone has a better idea I'm open, let me know

Dave

[SR5Dave]

Well, went to Home Depot today and we were there for over 2 hours I was good and got a drill We saw a nice table saw for 50$, so we're considering getting a table saw and the DW multicutter... Table saw probably first, I can do a lot with just it, truck is sorta on indefinet hold right now anyway

[JESSE_at_TLT]

Anything new? I've seen DeWalt's multi-cutter, and Evolution's Rage 3. I'm building a small (10ft) enclosed trailer that's going to serve as sort of a mobile workshop, so space is VERY limited. I'm looking for something that's more adjustable than a standard chop-saw, and I need to be able to cut metal and wood with it.

[JESSE_at_TLT]

Just found this and this.

[D60]

Originally Posted by JESSE_at_TLT

Just found this and this.

Uh huh. The first one's cordless and claims non-ferrous only.

The second one looks more like a cold saw, but also claims non-ferrous only.........but says it can accept abrasive blades..............albeit 12" which is kind of a bummer

Were you able to get a price on the second one?

And I'm really confused 'cause isn't C.R. Lawrence the place that makes aftermarket windows/sliders/sunroofs for the automotive industry? This place claims to be C.R. Laurance.

[JESSE_at_TLT]

Jeez, I didn't even notice that the first one was cordless. Just saw that it uses a Bosch motor. I did see that both of them are only approved for non-ferrous metals, but I figured maybe that's a little better than wood-only compound miter-saws? At least they had some type of metal in mind when they designed those. Why ISN'T there a saw like this on the market? I don't get it.

[johnmcd]

What about a band saw? loses the versatility on the wood, still cuts great, cuts the hell out of steel. The cost can be close to a grand but if you are going to cut lots of steel and some wood, it might be worth it.

[D60]

Originally Posted by JESSE_at_TLT

Jeez, I didn't even notice that the first one was cordless. Just saw that it uses a Bosch motor. I did see that both of them are only approved for non-ferrous metals, but I figured maybe that's a little better than wood-only compound miter-saws? At least they had some type of metal in mind when they designed those. Why ISN'T there a saw like this on the market? I don't get it.

Well............doesn't the Evo Rage fit your requirments? It was seemingly designed with thinner wall metal in mind, including ferrous, and it is on the market. They do also sell a metal-specific blade for it.

I had also thought about the bandsaw thing. Have you considered if there's any possible way to make a small miter bandsaw like these fit?
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showp...9&postcount=15

I wonder if you could have it store up against the wall and then swing out 90 degrees when you want to use it such that the stock feeds thru the saw and toward the front of the trailer?? It would take some engineering but it could be trick..........maybe.

[JESSE_at_TLT]

Yeah, the Evo Rage 3 might fit the bill. Just want to find out what my options are so I can make an informed decision. I've already got a porta-band (like this one, but's the older V28 model). No room for anything bigger, but I'm going to try to come up with some kind of way to mount that in a vise so I can use it standing upright like a vertical bandsaw. No room for anything bigger, unfortunately.

[DILYSI Dave]

Originally Posted by JESSE_at_TLT

Anything new? I've seen DeWalt's multi-cutter, and Evolution's Rage 3. I'm building a small (10ft) enclosed trailer that's going to serve as sort of a mobile workshop, so space is VERY limited. I'm looking for something that's more adjustable than a standard chop-saw, and I need to be able to cut metal and wood with it.

I do most of my cutting on a Delta compound miter saw. Wood uses the standard wood carbide tipped blade. Aluminum - same thing. Steel - I swap over to an 1/8" thick abrasive wheel.

I won't say it's ideal (I really want a cold saw) but it works.

[Wheel28]

Originally Posted by Abugarcia

Just make evreything out of steel
Problem solved.

You can make things out of materials other than steel.

What a concept

But really get a good metal cutting saw and a CL special for wood. Wood saws are cheap on CL. Why fight trying to make a tool do a job it wasn't made for.

Wheel

And I'm still not impressed enough with the metal cutting saws to justify the expense. I prefer a bandsaw.

[MudzerK5]

http://www.bii1.com/saws/manual-coldsaw-225m.php

This is shown as $695 on the Baileigh site and it is exactly what I'm buying once I get the extra cash. It has all the features I need to cut metal and what It will not cut, I can cut with my Bandsaw.

See, I have a roller table under my tube rack. I need a miter type saw so that I can simply grab the tube from the rack, drop it on the table and cut my angle while it rests on the roller table. My Bandsaw will not do this for me since it is a cheapo 4x6 type. The CS-225M will do what I need to cut 1-3/4" and 1-5/8" tube up to 45° angle, quickly.

If the tube needs more angle, I can throw it in the bandsaw that Im going to modify with a rotary table and get angles up to 60°. But, hopefully the piece will be much more manageable at this point and not 20' long!

At 50 rpm, it will prolly not cut wood though, so Im a dork for not looking at that prior to posting.

[Jrod-13]

Ive been using a delta miter saw with an abrasive wheel in it all summer.. thickest ive done so far is 3/8's, but even cutting that, it ripped right through with no issues..
way faster/more power than the milwaukee chop saw our club has..