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Did I kill my chop saw?

10K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  nissancrawler 
#1 ·
Dewalt 12" - was cutting some 2" x .250 wall tubing for links with metal cutting blade(brownish material). Motor kept getting slower after the first cut. Let it cool for 30 minutes - still never got up to speed again and continued to get slower. Finished my 2 cuts - but took awhile. Brushes looked to be arcing pretty bright and they showed some discoloration - but still plenty long nonetheless. Sand down the brushes a tad to get back to a dull grey?

:(
 
#2 ·
I have never had luck refinishing the brushes in the past. I have always just replaced them. I went to the hardware store to get brushes and they did not have the ones I needed and he sent me a couple blocks over the the starter alternator repair shop and they had some industrial heavy duty brushes that have been working like a champ!!!

You might look into some heavy duty brushes???

Are you using a good saw blade? some of the real cheap ones will cause extra load and not cut well??

JOSH
 
#7 ·
You say chop saw and that its a 12" Dewalt. Is this a 12" miter saw for wood working that you put a metal blade in? Most won't like that. My dewalt abrasive saw is 14" and designed to cut metal not wood. I also hve 4 different Dewalt Miter saws for wood. I've powered thru some heavy bar stock at times with the 14" and have not killed the motor. The blade may clog and not cut well if it can't clear the grindings.
 
#10 · (Edited)
I have a dewalt service center near my house. I'm sure that if you look you can find someone in your area that will service the saw or order you dewalt parts. ( I found my place again online after they moved to a new building.) Like others have said I'd start by changing the brushes. The sears hardware near my has a good selection of brushes. Not all of them carry the same selection. Mine is one of the larger ones but the other 3 near me have less items and they are all a little different if that makes sense.

Also I would blow out the saw as well as possible to remove all the metal particles. They won't do the bearings any good and may screw up the windings. Remember a motor is an electromagnet when its running and it will want to collect metal dust. I won't tell you to disassemble the saw. I don't know what you would be comfortable with, but I would clean everything as well as possible. Also if you decide to take it apart, pick a day and dedicate it to that, preferably a day when you can go and get any parts you may need. Then take it apart and put it back together as quickly as possible so you remember where everything goes. Digital picts help tons. Take it from someone who has sat there 3 weeks later trying to remember which screws when where It's no fun. I have a box full of skill saw parts that went to a dead saw that I tried to fix and then quit when it became a PITA. Still a lot of good parts for my other 3 skill saws if I need them.

Good luck.

BTW I cut concrete and steel with my wormdrive. I basically consider it a disposable saw. Its an old one that I picked up used. Don't feel bad about the saw, its an understandable thing to do. E bay is great for these sort of things.
 
#12 ·
I checked Dewalt's literature on the DW715 12" miter saw.

http://toolnet.dewalt.com/Toolnet/OMrepos/00AB910431C1CE42008000035688051F.pdf

On page 8 under "Cutting with your saw" it says "DO NOT CUT ANY FEROUS (IRON AND STEEL) MATERIALS OR MASONRY WITH THIS SAW. Do not use any abrasive blades." Capital letters from thier literature.

This basically confirmed what I remember.

Is it posible, yes I guess so. Would I, no not unless I planned on destroying the saw. Also don't forget that the RPM of the blade is critical. If I run chopsaw abrasive blades in my gas demo saw, you can see the blade instantly wobble and it will shortly start to comapart as soon as you start cutting. ( the blades are both 14" abrasive blades with the same arbor but diferent RPM ratings) They look the same if you don't look close. My guys at work don't always look to close when they grab a blade! Trust me, the blade comming apart is NOT a fun experience.

BTW these saws will NOT run the carbide cold cut blades used in the new saws. The saw RPM is way to fast for the blades. I know I have looked into seeing if I could retrofit one of my saws to the new blades. If you cut alot of steel these new saws are sweet. They will go thru thick steel and leave a very clean cut with almost no cleanup. They are VERY expensive however.
http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail.asp?productID=159
Dewalts version since I still had their site up.
 
#13 ·
Thanks guys - I will blow it out and put some new brushes in it. I will update this thread after I do that so others will know if it happens to them. I think there may be bearing damage.

I will also look up the nearest service center as well and see if it is cost effective.

Thanks again.
 
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