What They Do!

Steel cold cut saws are relatively new to the scene. They use a metal tungsten carbide tipped blade to cut steel section. This design produces neat, clean cuts with no sparks, much less noise and hardly any mess or fuss. These saws will produce a cut finish that is usually suitable for immediate welding. They also cut much faster than steel cut-off saws and, if used correctly, the TCT blade will last considerably longer than the equivalent number of abrasive wheels. This saves you time and money in the long run. Cutting times of cold cut saws, relative to cut-off saws are just astounding! For example, fully cutting a 25mm round mild steel tube (shown left) took barely 4 seconds on the cold cut saw. The same section of steel took 13 seconds to cut on an abrasive wheel cut-off saw & needed deburring, whereas the cold cut saw finish was clean & ready for its next process.

In Brief.

The steel cold saws tested performed so well they were almost inseparable from each other with barely one star separating them. All of these machines are definitely considered eminently suitable for their intended uses.

The first machine tested was the TradeTools Direct 51302. Although significantly cheaper than the other two machines, nothing seems to have been spared in its manufacture. The TradeTools Direct machine even comes standard with a high quality 70 tooth Japanese IWATA blade! We next tested the Makita and, as usual, it did not disappoint. Our comments at the time were that the Makita LC1230 is very solidly constructed and is clearly not built down to a price. Makita have built this machine using a cast aluminium base which incorporates a simple, strong, effective and very easily adjustable vice system. Despite the Makita’s slightly smaller overall motor and blade size, the LC1230 easily stood its ground against the bigger machines, scoring the same cutting times as the others. Finally, we tested the DeWalt DW872-XE & achieved yet another excellent score from our tester. This DeWalt is a big, powerful & obviously well built machine. Our tester commented that the DeWalt ‘looks and feels’ like a much bigger machine than the others. It has a ‘soft start’ motor & comes standard with the renowned DeWalt very comfortable horizontal ‘D’ handle. This DeWalt test machine should have scored higher than the others but was hampered by a jamming quick release vice system. We did test this vice quite a few times and it jammed more often than not!

All machines were very well built & would stand the test of time in those more serious workshops for which they have obviously been manufactured. In short, if you can justify the extra expense for one of these, over a cheaper steel cut-off saw which uses an abrasive wheel, then it is well worth the extra money!

The Test - What We Did?

We unpacked and examined each of the saws on our test bench prior to use. We recorded some of the more obvious visual details such as how easy the rear fence was to adjust and whether a 45 degree angle could be cut in both directions. Although we are not able to advise on how long the equipment tested will actually last in the field, we did examine the materials & overall manufactured finish to give you a considered opinion of how robust the machine may prove to be. We do not dismantle tools as a normal part of our testing procedure. Each machine was required to cut three different mild steel profiles. The first profile cut was a 40mm x 40mm x 2mm box section. The second profile cut was a 25mm x 3mm round tube. Finally, we cut a 12mm solid steel rod. We timed each cut with each machine for all profiles. We also measured the relevant noise levels at a distance of 2 metres. These results, both length of time in cutting each steel profile plus the respective levels of noise for all machines, were virtually identical.

Assessment Criterion:
1. How comfortable was the saw to use?
2. Ease of use and reliability of the clamping vice.
3. Rear fence adjustment & ease of use. 4. Power rating (amps).
5. Cutting blade diameter.
6. Our opinion of expected durability.
7. Did the machine have appropriate storage for the necessary blade changing tools?

We have given each machine tested a star rating out of ten, based on five categories which we feel are important to most potential buyers.