EVO 9" Metal Cutting Circular Saw

[Bob La Londe]

Now I know guys use their regular circular saws sometimes, so this isn't huge. I have used my Skill Wormdrive for cutting aluminum sheet with the blade adjusted just right. Its a little fast and a little scary, but if you prelube the cut areas it works ok.

I picked up an Evoluton 9" metal cutting circular saw a while back to tackle these jobs instead. Its supposed to be good for mild steel upto 1/2 inch. The first thing I used it for was stainless sheet for some lower shelves on the welding table I built last year. Of course that trashed the blade, but it did do the job. Kinda of scary like cutting aluminum sheet with a Skill saw. LOL.

Well today I used the Evo saw a little more in keeping with its intended use... I sliced up a piece of 12 x 24 x 1 inch MIC 6 that was just to big to break down on the bandsaw or easily on the mill. If I had a slitting saw... I blocked up the piece and clamped it to the deck of my welding table, supported the cut off side, and had a piece aluminum to clamp on across the cut behind the saw. I adjusted the fence on the saw for the rough size bar I wanted, and laid down a bead of cutting oil along the cut line.

It was all rather anti climactic. It was noisy, but not as noisy as ripping hardwood on the table saw. The cut looks saw cut, but otherwise pretty good. Hardly any temperature rise, and the burr is there, but easily manageable with a burr tool or even a pass with a sanding block. Its much less than the burr I usually get with 6061 on the horizontal bandsaw. Now to make my jig... or is it a fixture?

I'm using the MIC 6 to create a plate with a guide slot to mount two spindexers facing each other quickly, easily and repeatably. I can throw them in a pair of vises easily enough, but the vises are mounted fully inside the cutting envelope of the machines. Last time I used them that way I had to leave one half hanging out of the vise. If I have to unbolt the vises anyway I figured I'd just have a keyed fixture plate that can drop on easily and repeatably.

[danlb]

Funny you should mention Evo. I bought one of their 10 inch "cold" saws with a multi material blade and it showed up last night. It looks just like a normal sliding miter chop saw. I have not used it yet.

I'm hoping to use it for those jobs where the throat of my bandsaw is not quite big enough.

[Bob La Londe]

Funny you should mention Evo. I bought one of their 10 inch "cold" saws with a multi material blade and it showed up last night. It looks just like a normal sliding miter chop saw. I have not used it yet.

I'm hoping to use it for those jobs where the throat of my bandsaw is not quite big enough.

Sliding miter? I have not seen that one. I'm interested. I have seen their metal cutting chop saws, but a sliding (radial?) miter saw for cutting metal would be awesome.

[Ridgerunner]

That type of saw and the metal cutting carbide tooth chop saw are just wonderful tools. I work with 2 1/2" solid bar a good bit. A stock length weights about 200 lbs. I can get it in the shop OK but lifting it on to the band saw table is a chore every time I need a short piece for the lathe. Now with a metal cutting circular saw I just prop up the rod, and within 30 seconds cut a length. Great for cutting tube, plate, round and no dross.

[danlb]

I found a product review of the sliding miter saw on Youtube. In this video he cuts a whole bunch of different materials in different forms. I counted 10 materials including copper pipe and plastic base molding. The biggest he did was a small I-beam. He even switches to a diamond bade and cut a brick in half, then did what looked like fake marble. Real nice cuts in all cases.

Note that he was using the RAGE3 DB which has a head that will tilt either side to do bevels without flipping the board around. The single bevel model is the Rage3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-Kiz1GEV34

[danlb]

This was also posted in the "What did you do today, but might be more appropriate here. Note that I got the 10 inch sliding miter saw, not the 9 inch chop saw that Bob got.

I opted for a roll around storage cart from HF. It was only $84 on sale this week so it was actually cheaper than most of the other options. It has a drawer and two shelves available. It also has a top compartment, but since the saw is on top that storage is sacrificed. I'll need to put a barrier behind it to keep the chips off the storage shelves. The cart assembled in about 30 minutes. The steel is fairly stout and the paint was acceptable.

I did some test cuts with the "universal" blade that came with it and was not as happy as I hoped. When cutting steel it was LOUD and I kept changing the pressure and speed in an attempt to get smooth movement. The cut ended up straight but with visible facets. When I did aluminum, the rod was not supported at the cut, and you can see that it vibrated, again resulting in a less than perfect cut.

I suspect that I can do better with practice and maybe a clamp on vice to hold the piece. I was pleased with the speed of the cuts.

A few pictures.

1) On the stand. It is at a good height, and the saw fits without overhang.
2 and 3) a cut on a 3x18 inch mild steel. Slightly faceted, though I don't know if that was my fault for irregular feed. It is a nice 90 degree cut
4) unknown aluminum 3/4 inch. The cut is very rough.

[danlb]

In the "what did you do today" thread, Cenedd pointed out that the 3/4 inch aluminum bar was more than the saw is rated for. I think he's right. I was using the multipurpose blade which is 28 teeth carbide tipped blade. They also sell one with 80 teeth for aluminum which is rated for 3.5 inch thick stock. I'll get one of those to see how that works.

The blades are hard to find. I found a link on the UK site, and a totally different one on the USA site. For the US the blades are described at https://www.evolutionpowertools.com/us/steel/blades.php



Dan

[BigMike782]

I picked up an Evoluton 9" metal cutting circular saw a while back to tackle these jobs instead. Its supposed to be good for mild steel upto 1/2 inch. The first thing I used it for was stainless sheet for some lower shelves on the welding table I built last year. Of course that trashed the blade, but it did do the job. Kinda of scary like cutting aluminum sheet with a Skill saw. LOL.

Did you use the blade that came with the saw or the stainless specific blade?

[BigMike782]

The blades are hard to find. I found a link on the UK site, and a totally different one on the USA site. For the US the blades are described at https://www.evolutionpowertools.com/us/steel/blades.php
Dan

I know Praxair(or should I say Linde) sells the blades.

[danlb]

I also found them on Amazon. For some reason the blades for aluminum (model 10bladeAL) are VERY special. They must be since a 10 inch 100 tooth blade is selling for $100 at most sites.

Dan