by cracker39 » Sat Jan 28, 2006 3:50 pm
FLASH...METAL CUTTING STATUS REPORT!!!
Following all of the advice to use a metal blade in my miter saw, and not following advice not to, I bought a couple of 10" metal blades from HD today, and installed one in my miter saw. I removed the dust bag and plastic cutting insert, and fashioned some deflectors from scrap metal flashing to keep the sparks away from my miter indicator that is plastic, behind the blade in the path of the sparks, and not removable.
I made two cuts so far in my heaviest metal, the 3/16" 2"x2" tube for the tongue. The first cut took several minutes to get through the flat top, 3/16" x 2", and them went faster down through the two side walls. Cutting the 2nd piece went much faster. Any guesses as to why it was slower on the first cut? Do these blades cut better once the initial edge is worn down? Well, after two cuts through the 3/16", the blade looks hardly worn away at all. It looks like I may get through all of my cutting with one blade...time will tell. Anyway, it's worked great so far. I'm going back out now and cut the 45 degree miters on the 1/8" for the frame perimeter.