Cold Cut Chop Saw

Hi all;
As many of you know I have started a small scale metal fabrication business making Rocket Mass heater parts.
I spend a lot of time cutting steel.  Mostly cutting with a side grinder and a skinny wheel.
Early on I did buy an abrasive chop saw to cut metal with. It was a miserable thing. cut crooked , took forever to get thru thicker metal, and the motor was so poor it could be brought to a standstill.Plus the metal was super hot when you finally did get it cut!
I needed a new saw! I had read about the cold cutting chop saws and thought they would do the job much better than a abrasive chop saw.
Prices started at $200 and went up to $600.  I had my eye on a Makita but at $540 it was too much. A very nice German made Fein was right at $500


A Cold cut saw , like the name implies does not heat the metal at all!  Rather amazing to pick up a fresh cut 1.5" long piece of pipe with your bare hands!
Cutting is effortless! A slight gentle down pressure is all you need!  And the cuts are straight!
When I first set it up, I spent about 15 minutes cutting and got about 2 hrs worth of cutting done!
Absolutely amazing! Super high torque motor that spins at 1450 rpm  versus the abrasive saw that runs at 3600 rpm and has hardly any torque at all!

A few cons about it.
It throws big sharp chips!   Lots of them, I'll be buying a leather apron to wear while using it!
When I wear out the 14" blade a new one is over $100!
I need a quick release magnet to pickup the chips.

The  saw itself was $379 from home depot, it came with a brand new blade.

Evolution EVOSAW380 14 in. Steel Cold Cutting Chop Saw

I say its a Cool tool worth every penny!

Nice shop tom! Let me start with an off topic query about your mass heater. How does it heat the work area,  and how often do you have to tend it? What is the wood consumption like to stay comfortable while moving around?


I purchased the evo14 as well a couple of years ago.  I bought it specifically for the task of building a Matt Cremona log arch for my trailer. I felt as if it had paid for itself by the time that first job was complete! It is so awesome,  the ability to knock out a bunch of clean repeatable meters in minutes as opposed to hours of zip wheels and grinding clean up. I completed the task and was testing it out that same day, including mounting the winch! Fifty dollars worth of abrasive disks would have been consumed and then I would have been so tired I would not have accomplished much else. I have the terrible tendency of abandoning projects that take to long, especially when something interrupts the job.(like having to sleep) Haha.

I quickly ruined the blade by making wierd cuts out of the vise. Not recommended lol I live dangerously....

I found a Diablo ceramic blade on ebay and man did it cut like a dream...but I hadn't learned my lesson and chipped a couple teeth on it as well. It still cut well just not as buttery smooth.  My lesson was learned this time(a good ole punch in the wallet). I decided to try out the eastwood mini handheld version for stuff that doesn't fit in the vise well.

Worth every penny! I cut through 1/4" 3x5 angle with a carpenters square as a guide just like it was a 2x4 pine stud. Not quite, but closer to that than using cutoff wheels. Or a Sawzall. I modified a plow mount years ago 3/8" thick, kept the blade speed down and kept oil on it. Took a couple of hours but I got through the job with one blade that still cut fine. I don't often have that kind of patience.

Let me tell you, I am so happy to be done breathing that horrendous dust for long straight cuts that won't fit in the evo!

Tried out the ripping fence while making the air door for my stove upgrade, less than stellar results from that but acceptable. Likely my fault 100%

My stove build and introduction.
https://permies.com/t/154262/introductions/Ohio

Not sure if you had noticed the little sticker stating that a 15 inch blade is required for maximum cut capacity.

The Diablo 14" cermet can be had for around 72 bucks on fleebay.

Prior to purchasing the evo my go to was an old freebie black and decker miter saw for wood. I just put a 12" abrasive blade on it and started using it, removing any plastic bits that couldn't take the heat as they caught fire.
Worked well for many years.  Eventually I crushed a pop can over the dust port to reduce the sparks going straight into the air. No matter where you choose to store a fuel can, it's right in the path of a future hot spark it seems. Never have to worry about that any longer.

Hi Ben;
Thanks for noticing my shop.
It has gotten vastly upgraded in the last few years.  Some of the walls even have partial insulation now!  Ceiling has none and the auto door has many gaps...
BUT it has never been as warm as it is, since I put in the batch!
About every two hours you want to check on it.  I do burn it non stop when I'm working.
Easy to maintain 50-60 out there while its low twenty's outside.
And that large brick bell also has two tall brick columns  inside.  It generates a lot of heat.
It holds that heat overnight and quickly starts giving it back the next day.
Hard to say about wood consumption. Its a 7" box so it holds a fair amount.  I fill it at least 3 times.
Being able to comfortably work in a flannel shirt and no long johns is worth every log I burn!

The Evo saw is beyond awesome! I don't know how I got by without it!

Oh and another tip for extending the life of the blade, run it against some bar soap every once in a while this lubricates the teeth. Do this several times a cut for thick aluminum.

I saw a another idea that I haven't implemented yet. A piece of 6 inch heavy wall pipe,  the length is  approximately the height of your vice. Cut in half lengthwise and used as a fulcrum for clamping short pieces that would cause the  movable jaw to rock. I had always been making or finding shims out of the scrap pile or random sockets, but this way is repeatable over many different sizes.