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Affordable Metal Cutting Chop Saw & Notcher Recommendations…

FleshEater

FleshEater

Ordinary Average Guy
Joined
May 21, 2020
Member Number
832
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3,383
Loc
Pennsylvania
What’s a decent one of these two to pick up. I got a couple cages and bumpers to build. Nothing major.
 
Wanting abrasive or carbide on the saw, and what is affordable? For round tube I'd just get a small portaband in the color of your choice if you'll be using a notcher.

At home I have an older 14?" milwaukee carbide metal saw and a rogue notcher that are both great, but you're looking at $600-1000+ for a setup like that depending on brands. Bought a dewalt saw in the same flavor last week for work since I couldn't find the milwaukee on their site and I'm not impressed with the base or clamping system, it's all sheetmetal vs the cast milwaukee. Slugger would be another option, I just couldn't find one local asap.

There's a good notcher thread in shop and tools as well.
 
I did quite a few cages with nothing more than a chop saw and grinder back in the day. A little practice and you can really notch well with a flap wheel on a grinder.

+1 on the portaband. I got a good sized vertical and hardly ever use my chop saw now.

Also the JD2 Notch Master is an awesome notcher for the price. Swag makes some pretty bitchin upgrade parts for it as well.
 
I’ll check out the portaband. Are you guys able to cut precise angles with these? I’m not bending any tube so my angles need to be pretty precise.

$300-$450 per tool isn’t outrageous. I just didn’t know if the big box chop saws were worth buying or not. Or how good a cheap notcher actually is.
 
I’ve been beating on my DeWalt abrasive chop saw for years. What makes the band saw better is it for so not make the noise or the mess an abrasive does.

Both will cut fairly accurate angles.
 
FleshEater said:
I’ll check out the portaband. Are you guys able to cut precise angles with these? I’m not bending any tube so my angles need to be pretty precise.

$300-$450 per tool isn’t outrageous. I just didn’t know if the big box chop saws were worth buying or not. Or how good a cheap notcher actually is.
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Not going to be great for precise angle cutting. I think your best off with a carbide tipped cutoff saw for your job.
 
I threw out my chopsaw when I went to a bandsaw. Might take slightly longer to cut, but cleaner, quieter and it doesnt tie me up while cutting. Saw cuts by itself, so I can do something else. That said, for notching I am either using a plasma (cause it is available to me) to rough in on thicker wall material or just flapwheeling the notch on thinner stuff.
 
Animalmother said:
Evolution
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The evolutions are a bit pricey, but two people I know bought them recently and I definitely like them better then my dewalt chop saw. I would definitely recommend a portaband too though for the portable convenience. I think an underrated advantage of a portaband is the quiet factor, not waking the family working in the garage late at night.
 
Byro said:
I did quite a few cages with nothing more than a chop saw and grinder back in the day. A little practice and you can really notch well with a flap wheel on a grinder.

+1 on the portaband. I got a good sized vertical and hardly ever use my chop saw now.

Also the JD2 Notch Master is an awesome notcher for the price. Swag makes some pretty bitchin upgrade parts for it as well.
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I have a milwaukee porta band it sucks. Tried using it this morning and said fuck that and grabbed a grinder with a cutoff wheel. Idk if I’m just buying shitty blades for it or what. It seems like it only cuts good a few times then it’s worthless.
 
ThePanzerFuhrer said:
I have a milwaukee porta band it sucks. Tried using it this morning and said fuck that and grabbed a grinder with a cutoff wheel. Idk if I’m just buying shitty blades for it or what. It seems like it only cuts good a few times then it’s worthless.
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Interesting, we have a corded Milwaukee portaband at work, we added a cordless DeWalt a couple years back and they are great. Most of what we are doing though is cutting conduit, pipe, Kindorf, angle iron, etc.

We use Lenox blades, these IIRC: https://a.co/d/ajAeeyW

Aaron Z
 
aczlan said:
Interesting, we have a corded Milwaukee portaband at work, we added a cordless DeWalt a couple years back and they are great. Most of what we are doing though is cutting conduit, pipe, Kindorf, angle iron, etc.
We use Lenox blades, these IIRC: https://a.co/d/ajAeeyW
Aaron Z
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Yeah I have a variable speed corded milwaukee also.

It seems like everything I cut is 1/4”+ :lmao:.
 
I've built dozens of cages and chassis with nothing but a HF horizontal band saw and a Pro Tools notcher. I like using a band saw because you can set it up to cut and then go do something else. Standing at a saw all day cutting tube is a big time waster IMO.

Fuck using abrasive saws! They make a huge mess and don't cut straight unless you go slow as shit to keep the blade from walking. I'd rather use a pipe cutter than one of those things.

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I've got a Milwaukee portaband at home with milwaukee blades and it cuts great.

At work we have a chink portaband and it cuts great so long as you use good blades.

Ya could get a Jacobs chuck, build a base with a piece of angle and a chain vice grip, 2 pillow block bearings and a shaft that slip-fits into the bearings to build a quality notcher for cheap price. IMO the "cheap" notchers are hot garbage for anything but perpendicular notches. This is the route I'm going for notcher in my shop.

I like the carbide chop saw, but you've got to have have a good vise on it or you'll start knocking teeth off. With good teeth they are excellent. Mine is a worn out Makita with the odd 12" blade which makes getting deals on quality blades hard. If that's the route you go get one with the more common 14" blade.
 
I was going to post about this because my new smaller work space has made my large tools a pain in the ass.
Currently have:

Wellsaw 8x16 Horizontal (monster foot print) cuts great, I don't want to sell it but it's a space hog, only does 45s and 90s
Milwaukee Deep Cut, blade walks... which is frustrating on tube but maybe I lean on it too much. I wanted to buy a SWAG table but it's very expensive to get into Canada (almost 30% of buying a new Grizzly saw)

I have been looking at options again... I'd like to have vertical options. Either pony up for the SWAG or buy something else after I sell the Wellsaw.

I like this idea, miter cuts, vertical is possible but not advertised:
Grizzly G9742

www.grizzly.com

5" x 6" 1/2 HP Metal-Cutting Bandsaw w/ Swivel Head at Grizzly.com

<h1>G9742 5" x 6" 1/2 HP Metal Cutting Bandsaw w/ Swivel Head</h1> <h2>One of the best saws on the market for the small or large shop.</h2> <p>The Grizzly G9742 5" x 6" 1/2 HP Metal Cutting Bandsaw w/ Swivel Head features a 5" round and 5" x 6" rectangular stock capacity.</p> <p>What really...
www.grizzly.com www.grizzly.com

This thread has great photos if you have a login:

Grizzly Metal BandSaw G9742

I received a G9742 bandsaw today. After much deliberation and some frustration with my old Dewalt abrasive chopsaw, I set off on a bandsaw journey. In a perfect world, I would select a quality US made precision machine with perfect fit and finish for under $1000. Oops. That world doesn't...
www.garagejournal.com www.garagejournal.com

If I buy the table from SWAG I'd consider the Makita cold cut saw after watching reviews on Evolution, Dewalt etc.

 
IowaOffRoad said:
Ya could get a Jacobs chuck, build a base with a piece of angle and a chain vice grip, 2 pillow block bearings and a shaft that slip-fits into the bearings to build a quality notcher for cheap price. IMO the "cheap" notchers are hot garbage for anything but perpendicular notches. This is the route I'm going for notcher in my shop.
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Hmmm, if most of your notching is under 2", around here a 2" pipe vise is available for under $50 and it will lock quicker than working with a chain vise grip.

Here is one for $40 that will do 1/8" to 2 1/2" on a stand: Log into Facebook
Screenshot_20221125-111124-968.png


Flip the vise around, mount your pivot on the table and off you go.
Might need to figure out a way to adjust the height of your spindle to match the center of the tube if you use different sized tubes, but that shouldn't be overly difficult.

IowaOffRoad said:
I like the carbide chop saw, but you've got to have have a good vise on it or you'll start knocking teeth off. With good teeth they are excellent. Mine is a worn out Makita with the odd 12" blade which makes getting deals on quality blades hard. If that's the route you go get one with the more common 14" blade.
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A "cold cut" chop saw is on my want list, just don't do enough to make it worth buying one.

Aaron Z
 
I like my JD2 notcher so far. For $350 I'm very impressed .

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I've used lots of them.

The Baleigh TN-250 is the gold standard, but for the $850 they get for them... it doesn't do $500 more work to me for my home occasional use.
 
aczlan said:
Hmmm, if most of your notching is under 2", around here a 2" pipe vise is available for under $50 and it will lock quicker than working with a chain vise grip.

Here is one for $40 that will do 1/8" to 2 1/2" on a stand: Log into Facebook
Screenshot_20221125-111124-968.png


Flip the vise around, mount your pivot on the table and off you go.
Might need to figure out a way to adjust the height of your spindle to match the center of the tube if you use different sized tubes, but that shouldn't be overly difficult.


A "cold cut" chop saw is on my want list, just don't do enough to make it worth buying one.

Aaron Z
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LOVE these type of vises, don't see them that often in these parts used and when they are I typically see them for $$$. Prolly better prices where more oil field type work is done as there's more of them out there.:beer:
 
I like that jd2 as well.

I have the swag notcher and am kinda hit and miss on it. Sometimes I really like it, and sometimes it pisses me off.
 
I have an old Milwaukee abrasive wheel chop saw from the early 80’s I bought new. It needs new brushes and a switch but it still runs. I use it on hardened steel metal objects

For mild steel I bought a Dewalt steel blade chop saw this year and it works great. But you need to know the do’s and don’ts of using it for good blade life. I used a friend of mines steel blade chop saw a few years ago on a chassis build and loved it but it is loud.

I use a Milwaukee deep throat bandsaw for many years now, actually wore one out and bought another used one. I use these in situations they were not designed for really. Some day I’ll either buy a swag table for it or make one.

Notching tubes, I use two different tube notchers, one more stationary and one portable types.
 
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