Can I use a miter saw to cut 1" .120 thick square tubing?

[mkr88x]

I picked up a hob 140 for a hobby. I have a brand new craftsman miter saw that I got from my in law . Can I throw a metal blade on it to cut 1" square tubing, including angles with it or do I need a chop saw? Don't feel like spending 2 300 bucks for a hobby , at least not yet . Thanks a lot for your help

[Louie1961]

I would use an angle grinder with a cut off disk. You will ruin your mitre saw with enough steel cutting, and wood mitre saws dont have the necessary clamp/vise. A jigsaw is also an option

[derekpfeiffer]

I wouldn't do it!!

[N2 Welding]

wood saws spin too fast and not only will it ruin the blade but it will ruin the motor in the saw. You don't mention the metal you are cutting and Aluminum would be possible but still not recommended.

Regardless Nothing about welding and fabricating is cheap. The tools needed are more expensive because they get the job done efficiently and last a while. It's basically one of those you get what you pay for kind of things. If you pay for a Yugo then you go-ing to have to replace it very soon and don't expect to be able to repair it because parts are not going to be available if you get my drift.

As already mentioned the cheapest way to make those cuts would be to go to Harbor Freight and get a $10.00 4.5" angle grinder and a $8.00 set of grinder wheels in a multi pack. The pack is the best bang for the buck at Harbor Freight. You will get several cut off disks, a few grinding wheels and a few flap disks to get you started. You should be able to figure out how to use the grinder with the set up I just mentioned and if you don't like using the angle grinder for cutting the material you are talking about maybe you need to think about a cheaper hobby. .02¢

Edit: However if you are pretty frugal you may be able to come up with some second had tools with out breaking the bank that are very capable of getting the job done and make this new to you hobby a bit more enjoyable. Good luck and welcome to Welding Web.

[ICEcap]

You can use an abrasive blade.

[BrooklynBravest]

If you're on a budget, pick up a portable bandsaw from harbor Freight.

It isn't going to be a Milwaukee or dewalt, but it will more than get you by for a while at half the price.

[wb4rt]

A saber saw (jig saw) with metal cutting blade will cut the tubing you want to cut, without a lot of sparks and grit. You probably already have one of those and only need some blades.

You are going to need an angle grinder or two to clean the metal and grind your welds (until you get more practice) so if you need to buy something to cut with buy a grinder.

Welcome to welding!

[WNY_TomB]

I picked up a hob 140 for a hobby. I have a brand new craftsman miter saw that I got from my in law . Can I throw a metal blade on it to cut 1" square tubing, including angles with it or do I need a chop saw? Don't feel like spending 2 300 bucks for a hobby , at least not yet . Thanks a lot for your help

.
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i have used a chop saw with a rough wood construction or a metal cutting blade that i have used a router speed control to slow down a bit. if you got 1/4 by 4 steel flat you will have more problems than if standing up and only cutting 1/4 thick
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when thicker than 1/4" blade get duller faster. when blade dull you are friction cutting and noise is louder and piece gets hotter.
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if careful i have gotten over 20 cuts with a $20 blade. you cannot cut thick stuff like 1x1 solid steel bars. i would not used a brand new chop saw to cut metal. cost per piece cut you might find it is cheaper to buy a abrasive saw for cutting thick steel
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i bought a circular saw resharpening grinder. as long as teeth not broke off blades can be resharpened although it can easily take over 5 minutes to resharpen blade which you might only get a few resharpening out of

[Gar]

The the right tools for the job. -Don't compromise when it comes to that. Just not worth it. Saws designed to cut metal with metal blades spin at different RPMs than saws designed to cut wood. If ya do not want to spend the money now, have a local fab shop or metal supplier cut it for ya for a small fee. But once ya start making stuff out of metal, you'll be hooked, so ya may consider just buying a chop saw sooner rather than later.

Gar

[shortfuse]

Do as Louie1961 suggested. Use a 4 1/2" angle grinder and a cutoff disk. Makes a clean cut. I cut small tubing, pipe and solid stock that way all the time.

[mkr88x]

Thanks for all the replies ! So far, I used an angle grinder to cut a piece of metal. LOTS of sparks and the blade went bye bye after a few cuts, but worked. I'll try the jig saw next

[WNY_TomB]

Thanks for all the replies ! So far, I used an angle grinder to cut a piece of metal. LOTS of sparks and the blade went bye bye after a few cuts, but worked. I'll try the jig saw next

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you use chop saw too fast and loose all the teeth on a $20 to $50 blade you will not be happy. it can be done cutting steel with chop saw as i have done it many times easily over a hundred times but make sure you got spare blades which aint cheap. once you cut steel that blade no good for cutting wood anymore
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abrasive saw with 14" wheel are not that expensive and really are better at cutting thicker steel although you might have to ease off pressure every few seconds for wheel to come back up to speed. usually 120 volts ones do not have much hp

[shortfuse]

Thanks for all the replies ! So far, I used an angle grinder to cut a piece of metal. LOTS of sparks and the blade went bye bye after a few cuts, but worked. I'll try the jig saw next

You must be using cheap disks or using the angle grinder improperly. I routinely cut several pieces off of solid 1" mild steel and use the cutoff disks until they only have about 1/2" left to be able to cut halfway. I cut LOTS of 1/4" to 3/4" solid stock as well as pipe with up to 1/4" wall thickness and get lots of cuts from a single disk.

[mkr88x]

So I came across this bandsaw. Some guy is selling it on CS for $100 used once. Says it's for wood. Can it be used for metal with right blade or is it a bandsaw only for wood? Here is a link http://m.sears.com/craftsman-1-3-hp-...FR28TwodeyINSQ

[Sandy]

Metal bandsaws run from around 100 FPM to 500 FPM, that thing is around 2700... If you could find a metal cutting blade for it, it wouldn't last long.

[steve45]

Cutting steel? Yea, you can do it--ONCE!

[Louie1961]

So I came across this bandsaw. Some guy is selling it on CS for $100 used once. Says it's for wood. Can it be used for metal with right blade or is it a bandsaw only for wood?

If you are OK with spending $100, either find a used Milwaukee portaband on Craigslist for $100 or get the harbor freight portaband when they come on sale. I have a HF saw and it is OK for hobby use.

[Mikel_24]

You must be using cheap disks or using the angle grinder improperly. I routinely cut several pieces off of solid 1" mild steel and use the cutoff disks until they only have about 1/2" left to be able to cut halfway. I cut LOTS of 1/4" to 3/4" solid stock as well as pipe with up to 1/4" wall thickness and get lots of cuts from a single disk.

Exactly. You need to let the wheel do the work. If you force it against the material, you will ruin it. It will literaly disappear in front of your eyes. Also quality discs help a lot. Don't expect to get the same performance from chineese cheap discs than from a PFERD brand one (to name a decent one).

[WNY_TomB]

my experience you can easily cut steel tubing with miter saw if slow down with a router speed control. but i would not count on making smooth cuts in wood with that carbide blade again. i tried it cause some said not to do it or it cannot be done. i had no problems cutting steel tubing. its just hard on the blade and after many dozens of cuts of steel tubing you will notice blade getting steadily duller. even when blade fully dull it will still friction cut. difference is blade contact area gets red hot and saw makes more noise. cut off pieces are usually hot to touch. basically blades starts by freely cutting and slowly goes into friction cutting mode as blade dulls. in general it is 100x harder to friction cut much thicker than 3/16 thick. friction cutting is common for cutting sheet metal. noisy but it works. some even put blade on backwards. friction cutting doesnt make much difference which way blade is
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the cost of carbide blades it dont take long to be cheaper to just buy a 14" abrasive chop saw

[Dcraft]

$5.00 plus tax! Will cut tubing all day long.

[Tailored]

I feel you on the cost of dry cut saws, but dont risk your physical safety and in all likelihood damage your saw using it on the wrong material.

That stuff you're talking about is thin enough that if money is a big deal, a hacksaw will go through it pretty quick an easy. If that is more arm work than you're looking for, the advice already given, cheap(ish) angle grinder and zip (thin cut off) disks are your go to, is good advice.

Frankly, you won't do much welding work without needing at least one angle grinder anyway, and a pack of cut off disks isn't much either. If you clamp the work piece in place securely, scribe or draw a line with a square and then cut slow and careful, a free hand angle grinder can do a very accurate job (if not very fast) for not much money.

Depending on your process, you'll probably soon enough want at least 3 angle grinders, and maybe four, just to handle cutting, grinding, flap disking (sanding), and maybe wire brushes. Some people have more than that and make their setup even more granular, I know I would given the money and space.

FWIW, when picking an angle grinder, if you're in the US, and on a tight budget, you might find yourself in a HF, don't get the bottom end/lowest cost unit, look for the one that uses at least 6 amps. Aside from the vagaries of motor and gearing efficiency, more amps tends to equate to more power, and to a certain extent, build quality. If the label/box tries to hide the amps behind a wattage figure, divide by 120 to find approximate amps. If you start with one cheapo, keep your eyes open, might come across a nicer one for a good price. I picked up a pretty decent metabo for a really good price in November when the local welding shop was clearing them out at the end of the year.

While you're at it, make sure to get some safety glasses and a face shield! Wear both while using the angle grinder, especially to cut. That, and try not to have body in line with where cutting disc fragments would go (outward in a more or less straight line along the rotational path) if it were to suddenly shatter, which can happen.

[Tailored]

my experience you can easily cut steel tubing with miter saw if slow down with a router speed control.

If you do that with the simple router control vs a more complete motor control solution like a VFD, you run the risk of overheating and overloading that motor, since it loses torque pretty badly with those router controls. That may not matter to you but its a risk worth knowing about. That and yeah, the wood cutting carbide blade is not going to be in great shape after that kind of use.

[ironmangq]

For aluminum you'd be fine, we treat aluminum the same as hard wood when it comes to cutting and a regular carbide blade cuts it like butter. For steel your going to seriously overwork your saw and more than likely melt the guard and possibly injure yourself. Best off picking up a cheap angle grinder and some decent zip wheels.

As for slowing down the miter saw, doesn't work very well on single phase motors like the one in your saw. Not only do you seriously cut down the torque output but you also lose cooling because the fan is spinning slower. VFD controls for those motors also don't work at all, way expensive to find a decent single phase to single phase VFD. VFD's are designed to take single phase power and convert it to a 3 phase output and playing with the waveform and frequency to change the motors speed.

[ThorsHammer]

When I was looking to outfit my shop, I went with an Evolution Rage 3 10" Compound sliding miter saw. And I have 0 complaints. I've used it on countless projects both wood and metal and have only replaced 1 blade in the 5+ years I've had the saw.

But I also have an abrasive saw, which is what I'd recommend for you. relatively inexpensive, and able to cut larger solid stock. either that or a portaband saw. Using a cut of wheel on a grinder is fine for notching something, or putting a slot into something. but it's never as clean and true a cut as a dedicated saw.

[ronsii]

@teicara: you got any details about what it is you want to do??????