Starting small one guy shop idea needed...

[Paul Moir]

[QUOTE=geezer;48852 Advantage for it over a chop saw,,,,fewer sparks,,,,[/QUOTE]
And the end isn't blazing hot, and it doesn't need further dressing. Changing blades less often means less time changing blades and buying blades. Also it does aluminium. Honestly I've only one once but I know what my choice would be if I had to use one every day as part of my shop. Very Very loud however, and instead of sparks and dust you get hot angry bees, so I think that's a bit of a tossup on those fronts.

I'm in a good position where I don't have to be fast, so a horizontal bandsaw works for me.

[geezer]

And the end isn't blazing hot, and it doesn't need further dressing. Changing blades less often means less time changing blades and buying blades. Also it does aluminium. Honestly I've only one once but I know what my choice would be if I had to use one every day as part of my shop. Very Very loud however, and instead of sparks and dust you get hot angry bees, so I think that's a bit of a tossup on those fronts.

I'm in a good position where I don't have to be fast, so a horizontal bandsaw works for me.

Yes Paul,,,I should have mentioned that it's real advantage is cutting aluminum...which is a PITA with a chop saw...

[jameslo]

Another big advantage is that when you make the cut, the next step is NOT to have to get a grinder and try to clean the cut without losing too much more steel.

And the cut isn't hot.

And the blade doesn't flex.

[joshuab]

And the blade doesn't flex.

This is huge. I have never had a cut come out of the abrasive chop-saw square. It always flexes outward at the end. This is why I only ever use the chop-saw if I am doing something like cutting up coupons for practice, where squareness doesn't matter. For all "production" work, I use a horizontal bandsaw. But the bandsaw sure is slow. If I was actually in a situation where time was money, the cold-cut saw would be very attractive.

[Rambozo]

I guess I've heard enough to pull the trigger on one of these. I've been on the fence for a while. I really hate the dust and grit from my abrasive chop saw. It cuts square and leaves a great edge, but because of the grit I have to keep it away from everything. The hot parts coming off it are no fun either. I don't really have the space or the money for a true cold saw, but have used them in other shops and loved them. The best thing about them was a totally burr free cut on tubing inside and out. How do these dry cut saws do for that? I figure I'll have to rework the vise to make it easy to go from 90 to 45 and back.
I use carbide woodworking tools (table saw, chop saw, etc.) for all my aluminum cuts so that won't be an issue. If I could have as clean a steel cutting setup as that, it would be great.

[jameslo]

I guess I've heard enough to pull the trigger on one of these. I've been on the fence for a while. I really hate the dust and grit from my abrasive chop saw. It cuts square and leaves a great edge, but because of the grit I have to keep it away from everything. The hot parts coming off it are no fun either. I don't really have the space or the money for a true cold saw, but have used them in other shops and loved them. The best thing about them was a totally burr free cut on tubing inside and out. How do these dry cut saws do for that? I figure I'll have to rework the vise to make it easy to go from 90 to 45 and back.
I use carbide woodworking tools (table saw, chop saw, etc.) for all my aluminum cuts so that won't be an issue. If I could have as clean a steel cutting setup as that, it would be great.

You're right. The vise is pretty much the same as the chop saw. It's not elegant, but if you square it up coming out of the box, and set the little adjustable angle indicator so that it points at zero from the angle you want to look at it from, then moving it to 45 is no big deal.

One more thing. I got a magnetic sweeper that comes in handy. This is like a lot of tiny chisels eating through the metal, so there will be a little to clean up after a while. But it's not the dust and shower of sparks.

I'm in the same situation you are. I'd love to have a Dake cold saw. But I just can't justify that. Not even to me, and I'm the easiest one I know. This is the next best thing. I grinned like an idiot the first time I cut a 1/18" spacer from a piece if 1" pipe.

[cbmkr]

I use a dry cut steel chop saw , but you have to watch what you cut some of the cheap mill run poor spec angle and flat material has hard spots and will wipe a blade out in nothing flat. Most cuts are done on my horizontal and i use coolant and vari tooth blades if needed. I use my weld table for a lot of things the 5/8" steel top and heavy tube legs keep welding projects from moving around.

[breakneckmot]

I think the most useful tool in your shop depends on what kind of jobs you do. I work on bikes and the most useful purchase for me was a hydraulic lift table purchased for $150 off of CL. After that my 3/8" ratchet is probably the tool I use the most. If you're just trying to drum up work something I've considered is a tubing bender for making off-road bumpers. Around here there's a lot of call for that kind of work.

[johnnymg]

I use a dry cut steel chop saw , but you have to watch what you cut some of the cheap mill run poor spec angle and flat material has hard spots and will wipe a blade out in nothing flat. Most cuts are done on my horizontal and i use coolant and vari tooth blades if needed. I use my weld table for a lot of things the 5/8" steel top and heavy tube legs keep welding projects from moving around.

Between the two tools (dry cut chop or horizontal) which have you found more useful and/or which would be "better" for square/angle steel/Al?

regards
JohnG