TCT Stainless Blade Cutting 304 and 316L?

[carlos420uk]

I recently purchased an Evolution Raptor TCT chop saw, and so far am very pleased with it. It came with a blade for Mild Steel only, but they do also do an Aluminium and a Stainless blade. The stainless blade is around the £120 mark.

My question is has anyone used the above Evolution SS blade or similar and how long did it last?

I mainly want to cut 304L but sometime's some 316L schedule 10 and 40 pipe, and have some concerns as to how the blade will last on the 316L?

Any feedback on the above would be much appreciated.

 

[hotrodder]

Haven't used Evolution branded blades, did buy a Jancy stainless specific blade a few years back and it was a POS (maybe why it was on special offer?)... didn't last anywhere near as long as my more usual approach of using a 305mm blade (lower surface speed as my Dewalt is a 355mm) with a high tooth count (lower chip load per tooth). With a light touch the chips come off colour free but blades need sharpening a LOT more frequently and it's very easy to kill 'em in less than a dozen cuts! 304/316 won't really make a difference

Having said that most of the time i'm working with stainless tube i'm making a lot more cuts through mandrel bends than straight tube i.e. other methods make more sense due to clamping issues...

The main difference with ally blades is that they're typically negative rake so less prone to clogging/ally chips sticking. Not really an issue with regular blades unless cutting shed loads of ally and/or being a bit of an animal. An occasional misting with gt85/wd40 etc fixes things

 

[PhillipM]

A good stainless blade should be positive rake too to reduce the cutting force + work hardening. Slow speed and heavy feed.

 

[carlos420uk]

Thanks for the reply's Hotrodder and PhillipM

Hotrodder:-

I really only wanted the Stainless blade for cutting Merge Collectors, as I already have a nice jig made for my Hitachi Abrasive chop saw I thought I could transfer it over to the EVO saw in an attempt to cut collectors better / cleaner.
I can pull them off on the Abrasive (Using an Inox ss disc), but the disc always walks no matter how slow I go, and leaves me with an un-even cut that needs a fair bit of "Tickling up" with the grinder and flap-wheel afterwards to get a good fit up.

The reason I mentioned 304 vs 316 is because a friend of mine said that he thought the TCT blade would be fine for the 304 but 316 would wear it down too fast as it work harden's more and also "Lubricates" causing blades to slip over it?

What is your preferred method of cutting pipe, be it bends or straights - a horizontal bandsaw?

 

[hotrodder]

While a TCT will be less prone to deflecting/wandering it can still happen easily with the type of cut you're talking about and more importantly that type of cut is a lot harder on TCT blades than cutting tube to length i.e. cutting like _ rather than l
All the 300 series austenitics work harden quickly, 304 will dull a blade as quickly as 316 and as soon as it's dulled a little things get exponentially worse very quickly i.e. while the same blade would still happily cut a bunch of mild steel it'll stop cutting stainless and leaning on it will just turn the cut blue (making it crazy hard) and 'properly' kill the blade

In an ideal world i'd use a cold saw for cutting straight lengths and a vertical bandsaw for cutting bends. As a proper* vertical bandsaw isn't even close to portable i normally end up cutting bends with an angle grinder using tape for a cut line. In either case i use a belt or disc sander to clean up/square cuts as needed. Horizontal bandsaw would be a workable compromise, drawback would be the lack of flexability/fixures needed for cutting bends


* having never used a portaband i don't know how they'd work (suitable blade speed and cut time versus a grinder) or if tables exist for them in the UK although making something shouldn't be that difficult

 

[carlos420uk]

I know what you mean, those length-ways collector cuts are tough on any "Dry" saw! I think I'll give the stainless blade a miss then based on what you and others have told me as I can always use my abrasive for straight cuts and an angle grinder for bends after marking out properly.

Can you recommend a good belt & disc sander / linisher for squaring off the ends of Pipe, Tube or Section by any chance? I could really do with one but everything I find is generally listed for woodwork usage.
I assume most people using these at home just source a belt and disc for Metal use and run those?

Thanks again

 

[hotrodder]

There's a thread running currently about 'em which links to some older threads discussing which of the cheaper/woodworking types are OK and which are proper POS with chocolate tables etc. Here's an older one http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=35119&highlight=disc+sander

Pucker metal working ones are typically a lot more money, can be picked up used for less than a goodish workworking type new but are more likely to be 3 phase

 

[carlos420uk]

Cheers for the link, will have a good read and research before buying one, but it's a tool I'd really like to have around.

Regarding the cutting of Stainless Pipe again. I went and got myself one of the Clarke 4x6 horizontal / vertical band saws today along with a section bender on a VAT free voucher (Happy days), so will give that a try on the stainless when I get a decent blade in it to see how it fairs. TBH for the price and all the other stuff I can use it for I think it will come in very handy. Reviews seem to be generally good as they are set up right, so I'm hoping I can make some quieter, cleaner cuts with it

Still really rate the Raptor saw though for accuracy, cut and time saving.

Thanks for the guidance Hotrodder