Well, I am definitely behind the times.
Last time I looked into cutting steel with a regular miter saw, I came quickly to think that that was a bad idea, and that one needed a special low rpm saw to use the carbide saw blades used to cut steel. The latter a very attractive proposition except for the rather high price of the saw and blades.
Well, today, I ran across videos on the Diablo Steel Demon blade. Turns out that this blade can apparently be used for steel with regular speed saws. I could not believe it at first, so checked into the max rpm ratings for the blades and to my surprise the ones I saw had a max rating of 5800 rpm which makes it usable in all my circular saws and miter saw. And YT vids suggest it lasts a good deal of time. Apparently, they use a special cermet type of blade tips. Only about $30 for the smaller ones.
If confirmed, this is great. I can finally let go of my abrasive cutting wheels and use the blade on my 12" miter saw or circular saws to cut steel. Would cut cold, clean and with way more accuracy than the abrasive cutoff tool. Yea!
Anybody has first hand experience with that blade for steel on regular rpm tools?
added: A bit of clarification: It is true that the 7 1/4" blade goes to 5,800 rpm and would be potentially usable in all of my circular saws, miter saw and abrasive cutoff saw. Which is very nice indeed. However, the larger blades do have a lower rpm rating, as one would expect. Unfortunately, the speeds of my particular miter and cutoff saws are such that I would not be able to use the bigger blades in them and basically would be limited to a 8 or 9" blade (4,300 and 3,600 rpm max from what I see). Not bad but not as appealing as a 12" or 14" blade. Now, of course, I don't often need to cut metal that is several inches tall so that limitation is not a huge deal but nevertheless less spectacular of a prospect. So for a trial I plan to start with the 7 1/4 so I can use it in my circular saws at least. I do also still need to check the arbor sizes and make sure they are compatible.
Last time I looked into cutting steel with a regular miter saw, I came quickly to think that that was a bad idea, and that one needed a special low rpm saw to use the carbide saw blades used to cut steel. The latter a very attractive proposition except for the rather high price of the saw and blades.
Well, today, I ran across videos on the Diablo Steel Demon blade. Turns out that this blade can apparently be used for steel with regular speed saws. I could not believe it at first, so checked into the max rpm ratings for the blades and to my surprise the ones I saw had a max rating of 5800 rpm which makes it usable in all my circular saws and miter saw. And YT vids suggest it lasts a good deal of time. Apparently, they use a special cermet type of blade tips. Only about $30 for the smaller ones.
If confirmed, this is great. I can finally let go of my abrasive cutting wheels and use the blade on my 12" miter saw or circular saws to cut steel. Would cut cold, clean and with way more accuracy than the abrasive cutoff tool. Yea!
Anybody has first hand experience with that blade for steel on regular rpm tools?
added: A bit of clarification: It is true that the 7 1/4" blade goes to 5,800 rpm and would be potentially usable in all of my circular saws, miter saw and abrasive cutoff saw. Which is very nice indeed. However, the larger blades do have a lower rpm rating, as one would expect. Unfortunately, the speeds of my particular miter and cutoff saws are such that I would not be able to use the bigger blades in them and basically would be limited to a 8 or 9" blade (4,300 and 3,600 rpm max from what I see). Not bad but not as appealing as a 12" or 14" blade. Now, of course, I don't often need to cut metal that is several inches tall so that limitation is not a huge deal but nevertheless less spectacular of a prospect. So for a trial I plan to start with the 7 1/4 so I can use it in my circular saws at least. I do also still need to check the arbor sizes and make sure they are compatible.
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