[TheForge] Re: Chop Saw Irritation

Mon Jan 28 13:38:36 2002

You are most probably glazing over the wheel surface. I keep a grinding
wheel dresser near by (the kind with several star wheels intermixed with
hard steel washers). When the wheel glazes over, hold the dresser to the
edge of the  cutting wheel at about a 15 Degree angle to remove the glaze,
and it will cut much better. With hard surfaced wheels on some steels I
deglaze every minute or so.
If you use a high quality more friable wheel, it will cut faster but also
wear faster. I like th Dewalt wheels for this problem. Harbor freight
occasionally has the 14" wheels on sale for about $4 to $6, so I stock up
when they do. Most of the imports are junk and not worth the price you pay
for them.
Chuck
----- Original Message -----
From: Adam Whiteson <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2002 10:34 AM
Subject: [TheForge] Re: Chop Saw Irritation


> I have the same problem.  At first I thought it was a hard spot in the
steel
> but I notice that regardless of the material, it only happens on thick
stock
> (about 1" dia") and always in about the same place.  It can happen on thin
> stock too if I am trying to cut it on the flat.   Then I tried cooling the
> cut with water which made no difference.  Anyway, I have used these blades
> to chop red hot metal with no problem.  Then I tried several different
> blades - also not much difference.
>
> Now I am convinced its a chip clearing problem and that when the cutting
> path in the steel gets too wide, the blade cant clear the cut material.
In
> fact I suspect that the absence of sparks is the *cause* not a symptom of
> the problem.  In any case, loosening the clamp and rotating the work a bit
> seems to solve the problem.
>
> Adam
>
> RW writes:
>
> > Has anyone noticed that while cutting through a piece of mild steel,
> > especially hot-finished, that the sparks are abundant and the wheel
seems to
> > be moving right through the piece, then suddenly, the sparks diminish to
a
> > small stream and it seems that one has encountered a "hard spot".
Sometimes
> > extra pressure seems to get the wheel through this spot but sometimes
> > nothing helps and the wheel just stays there not moving.  The
Instructions
> > say, let the wheel do the work.  Do not bear down on the metal.  But
> > frequently that does not work.  What is going on here?  What can be done
to
> > resume a nice straight and easy cut?
> > RW
> >
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