Chop Saw Blade quit cutting?

SHINTON

SHINTON

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Location
Triad area of NC
My dad has been using my chop saw and has an issue, his message below, all help appreciated! (Not sure what he means by dresses, maybe "dressed" or some kind of maint procedure?)

--

I have that "chop saw" of yours here. I used it a lot when fabricating the FEL mounts for the L245 and it worked great.

I finally used up the blade. So, I bought another one at Tractor-supply. It worked real well for just a little bit , then quit cutting. It now just spins on the metal - and gets real hot, but very little to no cutting. The problem is in the blade - the saw is working OK.

Check with some of your welder buddies; do these wheels have to be "dresses" at times or what?

IT IS a "metal" cut off blade.

DAD
 
I have seen lots of difference in quality between different blade brands. IE the Harbor Freight ones don't last and break easily, the Dewalt ones seem to be much better. I really like the ACE hardware brand, they seem to last longest for me. Maybe it's just a bad blade?

Dressing refers to cleaning the glazing that results from a build up of particles from the material being cut. Mostly refering to grinding wheels, not sure if it applies to cutoff wheels or not.
 
I have had that issue with differnt discs. I was eventaully able to get throguh the piece. Were you cutting through a piece of flat stock across its face or a peice of angle on its face? I have this same problem at times. I chalked it up to work hardening on the piece. I lean on the saw a it more and eventually get through. It could be something differnt, i have just lived with it. because it only happened every so often.
 
common problem with cheap blades and cutting on longer materials where the blade has a lot of surface contact with the material being cut. lean on it more to cut through or rotate the part to have less surface area in contact with the blade.

Is he cutting aluminum? the blade could be getting clogged up with aluminum causing it to not cut...
 
Sometimes they seem to glaze over,i take a piece of scrap and hold it along the edge of the wheel and it seems to help
 
"Dresses" is probably referrring to dressed, where you take a special tool and dress and grinding wheel to square it up and remove built up junk.

If he is cutting any kind of soft or non-ferrous metal, the chop saw blade is likely gummed up. It might could be dressed, but would be best to just replace it.
 
Irecently bought one of the $60 POS harbor Freight cutoff wheel chopsaws. BTw let me reiterate POS.
I had this exact same problem, cutting 3" .120 square tube stock; first one I did was fine. All the others, first few seconds went ok, then I had to REALLY lean into it and wait, and wait, and wait... to the point that by the end, the last bit of tube was red and glowing.
I'm pretty sure it's from my crappy HF blade, next time I need to do any sizeable work I'll pony up for a decent one.
 
HF is not worth a dang. Dewalt is usually better. ACE does have good stuff too and reasonably priced. I like using my Milwaukee portable band saw, and I have a Dewalt cutoff wheel/grinder.
 
I have this problem sometimes with different blades but I also have it with different pressures. I still haven't seen a blade that won't start cutting again. I just press harder or softer until the glazing is worn off and it cuts again.
 
I put the blade on backwards before....I was only cutting wood, but it did'nt work to well on my chop saw.

Probably not your problem.....but?
 
im looking to buy a cut off saw are the hf saws any good ive been reading all of this and do see there blades r pos but didnt know about the saws thanks
 
HF are OK...they are as good as Clarke tractor supply crap or whatever Northerns cheapest shit is....none of it is worth the plastic its made of...

My HF CS is 4 years old and still acceptable...not great for straight or precise work, but thatss not the strength of any cs
 
IF he is cutting aluminum with a standard cut off wheel he needs to stop trying. the aluminum can (will) get clogged up in the wheel and if you are deep enough in a cut the blade can actually explode (shatter) It is very dangerous to cut aluminum with a cut off wheel. If he is using it on steel...then its probably just a cheap blade...although, i use the ones from northern tool and they work just fine, even though they are probably the cheapest.
 
99ncxj said:
...cutting aluminum with a standard cut off wheel he needs to stop trying...
Click to expand...


Fun fact...If you just need to cut/grind a piece of aluminum every now and then and don't want to buy a specific aluminum blade, spray some lube (wd40...whatever) on a steel blade and have at it...it won't gum up if you keep it lubed.
 
chris baldwin said:
im looking to buy a cut off saw are the hf saws any good ive been reading all of this and do see there blades r pos but didnt know about the saws thanks
Click to expand...

Did you even read my post??

RatLabGuy said:
Irecently bought one of the $60 POS harbor Freight cutoff wheel chopsaws. BTw let me reiterate POS.
Click to expand...

That said, it works - meaning, you will end up with 2 pieces of metal.
Do not depend on the fence being straight so your angle is exactly right, or getting a nice clean cut. However for only $60, it beats using a cutoff wheel mounted on a grinder.
 
Indy Will said:
Fun fact...If you just need to cut/grind a piece of aluminum every now and then and don't want to buy a specific aluminum blade, spray some lube (wd40...whatever) on a steel blade and have at it...it won't gum up if you keep it lubed.
Click to expand...
Former abrasive expert here :flipoff2:

That will decrease the bond between the alum oxide grains and the bonding material and cause it to explode, eventually.

Chopsaw wheels are desinged w/ AO grains or Silicon grains. AO is for metals and Si is for aluminum. A great blade will work on a shitty chopsaw, but not the other way around.

If it is gummed hit some metal and if that doesnt work go buy a good 3M, Norton or other brand name wheel
 
My brother uses a bad ass Stihl chopsaw that clamps to the rail track. If a blade got wet it goes in the trash and he gets a dry blade. He showed me the difference. It was like using a butterknife vs a razor blade.
 
Pop went with the Dewalt solution, twas .50 cents more or something insane.

Showed the guy working the counter the HF version and asked if he ever had that problem, guy replied, "Nope, I use a DeWalt blade..."

Turns out HF carries the DW blades too

Thx for the help
 
I my opinion Makita makes the best wheels I have used them for years cutting tool steel they cut fast and last
 
Back
Top