Any opinions on the Makita LC1230 cold cut saw?

[MoreWellie]

I am wanting to cut steel exhaust pipe and other bits of steel but am fed up with the chop saw not cutting vertical.

Does anyone have one of these? and does it cut vertical?

obviously the horizontal angle is adjustable but the poor vertical alignment is meaning that a 2.5" pipe is around 1.5mm longer at the bottom of the cut than the top. I spend more time on the grinder straightening and cleaning it up than I do cutting in the first place

 

[MoreWellie]

just realised I didn't make this clear, I am complaining about my abrasive chop saw and thinking about buying the Makita LC1230 to replace it and was wanting to see if anyone had an opinion as to how squarely it cuts

 

[hotrodder]

I've got the Dewalt version which is gonna be pretty similar albeit with a 355/14" blade capacity. Cut quality is leagues ahead of abrasive chop saws in terms of squarness and they're virtually burr free too however they generally don't produce perfectly* square cuts and the standard blades don't really like stainless steel- there are specific stainless blades but they're 'kin spendy. Speaking of blades the regular ones ain't exactly cheap to buy but they can be sharpened and used properly last a long time. Relatively fragile though i.e. easy killed on a single cut by an animal...

* not a case of slop in the pivots or them being ******, it's more a case of the 'waste' piece not being clamped during the cut which at the very least leaves a small 'pip' at the bottom of the cut and the blade can still flex on accute mitre cuts. Smaller blade on the makita will be less prone to deflection and is the reason i often use a 300mm blade on my Dewalt- better cut quality when the extra capacity of the larger blade isn't needed.

A 'proper' cold saw (low rpm with coolant) provides totally burr free cuts and even higher quality/accuracy but is in a very different league price and size wise. Also creates much less mess and noise than dry cut (TCT) chopsaws which are about the noisest method of cutting metal known to mankind

As long as it's not blade deflection (mitres, 'forcing' the cut) on yours can always shim the pivot where it bolts to the base to correct things and get the blade perpendicular to the table

ETA my Dewalt is typically within 0.5mm of square once the pip is removed, maybe upto 1mm out when talking a mitre cut on 4" dia tube

 

[MoreWellie]

thanks for the feedback, I missed the word stainless out of "stainless steel exhaust pipe" so your advice on standard blades not liking stainless was particularly useful

I have had some advice from elsewhere and I hadn't realised just how flexible the base of the abrasive saw is, by adding shims to the feet at the back it flexes and can straighten the motor and blade in the vertical plane so it isn't such a clear cut decision as the overall cost has gone up and maybe the abrasive saw can be more accurate than it has been

 

[KemppiFrog]

I used an abrasive cutter for years without problems on square cutting. Used the proper discs for SS. But, changing to a TCT cutter has made a huge difference to the accuracy of the mitred cuts. Plus, while it is noisy, the chips are big enough to not float around in the atmosphere and coat everything in sight. No need to wear a mask either.
It does sound like your cutter needs a bit of work to true it up.
KF

 

[samfish]

I have the Makita TCT cold saw.
It works really well. I can cut to within half a mm. nice and Square. After 300+ cuts, it will starts to get worse though, as the blade dulls.
Just don't use it for stainless, it kills the blades very quickly!

The base on the Makita is far better than the Dewalt - I have used both extensively. Although both can be used with good results.