Tired of Ruining Tool Steel

[thegary]

I guess I am lost here. 1018 is just regular cold rolled steel, not hardened.

[albrightree]

I bought a long life bandsaw blade from mcmaster carr for my 30 year old 4"x6" "Amrox Band San" Yes its clearly spelled wrong. The saw cuts great; steel, stainless steel, aluminum, thompson shaft(I grind a little off the outside) Turns out the blade is a Starrett Intenss saw blade, cost more than I paid for the saw. Its a little bit the saw, and a lot about the blade. I try use the band saw most of the time, chop saw is for the rough work out doors on site. You can cut multiple pieces at the same time while your deburring the last bunch. Its a great time saver for any shop, and the cleanup isn't too bad either.

[farmersamm]

I guess I am lost here. 1018 is just regular cold rolled steel, not hardened.

When cutting any kind of steel with either the torch, plasma, or abrasive saw.....I get a hardened edge that ruins my mill tooling.

[clive]

I have the same saw, it is sold in Australia under the Hafco brand. One thing I found on mine was the follower wheel was steel in a steel bush, I replaced it with a sealed bearing.

[lotechman]

There are tables that show the power required for different operations. Grinding of any sort requires a great deal more power than any cutting like metal saws and drill bits. If you buy cheap abrasive saw blades you will find that they are often much thicker than the more expensive to ensure long life. The thick saw disc requires more power in proportion to the increased thickness. Often the abrasive saw motor is already maxed out. Because the disc is thick it does not wear away as it cuts so you have a coating of dull abrasive and the disc stops cutting. You apply more pressure and the disc starts to flex. The motor slows down also and you shorten the life of the saw.
Select quality abrasive saws disc that are thin. As they cut they break away giving fresh abrasive ensuring a constant and effective cut. Yes this thin good quality blade will not last as long as the cheap thick ones but it will cut straight because you are constantly presenting fresh grit to the cut kerf.
The only way I have managed to make the cheap junk discs cut is to stop periodically and run a broken chunk of grinding disc against the cutting edge to dislodge the dull abrasive. I then continue the cut for about half a minute then have to repeat the operation.
If you wait long enough you will have a salesman come in through the door and try to sell you long life cutting discs or grinding discs. They never wear out and they never cut after the first minute of operation. Quality abrasive wheels rely on the surface grit dropping off as it gets dull.
My .02

[TraditionalToolworks]

Yea, I've found the chopsaw isn't the answer I hoped it would be as well.

Maybe what you really mean is that a chopsaw wasn't the right tool for the jobs you've used it for? I think it's safe to say that they do have a place, and are much lighter and a lot more portable than even a small 4x6, so there are times when a chopsaw might start making more sense.

Keep in mind that this is coming from someone that has used a crescent wrench as a hammer at more than one point in his life...

I used to use a chopsaw for stuff that a bandsaw works better for myself, but sometimes you have to use what you've got.

It is nice to have a bandsaw...can be an invaluable tool...and for me a bandsaw is much more useful than a chopsaw, could be similar for you guys.

[DougAustinTX]

Chop saws are my choice to make the pie cuts in stainless when building exhaust systems. Unfortunately, there is always a messy edge to clean up with a carbide burr after the chop saw finishes. I used to use my Greenlee band saw for the cuts, but it is too slow and I was ruining the bi-metal blades in no time at all on the stainless 3" tubing.