theksmith 3,667 Posted September 23, 2016 i recently purchased this 14" Ironton Dry Cut (non-abrasive) Metal Saw from Northern Tool: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200641810_200641810 i've used it enough to know it's not complete junk at least, and it's still on sale so i figured i would share the deal... the sale price is $239.99, with free shipping - then use the coupon code 248532 to take another $25 off to make it $215 to your door (i don't think there was any tax unless you are in Minnesota). the quick and dirty on dry cut AKA cold cut metal saws is that they use high-torque motors to turn expensive blades at relatively slow RPM. most of them are $400+, but they cut faster and much smoother than regular abrasive chop saws. in fact there's hardly any cleanup on a cut piece, often just a little hanging bur at the bottom of the cut and that's about it. the Irontron saw has a nice heavy cast base with machined surface and a typical fence that adjusts up to 45* with a wrench. the quick adjust vice is nice and hold securely. it can cut square tube just over 4" x 4", though it says not to cut solid bar more than 1" thick. the blade that comes with it is meant for ferrous metals like steel, but i didn't have any problem slowly cutting 1/8" wall aluminum tube. several companies do make blades specifically for aluminum and stainless steel. it takes about 1 second for the blade to get up to full speed and then you just use a gentle steady pressure to make the cut... not quite like a hot knife through butter, but pretty darn easy. the photo above shows how clean a cut comes out on aluminum. steel comes out with an even crisper edge. these type of saws do make quite the mess of metal chips and shavings. there are no major sparks though, and the cut piece of metal is instantly cool enough to handle without gloves. my only complaint is a small amount of runout either in the blade or the arbor. for that first second that it's getting up to speed you can see just a bit of wobble. that may shorten the life of the saw some - but it's really minor and i think it will work for my hobby-level use for several years. at half the price of a more professional brand version, i'm satisfied. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jgaz 517 Posted July 7, 2017 Kris, Still satisfied with this saw? I just cut a couple of 2x5x1/8 wall aluminum lengths to mount a tool box in my truck. The length was too long for my band saw so I used a sawsall and my disk sander to do the job. Worked fine just slow. I need to pull the trigger on something better and feed my tool addiction. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,667 Posted July 7, 2017 Kris, Still satisfied with this saw? I just cut a couple of 2x5x1/8 wall aluminum lengths to mount a tool box in my truck. The length was too long for my band saw so I used a sawsall and my disk sander to do the job. Worked fine just slow. I need to pull the trigger on something better and feed my tool addiction. yup - haven't used it a ton, but it's still a nice little luxury every time i do! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ob1jeeper 454 Posted July 10, 2017 Just a heads up to all who are considering purchasing this saw. INSPECT THE BLADE TEETH FOR CORRECT ROTATION, PRIOR TO USING IT... I purchased one a few months after reading this original post, and following a cursory inspection for shipping damage as I took it out of the box, I attempted to cut a section of 1 inch angle iron. But all that happened was thatthe instant the blade touched the angle iron, all of the carbide teeth instantly shelled off the blade. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that although the blade had a direction arrow indicating proper rotational direction, the blade had been installed at the factory to run backwards. Here's the kicker: The blade had a direction arrow painted/inked on it which was ALSO incorrect... Took me a few calls and a couple weeks of waiting & haggling with the chain of command @ Northern Tools, but they finally came through with a new blade at no cost. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,667 Posted July 10, 2017 Just a heads up to all who are considering purchasing this saw. INSPECT THE BLADE TEETH FOR CORRECT ROTATION, PRIOR TO USING IT... I purchased one a few months after reading this original post, and following a cursory inspection for shipping damage as I took it out of the box, I attempted to cut a section of 1 inch angle iron. But all that happened was thatthe instant the blade touched the angle iron, all of the carbide teeth instantly shelled off the blade. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that although the blade had a direction arrow indicating proper rotational direction, the blade had been installed at the factory to run backwards. Here's the kicker: The blade had a direction arrow painted/inked on it which was ALSO incorrect... Took me a few calls and a couple weeks of waiting & haggling with the chain of command @ Northern Tools, but they finally came through with a new blade at no cost. wow! a new blade would be the least they could do considering the personal injury you could have sustained and the resulting lawsuit. i had read some mention in a couple places to this type of saw shedding teeth - seemed to be an urban legend almost as i never found the actual origin of those stories. most people attributed it to someone just slamming the saw down into the piece to be cut. however, your experience makes me wonder if a backwards blade was actually the problem in those instances too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ob1jeeper 454 Posted July 12, 2017 wow! a new blade would be the least they could do considering the personal injury you could have sustained and the resulting lawsuit. i had read some mention in a couple places to this type of saw shedding teeth - seemed to be an urban legend almost as i never found the actual origin of those stories. most people attributed it to someone just slamming the saw down into the piece to be cut. however, your experience makes me wonder if a backwards blade was actually the problem in those instances too.In my experience with volume production assembly processes, there is NO SUCH THING as an oddity or a "failure of one" when dealing with high volume products. There is ZERO doubt in my mind, that the root-cause of this failed blade issue is that the blade had been mis-labled from the blade supplier, causing a mis-assembly on the production line, that guaranteed the blade would fail upon the first attempted use. I was a bit put-off/disappointed that Northern Tools representative I spoke to initially claimed to have never heard of this before, and was only willing to send me a new blade @ cost ( $99 plus shipping ), until I could show her that this blade was somehow different than a new one she would send me. SO... I accepted the challenge, and after receiving the new blade, and sharing the pictures of the two blades, which clearly showed the failed blade to have the rotational arrow incorrectly inked onto the blade, (AND of course the return of the failed blade), they finally issued a refund to my CC for the purchase and shipping costs of the new blade. BOTTOM LINE ? ? ? For the price, I'm satisfied with the quality of the saw, as it cuts all the materials I've needed cut to a precision level that is acceptable for my needs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,667 Posted March 22, 2018 anyone had to buy a blade for this or any dry-cut metal saw yet? mine is starting to wear out already. it's somewhat ok still on 1/8" material, but anything thicker and now it really starts to walk and make generally rougher looking cuts - it also sparks more than it used to unless i go much slower with the chop. i've had good luck lately with the Milwaukee brand for drill bits, so i was thinking about getting their ferrous metal dry-cut blade: https://www.tylertool.com/milwaukee-48-40-4505-14-in--circular-saw-blade--72-tooth-/miln48-40-4505,default,pd.html?ref=pla&zmam=31282435&zmas=47&zmac=723&zmap=miln48-40-4505&gclid=Cj0KCQjwv73VBRCdARIsAOnG8u2Sg9e3GqErZYjFYO3TylhEZRkOLbKiZc84u5zjJ-D9cmxhH5JM5OkaAlmDEALw_wcB or, Dewalt seems to make decent quality stuff, so i also looked at theirs: http://amzn.to/2HVLqnC opinions/experience? EDIT - after a little more research, these guys seem to take making blades pretty seriously: http://www.tenryu.com/prf.html - now i'm considering their "stabilizer" series 14" 72T Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jgaz 517 Posted March 22, 2018 Did you look at Lenox brand blades? I recently purchased several their “die master 2” series blade for my 14” bandsaw. I had been unable to find consistent quality blades until I found these. I love this blade! We also used their brand recip saw blades at work for cutting up vehicle bodies to make test fixtures. These worked so well that we had the boss purchase them because they weren’t carried in the tool stockroom. I’ll bet they make a good dry saw blade but I’ll also bet the initial cost will be quite high. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,667 Posted March 22, 2018 thanks Jim, i'll look into Lenox. also just FYI, i found this place locally that seems to have excellent prices for sharpening these type of blades: https://www.valleysawservice.com/sharpening i wasn't going to bother with having this blade sharpened as it doesn't seem to be particularly high quality. i will give that shop a try once whatever blade i buy next gets dull though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
