Further Down the Rabbit Hole, or Plasma Cutters, MIGs, and Chop Saws oh my!

[ACHiPo]

As the title says, now that I've dipped my toe into the metal working pool by buying a Logan 816, I'm thinking of all the cool things I want to make (like an angle iron base for the lathe bench that I can put retractable caster/feet), and I'm thinking I "need" a MIG welder, and of course some way to cut up the stock to weld, so I "need" a chop saw. Then I discovered how cool plasma cutters are.

You get the idea.

I've got an under-used 12" Dewalt compound miter saw for wood. The research I've seen says don't try to use wood miter saws as metal chop saws, but...what's the worst (ok, worst most probable) thing that could happen if I pop a composition blade onto the Dewalt to get me by until I decide if I really like the welding fabrication stuff?

Are plasma cutters really the bomb-diggety, especially if I'm running a 4.2 CFM @ 90 psi compressor?

Also, what are folks' experience with welders? I definitely want a MIG, as it seems really pretty approachable. Miller (and probably others) make multi-purpose welders that will do MIG, stick, and TIG for not a whole lot of money, but my gut feeling is that they do none of the above particularly well. https://www.weldingsuppliesfromioc....Kdoo2Elhv0MeB65DrS-ZB1BPbujcI7tXSgaArKS8P8HAQ

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

 

[bfd]

wood chop saws are too fast for the blade to last long. so as the blade goes dull in the middle of the cut and you are gripping the metal by hand ( because you don't have the proper hold downs it grabs and forces your hand into the blade and you miss some fingers. that would be the worse thing that could happen. yes I have a warped mind be careful bill

 

[ACHiPo]

wood chop saws are too fast for the blade to last long. so as the blade goes dull in the middle of the cut and you are gripping the metal by hand ( because you don't have the proper hold downs it grabs and forces your hand into the blade and you miss some fingers. that would be the worse thing that could happen. yes I have a warped mind be careful bill

Allrighty then

I guess I can look this up, but what RPM does a wood chop saw run vs. a metal one?

 

[ACHiPo]

Allrighty then

I guess I can look this up, but what RPM does a wood chop saw run vs. a metal one?

My Dewalt CMS is 4000 RPM, as is the Dewalt metal abrasive saw. The Evolution metal (carbide) saw runs at 1400 RPM. The CMS does not have a vise, but the metal abrasive one does.

Another option I suppose is to put a metal blade on my Jet steel bandsaw?

 

[ACHiPo]

By the way the Evolution saw looks pretty trick.

 

[mikey]

I would get a horizontal/vertical bandsaw if I were you. I have a chop saw and while it works, it heats the stock up a lot. If you're only working with structural steel then that isn't a big deal but a hobby machinist will cut a lot of other kinds of stock over his "career" and a band saw is a vastly better choice.

As for the welder, I have a Mig and O/A torch. I only weld smaller projects for myself, with thickness of up to about 1/4", so my little 135A Lincoln welder is fine for my needs. I'll let the other more experienced welders chime in here but just wanted to say that if you just want to weld something quickly and solidly then a Mig welder is the easiest to learn. I can gas weld pretty well and I've been just okay with Tig but I can run a good bead with good penetration much faster with my Mig welder. And buy a welder with an Argon regulator; flux core works but leaves spatter/slag all over your project. I only use flux-core outside or when I can't clean the parts well for some reason. If you choose to go with Mig, ask a lot of questions before buying.

I always intended to buy a plasma cutter but to be honest, I get by with my horizontal/vertical bandsaw for cutting out parts. Yes, I'm limited by this but I also don't have a machine sitting doing nothing most of the time, either. If you do a lot of steel work then a plasma cutter makes sense. If not, then it doesn't.

 

[ACHiPo]

I would get a horizontal/vertical bandsaw if I were you. I have a chop saw and while it works, it heats the stock up a lot. If you're only working with structural steel then that isn't a big deal but a hobby machinist will cut a lot of other kinds of stock over his "career" and a band saw is a vastly better choice.

As for the welder, I have a Mig and O/A torch. I only weld smaller projects for myself, with thickness of up to about 1/4", so my little 135A Lincoln welder is fine for my needs. I'll let the other more experienced welders chime in here but just wanted to say that if you just want to weld something quickly and solidly then a Mig welder is the easiest to learn. I can gas weld pretty well and I've been just okay with Tig but I can run a good bead with good penetration much faster with my Mig welder. And buy a welder with an Argon regulator; flux core works but leaves spatter/slag all over your project. I only use flux-core outside or when I can't clean the parts well for some reason. If you choose to go with Mig, ask a lot of questions before buying.

I always intended to buy a plasma cutter but to be honest, I get by with my horizontal/vertical bandsaw for cutting out parts. Yes, I'm limited by this but I also don't have a machine sitting doing nothing most of the time, either. If you do a lot of steel work then a plasma cutter makes sense. If not, then it doesn't.

Mikey,
Thanks. I left a bandsaw off my list--it's slower than an abrasive chop saw, but more flexible. I need to check blade speed and tension requirements--my Jet vertical saw is stout, but may not be stout enough for a metal blade. Plus it won't really function as a cut off saw at least for long pieces. The more reading I'm doing, however, carbide metal-cutting saws have me intrigued. They're pricey (the blades are ~$100@, and it looks like you need separate blades for Al and steel).

I also didn't mention that I have experience with O/A (I silver brazed a bike frame from scratch when I was in high school), but for what I'm interested in soing now, MIG seems really attractive.

Another thing I'm trying to figure out is how to deal with gas cylinders as I don't have a truck, and don't want to replace my daily driver with one.

I've been spending a lot of time lately on planes and with jetlag, which gives me a lot of time to read and research, but not much time to work in the shop getting experience.

 

[Groundhog]

I work a lot with aluminum and once needed smallish (like 4" x 6") pieces cut out of 0.080" plate. I picked up a good used table saw and changed the blade to a Diablo 80 tooth aluminum specific blade. I made a "skid" that I can clamp the stock in and slide the skid with the stock in the groves of the saw's table. No problems with up to 3/4" 6061 aluminum as long as you use lots of cutting fluid (aluminum specific or WD-40). I've since added a Diablo ferris metal cutting blade with similar results with steel.
You'll want to hook up a vacuum in a hurry though!
Just change pulleys to adjust speed to suit the blades / materials.
I use both the rip fence and the sliding protractor (with mods so that I can use clamps instead of holding the stock by hand).
If I haven't made something clear please message me. This saw conversion works really, really nice.

 

[ACHiPo]

I work a lot with aluminum and once needed smallish (like 4" x 6") pieces cut out of 0.080" plate. I picked up a good used table saw and changed the blade to a Diablo 80 tooth aluminum specific blade. I made a "skid" that I can clamp the stock in and slide the skid with the stock in the groves of the saw's table. No problems with up to 3/4" 6061 aluminum as long as you use lots of cutting fluid (aluminum specific or WD-40). I've since added a Diablo ferris metal cutting blade with similar results with steel.
You'll want to hook up a vacuum in a hurry though!
Just change pulleys to adjust speed to suit the blades / materials.
I use both the rip fence and the sliding protractor (with mods so that I can use clamps instead of holding the stock by hand).
If I haven't made something clear please message me. This saw conversion works really, really nice.

Very interesting idea of using the table saw. I also have an underutilized table saw (I use my Festool MFT or my Jet band saw for just about all wood cutting tasks). I'll need to check whether my table saw, an old Inca, has pulleys for speed adjustment. Come to think of it, the Festool circular saw is adjustable speed, so I could use it with a proper blade.
The biggest concern I have with mixing ferrous metal cutting with wood is fire--not a good idea--but aluminum should be fine.

All kinds of options! (I'm still jonesin' for a plasma cutter, though!)

 

[Bob Korves]

Good advice from Mikey. Since I bought my HF horizontal/vertical band saw, my Milwaukee 14" chop saw has stayed in the cabinet. My sabre saws have pretty much as well, though they can be used on tighter radii and on cuts without an external starting point. The little HF saws are really quite useful in a home hobby shop, versatile, relatively cheap, and they work quite well after the inevitable setup and dialing in that is needed as received.