can I cut 2" round cold rolled steel with an abrasive chop saw?

[schor]

I am totally new to metalworking and this is my first post here so please be gentle.

I have some 2" cold rolled steel round stock that I want to machine on my lathe, but I want to cut it up into smaller lengths.

I am considering purchasing an abrasive chop saw and wondering if its the right tool. Or do I need to use a cold saw?

I also have a small woodworking bandsaw that I could put a metal cutting blade in, but somehow I don't think that's going to work, max blade width for my bandsaw is 3/8".

Thanks for any replies.

Schor

[loose nut]

You can if the chop saw is big enough to fit the bar AND powerful enough to do the job. Wood working band saws bland speed is way to fast for cutting steel, some people have made speed reducers for them, can't say how well it works. The generic 4 x 6" metal cutting band saw (horizontal/vertical type from China) will do the job fine and might be a better choice then a cut off saw.

[MrFluffy]

While its probably not recommended, I have cut things far too large for my abrasive chop saw by cutting through past halfway, then rotating the workpiece in the vice and taking a second cut, since the limiting factor will be the blade size preventing the workpiece passing it.

I do the same thing with my power hacksaw, I may even have posted pictures of it with a entire lathe headstock held in place with a very heath robinson clamp setup with the blade angled well into the air but still managing to cut

Sometimes something is just too awkward to get in a machine to cut, so if I only have one or two of them to cut, I put it in the vice, roll up my sleeve and take a hacksaw to it with a all hard blade in it. Lots of breaks and a couple of cups of tea and a half hour or so later its done...

If you are going to be chopping 2" rounds on a regular basis, the tool is probably a power hacksaw or metal cutting bandsaw though.

[lakeside53]

Abrasive for 2"? that would be my last choice. I'd use a bandsaw. Even a portable bandsaw works well.

I doubt you can put a metal cutting band in your woodworking bandsaw -way way too fast... Typical metal cutting bandsaws runs about 20X slower.

[bborr01]

You will likely be dissapointed with an abrasive saw. The wheel will likely bind when you get into the cut a ways, maybe half way. It can be done by turning the bar and cutting from more than one direction but as mentioned a band saw made for cutting metal is your best option.

Brian

[Jaakko Fagerlund]

Purchase a saw, definately. I have had to use a huge 3 kW hand held abrasive cutoff thingie to cut a 6 meter length of material in to smaller pieces and the last I did was 80 mm in diameter. Takes about 10 minutes, produces HUGE sparks, is like playing ping pong with an armed grenade and makes one sweat even thinking about it.

And for the record, the situation was that our cutting saw at work was broken and the material just had to be cut at that instant, no chance of driving with it a couple of kilometers to borrow another saw.

[cuemaker]

I bought one of these off Craigslist for $150....Best damn purchase period. Mine is not as picutred, I got a DeWalt with Multiple speeds, extra deep.

But damn...it has been the most handy thing

[PaulT]

I guess abrasive saws have their place, but not in my shop. To loud and messy and I don't like the resulting cuts, especially on bars, you'll get a "smeared" very sharp edge that is a pain to get rid of and if there is any carbon in the steel that sharp edge will be nicely hardened, making it even more of a pain in the rear to get rid of.

The very popular 4"x6" combo horizontal/vertical bandsaw will do this cut as long as you're not doing it all day and the vertical table does come in handy for some jobs. If you are doing it all day get one of the bigger and more robust 7" saws.

There is one other option, a few companies make carbide blade portable metal saws for around $300. that would work. They are similar to taking the typical chop saw frame and putting a carbide blade in it and spinning it slower, kind of a low buck cold saw. I can't remember the brand names but I know there are at least 2 companies that make them, search around and you should hit them.

Paul T.
www.springtest.com

[MrFluffy]

Abrasive saws are great on harder grades of stainless tubes and other very hard workpieces, which I do from now and again. I do take the saw outside and use it on a wander lead so I don't fill the shop with grit though.

[taydin]

I am considering purchasing an abrasive chop saw and wondering if its the right tool. Or do I need to use a cold saw?

I have cut 150x15mm plates using a 3KW angle grinder and a 230mm cutoff disk. The amount of sparks generated was enormous. The disk tends to bind in the groove and the machine wants to run away from you, so you gotta hold it really firm. At the end of the cut, the surface of the floor ceramic tiles were completely destroyed by the sparks. Same with the pants that i was wearing

[garagemark]

Post #7. I've used a porta-band for twenty years- only bought a horizontal bandsaw late last year. The porta-band is worth more than gold all around.

[Jaakko Fagerlund]

At the end of the cut, the surface of the floor ceramic tiles were completely destroyed by the sparks. Same with the pants that i was wearing

..you mean I should have weared pants? :P

[Mcgyver]

I guess abrasive saws have their place, but not in my shop. To loud and messy

agreed, if you do it, use it outdoors else everything will be covered with grit, awful stuff.

you bandsaw would work with some modification to slow the blade down. Have the drive switch out and go through a speed reduction etc. Shoot for maybe 80 feet per minute.

you could buy a portable bandsaw, one of the cheapo cut off bandsaws or drop by your local metal service centre with a box of donuts and they'd cut it

[taydin]

..you mean I should have weared pants? :P

You don't need to if you have hippo skin

[Toolguy]

I have used hot saws, cold saws, chop saws for wood and metal and wood bandsaws. Even a cheap 4 x 6 bandsaw is way better than an abrasive hot saw or a cold saw. The best of all for cutting metal to length is a quality bandsaw with a quality blade.