Evolution Chop Saws

[PyroDan]

I'm eventually going to need a chop saw for cutting steel (occasional aluminium) and was thinking of possibly going for a Makita 2414NB (link) for £180

I've come across the Evolution Rage2 (link) which is also around £180 and I'm after some opinions from the experienced amongst you. There's a demo video here (3.8mb WMV)

Obviously consumable prices do have to be considered. They state "offering up to 1000 cuts in mild steel box section" but don't tell you what size box section. So I'm going to assume 20x20x2mm. The blades are £50 each.

Now comparing this to the Makita abrasive chop saw, you can get 5 Makita 355x2mm abrasive blades for £25 making them a fiver each. But I have no idea what sort of life expectancy they would have.

Would like peoples opinions on which route to take with this.

EDIT: Also, Before you suggest a band saw, I'd love one but I just do not have the space for one.
Thanks
Danny

 

[weldequip]

50 quid a piece! wow. Not my bag I'm afraid so I can't honestly comment. Makita certainly have a good name in the power tool market, although those Evoloutions do seem to be everywhere now aswell; BOC Gases sell em so they must be decent gear.
Some of the other lads might be able to tell you straight; Hitachimad, Simondrains??
weldequip

 

[rusty69bus]

BANDSAW just mount it off vertical

 

[BillJ]

They state "offering up to 1000 cuts in mild steel box section" but don't tell you what size box section. So I'm going to assume 20x20x2mm. The blades are £50 each.

With each cut costing at least 5p, it adds new weight to the advice "measure twice, cut once"

 

[Wozzaaah]

Danny, I have a chopsaw and a bandsaw and the bandsaw wins hands down! I've mounted mine on ball-transfer castors (i have a box full of those here so if anyone needs any, PM me) so it's really manouverable and I can tuck it away in a corner. It's quiet, fairly accurate, economical, and I can set it cutting and do something else. Chopsaws are quick but messy, noisy, smelly, expensive to run and cuts need a lot more cleaning after. If space is tight what about a hand-held bandsaw? Makita do one (2107FK) it looks a really useful bit of kit but it's quite expensive. I also have a clarke metal circular saw, it's fantastic but again, very noisy. Leaves a lovely edge on it though so no cleaning up the cut AT ALL! I expect the evolution chopsaws would leave a similar clean edge, they use similar TCT blades but £50 a blade !

 

[PyroDan]

Hmm 5p a cut, I never really looked at it that way.. I really DO NOT have the space for a bandsaw even if made movable. I have just looked at them handheld Makita bandsaws and I dont think it's what i'm after really, I just want the convenience of a chop saw. I guess the question really should be... how long do the abrasive discs last? because although £50 a blade is expensive... not if it lasts the same as 10 355mm abrasive blades. Also with a cleaner cut.

Danny

 

[Wozzaaah]

Chopsaws are convenient, they're quick and they're very portable. The discs don't last long if you're cutting solid stuff but thinnish wall box section and angle can be fairly light on the discs if you don't try to force it too much. I would expect a TCT blade to easily outlast 10 abrasive ones if used carefully, but if bought in bulk you can get abrasive ones for around £3 each. One thing I would say is that sometimes it seems that an abrasive disc builds up heat when cutting horizontal faces and stops cutting thus heating the metal up, it then needs a bit of a push to get it cutting again. I've used clarke brand discs and Norton and had the same with both. One way round this is to turn the work so there are no horizontal faces, not so easy to clamp but better for the disc. The same with angle, apex upward so both faces are diagonal cuts. I'm guessing that as you're tight for space, you're going to be using it at home. Do bear in mind the noise, they are quite loud. You may have to soundproof your workshop.

 

[andrewg1323]

i've got the fury one and paid £8 for it and blew it up on the first use! Gotta take it apart i think its just a motor brush

 

[Hitch]

Evolution stuff seems reasonably good, used an older version of the chop saw, the handheld versions and the mag drills. They seem to make good value stuff- perhaps not the best quality, but it all works very well.


About same accuracy as an abrasive wheel, but a bit noisier!!

Really wouldnt like to say how loing the blades last, 1000 cuts is probably about right. You can extend blade life if your careful how you cut things. Like avoiding cutting flat bar on the flat, cut it on edge.
The problems seem to be chipping the teeth off rather than going dull.

The upside though, you dont get sparks, and the chips/swarf is easier to clear up than that from an abrasive version....

Another advantage, is you will always have a constant cutting capacity, unlike an abrasive wheel...

Probably a little quicker and less of a burr from the evo too.


It think personally, reading the above, i would choose the evolution over any abrasive version.

 

[Hitch]

You can get the blades cheaper than £50 aswell. Same blades, but from a cheaper supplier.
I think ITSLondon was the cheapest i have seen the genuine blades.

 

[snowcat]

Iv got a abrasive makita chopsaw that iv used and abused for 5+ years, its handy to take out on jobs, as the bandsaw and tct are less than mobile, its got a few war wounds now but is still runs just fine, The discs i get by the box from our local nuts n bolts place for about £2 each you dont get that many cuts out of one if your heavy handed but on the whole its not a problem, sparks bit of an issue as iv killed a couple of extension leads with it but im pretty careless with things like that. There not so hot at cutting mitres the abrasives seem to get destorted for some reason, Oh and the guard fell off, but who needs that hey.

 

[scarecrow]

I have a DeWALT chopsaw I never counted how many cuts I get from each blade I used it mostly to cut one two and three inch galvanise pipe for making gates and cattle barriers each blade will cut out two or three cattle barriers and maybe a gate or two probably a bit more expensive than a tct blade
the price of the rage2 seems reasonable compared to what you would pay in Ireland for the same saw paid I paid €300 for my chopsaw the TCT saw was about €500 couldn't afford it but very happy with the chopsaw

 

[shepsy]

i managed to get hold of a dewalt tct chop saw off fleabay for £72 delivered
had a right bargain blade had no chips, and ive done loads of cutting with it

biggest i have cut with it was 50 x 50 x 5 angle the secret with them is to let the blade do the work or you end up ripping of the teeth, ive had a few abrasive saws and much prefer the tct, also have a startrite mebo which is the bees knees

im sure dewalt reckon on about 2ooo cuts and more if you re tip/ re profile the blade, but then they also want about £120 for them, not for me i will source a cheaper one when the time comes



sheps

 

[PyroDan]

Thanks to everyone for there input so far.

I was going to go with the DeWalt abrasive saw originally as it has a D handle and a little more powerful and im a DeWalt fan However I dont think the extra £100 (nearly) justify's those two features over the Makita.

After reading the comment about abrasive chop saws not being good on mitres, that's a BIG sway towards the Evo, because I really hate seeing the ends of box section when they could of been avoided, so tend to mitre all my joints.

As for the DeWalt TCT, that really is out of the question (price wise) I'm afraid

Soundproofing my workshop... How do I soundproof my back garden.
I share the cellar under the house with my dad and only have a small corner with a bench with storage underneath it. And have to go up 3 steps to get out of the cellar, hence why a band saw really is out of the question.

So when I do finally get around to buying one, I think it's going to be the Evo...

Them Blades at ITS London are £46.95 so not much cheaper then anywhere else really (dearer if you include postage)

Danny

 

[scarecrow]

Wish you well with your new saw
some reasons why the abrasive chopsaw is to poor at cutting mitres
(1) markings on the clamp for setting it are pretty poor. To get around this I use a bevel to set the clamp.
(2) the base of the chopsaw is also quite small and slightly flexible if you are cutting long pieces of steel. You need to check that the steel is lying flat on the bed of the saw and that there is no strain on the saw
The tct saw looks to be the same set up and same size as the abrasive saw
I bought myself a long railway sleeper that I use when I'm at home(not carrying that thing around with me if I need to take the saw on a job) 4 wood screws keeps its solid and some 3 in. round pipe helps run the steel through the saw

I hope this helps if you run into the same problems with your new saw , I also Mitre all my steel pipe and box know that I have got the hang of it it works ok I wont say it's 100% but it's much better than me with an angle grinder

 

[AVENLEY 10]

HI

For permanant workshop use a bandsaw is the best option but is best used with a good quality HSS blade against the cheaper bi metal blades.Abrasive cut off saws are better for on site work and discs are cheap but have the disadvantage of poor accuracy compared to TCT cut off saws.This is due to flexing of the disc during cutting and your cutting capacity will deminish as the blade wears.TCT cut off saws are accurate and cut cleanly but the blades need to be used carefully to get the best life out of them,too much force and they overheat and go blunt but can be resharpened also not enough force and they overheat.As regards circular saw TCTs these are not nice to use with hot swarf flying around so gloves and goggles are a must, also maufacturers stated blade life can be over optimistic with chipping of teeth common.Hope this helps