So I'm getting older and my enthuasism for hacksaws has waned over the years. Also I recently have need to cut some heavier stock such as 1.125 inch tubing, 1/4 inch bar stock, and the like. A metal-cutting chopsaw is the right tool but I have a small shop and a small budget. Harbor Frieght sells a "
Bench Top Cut-Off Saw" saw for about $28 but it's wimpy motor, plastic housing, and floppy hinge action leave much to be desired.
Therefore, here's my...
Recipie for a $67 mini chop saw:
Harbor Freight (Drill Master)
4-1/2" Angle Grinder
ITEM 95578-0VGA
$19.99Plus
Pack of 10 4-1/2" Cut-off Wheels for Metal
Harbor Freight
ITEM 45430-8VGA
$7.99Plus
Grizzly Industrial
G8183 4-1/2" Angle Grinder Stand
Your Price:** $24.95BUT available as a knockoff on eBay:
Seller info
mydealsdirect
Buy It Now: $13.99
Equals Shipping on Harbor Freight items = $7.99
Shipping on stand = $16.99
Total investment = $66.97I made a little spark guard out of sheet metal I had lying around, it really helps. The front spark guard comes with the stand. It still throws sparks around bit it's tolerable. You can see where I've marked the bed for the cut width at full plunge, with a brand new wheel.
Maximum capacity seems to be about an inch but I got away with slightly more than that by making partial cuts and rotating the work. Accuracy was fair, the hinge on the stand is pretty good but the stamped sheet metal base is a bit flimsy. Bolting it down helps with rigidity but there's some flex at the clamp when cutting tubing, it's ok with flat or square stock. I took a fair amount of time assembling the stand, truing everything with machinists squares and straight-edges.
This setup beats the harbor freight mini-chop saw hands-down. You get 11,000 rpm of 4.2 amp cutting goodness instead of a lame 7800 RPM, 0.9 amps.
It costs more, but consider that if I ever burn out the motor it's a quick $20 bolt-in replacement as opposed to replacing the whole shebang.
I'm considering adding a router speed controller so that I can fine-tune the blade speed and avoid overheating the stock and blade too much. Taking the cut in small steps works fine for the time being though.
I made a bunch of cuts on various diameters of tubing so far and I am quite pleased.
cheers
mystic_1