Building a big brother for my X2

[mhackney]

Thanks Hoss, I had come across those in my search and they look like the ticket. They do need to operate at a slower speed than the abrasive cut off machines. After more research I decided to bite the bullet and get a Rave 2 Evolution saw with this blade. Should be here later this week. If it saves me even a little time it will be well worth the cost.

cheers,
Michael

[hoss2006]

Thanks Hoss, I had come across those in my search and they look like the ticket. They do need to operate at a slower speed than the abrasive cut off machines. After more research I decided to bite the bullet and get a Rave 2 Evolution saw with this blade. Should be here later this week. If it saves me even a little time it will be well worth the cost.

cheers,
Michael

I'm thinking of doing the same, no room upstairs for the bandsaw but I have a miter saw up here.
I tried using a fine tooth carbide blade in some ally and it was a little scary.
I'll have to look at the rpm and see if it's less than their blades 3900rpm, maybe I can cheap out, probably not.
Hoss

[jid2]

I've been cutting tubing, and small aluminum stock on a nice Makita 12" sliding compound miter saw for years. A good fine tooth carbide Oldham blade cuts like butter. The purpose built Rage should be awesome. Only crappy part is that it throws chips everywhere, but it cleans up pretty easy. So much faster than a band sand.

[SCzEngrgGroup]

Fine tooth blades will tend to clog up easily cutting aluminum, unless it's fairly thin. When it does clog, you'll be put at risk, and the blade will be ruined instantly. A combination or rip blade is much better. A thin-kerf blade will cut with much less power, and less waste. I do all my aluminum prep using a carbide thin-kerf combination blade on a table saw. I can cut through 2" stock with ease.

Regards,
Ray L.

[mhackney]

I'll report back on the Evolution saw and blade once it comes in and makes some cuts. I really need a dedicated tubing/round bar saw that clamps the work down firmly. The Evolution blades seem to have a following so I am looking forward to seeing it in operation.

cheers,
Michael

[mhackney]

My new Evolution saw came in yesterday. I was able to unbox it today. Photos on my gallery of the unboxing. Seem to be well built. Going through the manual now to insure I don't cut off my hand! I'll report back with a short video making the first cut.



cheers,
Michael

[PriddyShiddy]

REALLY looking forward to seeing this thing cut.

I bought one of THESE aluminum blades for my old solid delta miter saw. Had to make clamps to hold the bar on both sides. Wasn't very pretty but it worked surprisingly well. I cut 50x .5" thick blanks out of 3" round 6061 bar pretty fast.

The hard part was containing the chips! I cut most of one side off a heavy duty (2'x2'?) cardboard box and mounted the saw through it to a stand. 50 blanks filled the 3" deep base I left on the front and was 6" or 8" deep in the back. pretty amazing.

Next time I ran those I paid $70 to have a cut-house do it for me... my cuts were actually cleaner and slightly more consistent than theirs.

Congrats on the nice purchase... now grab some steel, aluminum, wood and a video camera and show us what she can do

[jid2]

I use somthing like this

[SCzEngrgGroup]

I use somthing like this

Not a good idea to use a finish/cross-cut blade, unless you're only cutting thing stock. It can load up, and when it does, it can weld to the work, or, worse, almost explode. I have a Freud blade that did this. Completely destroyed the blade, ripping several of the carbide tips off, and cracking the blade itself. It made one helluva noise when it went.

Regards,
Ray L.

[mhackney]

Ok, here is the video making the first cuts with the Evolution. I was pleasantly surprised, it's a keeper!

"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chmf65u2hhg"]Evolution Rage 2 Saw - YouTube

Surprisingly quiet for a chop saw too.

cheers,
Michael

[PriddyShiddy]

NICE. seems pretty rigid. Where do the chips go? couldn't tell in the video. Does it have good chip containment? Does the vice feel as rigid as it looks in the video?

[mhackney]

There is a chip tray that apparently works pretty well! There were very few chips sprayed around. The vise is nice and sturdy. That 2 1/4" solid bar was 4' long. It held it in place very firmly. You let the saw do the work. It looks like I was pressing down on the saw but I actually wasn't. I've now made about 8 cuts in this thicker stock and some 2" brass and I am still very impressed.

cheers,
Michael