I have about 24' of 1/2 plate I need to cut with a Milwaukee 8" circular saw. The blade that came on it is crap. The MK Morse website says their blades are for use up to 1/4" max. What blade you you guys recommend?
Reply:I've had the best luck with the Milwaukee blades. Use a straitedge, set saw to minimal penatration and keep the feed slow and steady.
Reply:I have used blades that said 1/4" max to cut 1" plate before but not 24ft of it. That is a lot of steel to cut with a steel blade. You would be better off cutting it with O/A or a plasma cutter. When you cut long pieces ( I assume these are in 8ft pieces ) You do not just start cutting from one end to the other. Even a cold cutting saw will make the steel distort from the cut because of the internal stress that is released when it is cut although not as badly as cutting it with a hot process like o/a or plasma. you need to skip a short area every couple of ft all the way down the cut then let it cool completely and go back and cut the short sections. By short I mean like 1/2" cut 2ft skip another 1/2" and so on. If you use a cold cut saw to do this do not force the saw . Cut it slow and use a guide. You will need to do a plunge cut where you want to skip a 1/2". There again go very slow when plunging. I would say if you are careful you might get away with doing the 24ft with 2-3 blades. Do not use any lube . I suspect it will take you 20-30 minutes to cut an 8ft piece. The saw will cut faster if you force it but you will go through a blade much faster.
Reply:I have used Oshlun and Tenryu for thick metal. You will need several blades to cut that much. I have used plasma to cut off a 4 foot wide section of 1/2" and then cleaned up with a grinder. I then used the 8 inch saw to cut the other side as a comparison. The saw cut was less work for a clean edge but will cost more.What is your time worth and how clean of a cut do you need? That cut was done with a 42 tooth blade.Dont use the blades with more teeth on a cut like that.Sent from my SM-G930V using TapatalkMillermatic 252 MIGMiller Dynasty 200DX TIGMiller Spectrum 625 PlasmaAltas 12x36 Metal LatheBridgeport Milling Machinewww.psacustomcreations.com