I bought a Clarke Cold Saw

[waddycall]

And I really like it!
I'm giving up my rented workshop and moving into our single garage so the downsizing meant my Axminster band saw had to go to make way for something smaller. I ruled out abrasive chop saws from the start due to the dust, noise, inaccuracy etc. Another forum member has an older version of these and seems happy so I decided to bite the bullet.
I had concerns about the vice being a bit flimsy but so far so good, and in comparison to TCT and abrasive saws there isn't much difference. Compared to a proper cold saw the vice lacks jaws on the off cut side of the blade. As a result the off cut tends to be pushed out from the blade leaving a slight burr. Otherwise it cuts cleanly, quickly and fairly accurately although squareness on the vertical is pretty much down to how you support the material (roller stand etc). The vice is ever so slightly out of parallel with the saws axis so short lengths supported only in the vice cut a little off square - around 1 in 200. I'll probably take the vice off and shim it sometime.
The light construction means it vibrates a fair bit but it's not much noisier than my old band saw - definitely quieter than an abrasive saw or TCT saw. I probably should wear goggles but don't bother as nothing flies out of it other than the odd splash of coolant.
The lightish weight makes it fairly portable but the coolant sloshing around in the tray is a pain if you want to move it and there doesn't seem to be any provision for draining it. The one time I've moved it I pulled the coolant hose off and ran it for a few minutes with the hose in a bottle.
All in all I'm very happy with it. My only gripe is the price. I would have been happier if it was £100 less but that may just be down to the fact I'm not really a fan of buying new Chinese machinery.

 

[chevy2]

Had my one of these for about 25 years,
Doesn't feel as tight as when new but then mine has done a load of work,
Vice on mine goes to 70mm but it doesn't really like stuff that big, 50mm is generally about the max i put through,
for the record mine cuts dead square.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

.....I probably should wear goggles but don't bother.....

You only get two eyes, well worth protecting.

I have compromised vision in one eye [a result of chemo treatment] and it really makes 3D vision difficult. Lining up drills/cutting with an angle grinder/watching 3D TV content etc a pain.

 

[Wendelspanswick]

View attachment 79663 View attachment 79662 And I really like it!
I'm giving up my rented workshop and moving into our single garage so the downsizing meant my Axminster band saw had to go to make way for something smaller. I ruled out abrasive chop saws from the start due to the dust, noise, inaccuracy etc. Another forum member has an older version of these and seems happy so I decided to bite the bullet.
I had concerns about the vice being a bit flimsy but so far so good, and in comparison to TCT and abrasive saws there isn't much difference. Compared to a proper cold saw the vice lacks jaws on the off cut side of the blade. As a result the off cut tends to be pushed out from the blade leaving a slight burr. Otherwise it cuts cleanly, quickly and fairly accurately although squareness on the vertical is pretty much down to how you support the material (roller stand etc). The vice is ever so slightly out of parallel with the saws axis so short lengths supported only in the vice cut a little off square - around 1 in 200. I'll probably take the vice off and shim it sometime.
The light construction means it vibrates a fair bit but it's not much noisier than my old band saw - definitely quieter than an abrasive saw or TCT saw. I probably should wear goggles but don't bother as nothing flies out of it other than the odd splash of coolant.
The lightish weight makes it fairly portable but the coolant sloshing around in the tray is a pain if you want to move it and there doesn't seem to be any provision for draining it. The one time I've moved it I pulled the coolant hose off and ran it for a few minutes with the hose in a bottle.
All in all I'm very happy with it. My only gripe is the price. I would have been happier if it was £100 less but that may just be down to the fact I'm not really a fan of buying new Chinese machinery.

Thank you for a concise review, makes a nice change from "I bought XYZ and its amazing".

 

[ukracer]

Don't suppose you have any video of it running?

 

[waddycall]

Don't suppose you have any video of it running?

Yep, but I'm not sure how to upload it!

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Yep, but I'm not sure how to upload it!

Doesn't it do it with the "Upload a File" button at the bottom right of the page when you go to type a reply?

 

[squazy84]

very nice,where can one of these be bought?

 

[slim_boy_fat]

very nice,where can one of these be bought?

Machine Mart?

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-cpmcs1-portable-metal-cutting-circular/

 

[squazy84]

cheers, none in lovely Ireland though

 

[MattF]

You only get two eyes, well worth protecting.

Too right. Managed to get some filings in my eye years ago, and it stung like nobody's business. Hospital job with eye frozen whilst they picked the bits out, but I've still got the odd speck or two in there even now. Just not worth the risk.

 

[Gareth J]

I had one of these and I'm sure the blade rotated the other way, the way you'd expect, pushing chips and coolant to the back and pushing the workpiece down and into the fixed side of the vice.

I wonder why they altered it.

My larger Elliott version definitely rotates the other way.

Was a nice saw when the coolant feed decided to run.

 

[chevy2]

I had one of these and I'm sure the blade rotated the other way, the way you'd expect, pushing chips and coolant to the back and pushing the workpiece down and into the fixed side of the vice.

I wonder why they altered it.

My larger Elliott version definitely rotates the other way.

Was a nice saw when the coolant feed decided to run.

Gave up on the poxy little coolant pumps years ago,
still keep coolant in the tray at the bottom and simply apply it to the blade with a small paintbrush as needed.