Cutting AlNiCo

[David Schwab]

Sorry I misunderstood you.

BTW, it's no good at all for ceramics.

I don't cut ceramics.. I need something to cut steel bar stock.

Sucks doing it with a hack saw.

[David Schwab]

Horbor freights looks a wee bit on the really cheap side, and seems to have a safty hazzard too. Someone slashed themselves on this HF one before(possum?). Cool toy though....The Micro mark one looks really stable and safe

You think so? I thought he HF looks very similar. The base looks nicer to me.

They both have guards... what safety hazard to you see? I want to order one of these tomorrow...

It's on sale for $19.99!

[Spence]

Before you rush out and buy, check the figures. I'm guessing you're looking to cut blades for your bass pickups. Well it should do that without any trouble but forget about using if to cut up chassis plate for your car restoration.

[NightWinder]

...Every one ive seen at Hf the gaurds were missing, so I suspect they come off unpredictably easy. That would be my only concern. It look the same, but the motor is china, as the one at MM is made in Japan?

[David Schwab]

Before you rush out and buy, check the figures. I'm guessing you're looking to cut blades for your bass pickups. Well it should do that without any trouble but forget about using if to cut up chassis plate for your car restoration.

Yep. I gave up on restoring a 1980 BMW a few years ago...

...Every one ive seen at Hf the gaurds were missing, so I suspect they come off unpredictably easy. That would be my only concern. It look the same, but the motor is china, as the one at MM is made in Japan?

Oh ok. I was worried it was something more serious. I think for $120 less I can deal with the guard coming off!

I have a chinese drill press I bought from Homier.com. At the time it was about $39. I figured it it were total garbage I didn't waste much money. It's actually fine though. I also bought a laminate trimmer for $9! Just to keep at home. We have some Porter Cable trimmers at the shop.

[Spence]

Yep. I gave up on restoring a 1980 BMW a few years ago...



Oh ok. I was worried it was something more serious. I think for $120 less I can deal with the guard coming off!

I have a chinese drill press I bought from Homier.com. At the time it was about $39. I figured it it were total garbage I didn't waste much money. It's actually fine though. I also bought a laminate trimmer for $9! Just to keep at home. We have some Porter Cable trimmers at the shop.

I'm sure the Hf one will be OK. The guard is essential to be honest. I used mine without yesterday and casually did myself an injury.
The reason I got the MM version was because I need to be able to get new discs reliably for the life of the machine.

[Possum]

not this one...

No, its not this HF cut off saw that chopped off a piece of my finger, its the mini-table saw they sell and on ebay, that saw scares the shit out of me now. It has no guard underneath the table so you might try to move it or hold it down while its on and get a nasty surprise, they really should be recalled. Also when cutting that grabby plastic stuff it shot a piece of that through my blues junior dust cover, went right through it like butter.

the cutoff saw I ran without the guard cutting steel rods and it was fine, you just have to cut real slow or the motor slows way down. its just the motor that is a bit underpowered, these things were really mean to cut brass and aluminum rods, they are excellent for that.

[R Walker]

I'm going to try and purchase one of these HF saws sometime this weekend. Would be nice to cut bars easily. Have been down the dremel/cutting wheel road and it just sucks.

Currently I'm using a pair of 9" bolt cutters from Lowe's. Cost 9.99 and they do quite nicely, although sometimes you have to clean up the edge of the barstock with a file or sander if you are slightly off when using them.

[NightWinder]

I'm going to try and purchase one of these HF saws sometime this weekend. Would be nice to cut bars easily. Have been down the dremel/cutting wheel road and it just sucks.

Currently I'm using a pair of 9" bolt cutters from Lowe's. Cost 9.99 and they do quite nicely, although sometimes you have to clean up the edge of the barstock with a file or sander if you are slightly off when using them.

Bolt cutters rock!! I carry a pair at all times- (from Detriot)

[NightWinder]

Are there any Motor torque differences between the 2?

[Spence]

Torque hardly applies to these machines. They are fairly gutless but will do the job relatively quickly and do nice perpendicular cuts.

[John_H]

I don't cut ceramics.. I need something to cut steel bar stock.

Sucks doing it with a hack saw.

Try Lenox blades. It might change your mind about hacksaws. They're absolutely the best I've found. I think Home Depot carries them.

[NightWinder]

Torque hardly applies to these machines. They are fairly gutless but will do the job relatively quickly and do nice perpendicular cuts.

Just curious...speed kills when cutting metal anyway

[David King]

I picked up my HF saw last night. It's 90w if that tells anyone anything. It's just a sewing machine motor (universal) so a speed control pedal is quite possible if you didn't want to cut everything at 7000 rpm. Blade has a standard 3/8" arbor. Slitting saw blade is 2" dia but could easily swing a 3" blade.

[David Schwab]

I picked up my HF saw last night. It's 90w if that tells anyone anything. It's just a sewing machine motor (universal) so a speed control pedal is quite possible if you didn't want to cut everything at 7000 rpm. Blade has a standard 3/8" arbor. Slitting saw blade is 2" dia but could easily swing a 3" blade.

Cool. Have you tried it out yet? I suppose it would work with a router speed control.

I'm going to order mine today.