Chop Saws

[salpal48]

My HF chop saw bid the Dust this week end . and checking for another . There are so many On line . Question , Are they all the same with just different names or are some better quality.
Or the Cheapest is the best

[Garyshome]

Just about anything is better then HF. You want something good that will last or another HF? I'm a pro and I would never own a HF. I have a Rigid, a porter cable, 2 delta's and a Hitachi right now. The deltas are beat but work fine, everything else should outlast me. Dewalt makes a quality saw also.

[Shawlerbrook]

Love my DeWalt.

[Bazoo]

Of the chop saws is used at work over the years, the older porter cable was the best. The Bosch we had was junk. Several craftsman was okay then the last was junk. I'd probably get a rigid if I was going new.

[bangerjim]

Be sure, now that you are getting away from a Horrible Freight tool, get a "chop" saw that does compound miter angles, not just simple cut off's! I did not realize how valuable a double compound sliding miter saw was until I bought one and retired the HF junk saw (given to me) to my auxiliary workshop where I rarely ever use it.

Seriously look at DeWalt's offering. Their corded tools are still excellent.

[gpidaho]

I did high end carpentry trim work until retirement. The two best chop saws in my opinion are the Makita and the Hatachi compound miters. Gp

[onelight]

I have a Milwaukee 12" sliding compound on a Ridgid folding extension base . That works really good the stand is great easy to move and set up and gives good support to material when cutting. Would buy again.

[Burnt Fingers]

Are you talking about the small HF saw used for cutting down brass?

If so they are all the same except for the name.

Since this is the reloading equipment forum I can't imagine why you would be talking about any other chop saw.

[onelight]

Are you talking about the small HF saw used for cutting down brass?

If so they are all the same except for the name.

Since this is the reloading equipment forum I can't imagine why you would be talking about any other chop saw.
Good point :)

[David2011]

For a full sized “chop” saw I’ve been very happy with my Dewalt 12” compound sliding miter saw. If you’re looking for a little one, check out the Micro Mark tools. They have one that looks a lot like the HF one but it’s $10 more. The other one is a Proxxon which is over 6 times the price of the HF.

[1hole]

Labeling errors account for a lot of misunderstandings. Tho many folk call all power miter saws "chop" saws it's my understanding that actual chop saws are made for metal work and miter saws are intended for wood ... and that's what the labels on the original boxes usually indicate.

Harbor Freight's cute little 3" light duty chop saw is great (and reasonably safe!) for my reloading and small craft needs but then I don't plan to shorten 10,000 5.56 mm cases either. But I can't imagine using my 10" miter saw (with a coarse tooth wood cutting blade) to cut that thin metal.

Cheap tools are cheep; professional tools are not cheap but I'm not a professional fixer either. Thus, my bottom line for buying tools for any work is to get what I actually need for what do, not what my neighbor may do. Many inexpensive H.F. tools are quite sufficient for many of my occasional needs but I haven't a clue what to tell anyone else they need. I suspect anyone who actually needs high quality tools knows it without any advice from me or anyone else.

[Shawlerbrook]

Reminds me of the movie where the lead character says...what we got here is a failure to communicate !

[W.R.Buchanan]

Guys,, I think he was talking about a "Miniature Chop Saw," not a full sized one. HF was one of the only places that sold something like that.

Randy

[bangerjim]

Guys,, I think he was talking about a "Miniature Chop Saw," not a full sized one. HF was one of the only places that sold something like that.

Randy

The "thing" at HF is a cheap copy of the MicroLux MiniMiter saw (item #84656 $49.95) sold by Micro-Mark on line. Excellent saw. Looks like the cheapo HF thing but built better. At least from my experience with both items.

But many people DO discuss and ask advise on tons of other stuff OTHER than just gun-related use tools!

[FLINTNFIRE]

I have one of the 2inch chop saws from harbor freight , it works good for cutting brass , and I own professional tools and have found some of the big names to be sadly lacking in quality .

My harbor freight roofing nailer works great could not say the same for the ridgid and the dewalt that both worked so so , yes they were oiled and they were pretty sad , I like quality tools and there are some names out there who strive to have quality control and there are so many who sell junk with a nice paint job and name and do not deliver .

For what you want cutting brass it will work , the bigger one is probably better , I had 3 inch pack of cut off wheels and can cut through a 50 alaskan without turning over , guard has to be removed or a different guard made to fit for the larger blades .

[Randy Bohannon]

Which ever you get buy a good 200 tooth blade, you will never be sorry you chipped something that matters.

[FLINTNFIRE]

I took off the blade as I had cut off wheels from something else , woks great and since I had them why not .

[ndnchf]

I'm very happy with the HF mini shop saw for cutting brass. I made a short video showing the jig I made to hold the brass for a consistent cut length.

https://youtu.be/7unEiiPN860

[jmorris]

Now the OP’s going to be on the search for a 12 inch 600 tooth, .020 blade. :)


I made an arbor to hold a slitting saw in a cheap drill press that made short work of cutting cases.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNXz97yWp2w

[FLINTNFIRE]

Very nice and does a quick and slick job to , a little more then I would need , but for high volumes that would be the tool for it .

[mac60]

The Proxxon 37160 is the Cadillac. About $260 - $270 though, so quite a bit more than the HF saw.

[j4570]

I built a jig with a clamp that I put in my 12” miter saw for trimming brass. With a TCG blade for non ferrous metals it made short work of cutting down cases For case forming. I made so many cases I haven’t used it in years. I cut it a little long and trimmed to final length

[ofitg]

My HF chop saw bid the Dust this week end

Just curious - what are the symptoms of a HF chop saw which bites the dust?

[JRLesan]

That was Strother Martin and he wasn't the lead character in CHL.

[Handloader109]

I wore out a HF, bought a makita a number of years ago and gave it away. Dewalt is the king in my opinion

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[JimB..]

I’m thinking that an old radial arm saw and a jig to hold a row of brass would get through a lot of brass quickly. Takes up a lot of space though.

[j4570]

People had enough trouble with getting injured with radial arm saws to begin with. Have them make a jig to hold brass, I can't imagine when the brass gets loose where all those case fly! Or the cut ends flying off the blade.

[salpal48]

Just curious - what are the symptoms of a HF chop saw which bites the dust?

I had this saw for About 6 Years or so. . So I new It was on it's last Leg. It was making a Lot of Chattering Noise upon starting. Cutting the first case , the shaft on the inside of the saw that rotates the blade Snapped.
I really Can't Complain i did get Plenty of use Out of it
sal

[1hole]

Sal, it sounds like your little H.F. chop saw's drive shaft bearing went bad. If you have a source for new bearings it's possible you could have fixed that but there's no way to get passed the broken part!

[oger]

The Mini Miter chopsaw is on backorder. I guess that should have been expected.

[W.R.Buchanan]

This is what I use when I need to do precision cuts. My little Bridgeport mill has been setup to cut my Guide Rods for my Hand Press for 4 years now. It uses the power down feed set at .003 per rev.

It is a 6" .060 slotting saw on the Angle Head. Note the reinforcing discs on either side of the saw blade. They stiffen the saw up so it doesn't chatter and wander side to side and do all sorts of things I don't want.

This set up is +/-.001 and has been for 4 years. This is why the top and bottom plates on my Hand Presses are parallel to within about .002 every time without having to go to all kinds of special handling to make it happen.

I have used this setup any time I had to cut parts to precise lengths and had to do a lot of them. It has always worked very well and cutting Brass would be an easy job for it.

Randy

[onelight]

This is what I use when I need to do precision cuts. My little Bridgeport mill has been setup to cut my Guide Rods for my Hand Press for 4 years now. It uses the power down feed set at .003 per rev.

It is a 6" .060 slotting saw on the Angle Head. Note the reinforcing discs on either side of the saw blade. They stiffen the saw up so it doesn't chatter and wander side to side and do all sorts of things I don't want.

This set up is +/-.001 and has been for 4 years. This is why the top and bottom plates on my Hand Presses are parallel to within about .002 every time without having to go to all kinds of special handling to make it happen.

I have used this setup any time I had to cut parts to precise lengths and had to do a lot of them. It has always worked very well and cutting Brass would be an easy job for it.

Randy
What would it cost me to get a case trimmer like that :bigsmyl2:

[Rfeustel]

Are you talking about the small HF saw used for cutting down brass?

If so they are all the same except for the name.

Since this is the reloading equipment forum I can't imagine why you would be talking about any other chop saw.

I’m confused too

[Burnt Fingers]

I’m confused too

The OP did a drive by. He's never responded to the thread he created.

[salpal48]

In the past several days , most Places are completely Out of the Mini chop saws. . as was stated all these mini saws are the same . I ended up purchasing a Proxxon KGS-80 . That was even hard. All places were out of that also. I was able to locate one on line so that was the purchase
Thanks for the feedback and lets see how that works

[W.R.Buchanan]

What would it cost me to get a case trimmer like that :bigsmyl2:

If you already have a Bridgeport mill the Angle head is an accessory you can purchase from them. (If you can afford it?) I got mine used for around $300 many years ago. They are on Ebay all the time. You also need the arbor or you can run an R8 collet and hold a smaller slotting saw mandrel and saw. 3" max dia. If you are cutting anything longer than a cartridge case you need a saw that is larger in Diameter so the work can go under the angle head. See pic above.

These are common Machine Shop Tooling, and excellent equipment. I've been using mine for 30+ years.

Randy

[onelight]

I would love to have the equipment and skills to be a machinist . I admire what you guys can do :mrgreen: and I enjoy seeing how you put your tools to use even for something this simple.

[jetinteriorguy]

I would love to have the equipment and skills to be a machinist . I admire what you guys can do :mrgreen: and I enjoy seeing how you put your tools to use even for something this simple.
Back in 1972 d also wanted to be a machinist, then I discovered auto upholstery and had to make a choice. I flipped a coin and then spent the next 49 years doing upholstery work. To this day I still wonder if I made the right choice.

[Brassmonkey]

Reminds me of the movie where the lead character says...what we got here is a failure to communicate !

Some men ya just can't reach.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Back in 1972 d also wanted to be a machinist, then I discovered auto upholstery and had to make a choice. I flipped a coin and then spent the next 49 years doing upholstery work. To this day I still wonder if I made the right choice.

I saw this graffitied on the side of a building next to a freeway.

"Your Work is your Art!"

If you did nice work, you chose correctly.

Randy