# Using a radial arm saw for metal cutting?



## Jake2465

I have what appears to be a decent Craftsman radial arm saw (probably from the 1980s) that has a cast iron base that I have thought about using for cutting aluminum and steel. Does anyone know of those kind of saws can handle that load with a good metal blade? My current go to metal cutting saw is my cheap Skil 12" chop saw with a carbide blade. It just cant cut a very big piece with it's range of motion.


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## Eddyde

I seriously wouldn't, and I'm the type that takes risks. I have a lot of experience with radial arm saws, they are prone to climb cutting which is a real hazard and even more likely in metal than wood.


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## Jake2465

Eddyde said:


> I seriously wouldn't, and I'm the type that takes risks. I have a lot of experience with radial arm saws, they are prone to climb cutting which is a real hazard and even more likely in metal than wood.



Now, what if the saw is pushed away for the cut instead of pulled toward the operator? Would that help the climb cut issue?


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## Ray C

I would not advise this at all.   Aluminum pulls and tugs like crazy when cut with a saw.  Add that to the peculiar behaviors of a radial arm saw and I think that puts you in really dangerous territory.


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## magicniner

Put a heavy damper on the pivoting arm?


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## Eddyde

Jake2465 said:


> Now, what if the saw is pushed away for the cut instead of pulled toward the operator? Would that help the climb cut issue?


It would be libel to pick up the edge of the work and throw it back towards the fence, yeah that may be away from you, but still not a good or safe scenario.


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## MAKEITOUTOFWOOD

NO!


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## Jake2465

Well that's sad . That thing has been sitting in the corner of my shop for years. I was hoping to put it to use .


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## dlane

They cut wood good, not metal


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## MAKEITOUTOFWOOD

Don't be sad. Be happy your not going to cripple yourself with it.


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## Jake2465

Guess I will have to get a hold of a metal cutting band saw from somewhere.


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## magicniner

Just use a circular saw with a TCT blade


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## Silverbullet

Forty years ago my father cut aluminum plate with his old RADIAL ARM SAW. Dewalt  collectable now. But he new how to control it from his forty years using it. Yes they will kick out or in , but if you put fences and stops you can do it. Now it was all under 1/4" thick but the length was about three ft. He made steps for his beach camper we used to go fishing. We had several in the family who loved beach buggy fishing back then me included , I had dad's camper on my dodge w200 4x4 when I got screwed up in 1979 . So if your careful you can cut aluminum but steal I'd use an abrasive blade only . Use hold down clamps for any cutting or brackets so it cant lift or grab . Not recommended for sure so if you do be careful and it's your choice.


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## Jake2465

It sounds like I should side with a metal cutting band saw because very little of what I cut for the mill is only 1/4". Most of the time it is at least 1/2" or more in thickness.


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## Eddyde

Yeah, for thick stock a bandsaw is the way to go, much safer too.


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## FanMan

I did a fair amount of metal cutting (aluminum) on my RAS some years ago when I was building a paramotor, mostly 1/8" plate and 1/16" wall square tubing.  It can be done, but I don't recommend it.


You need the right blade (I used a blade specifically made for non ferrous metals and plastics).
You need to lubricate the blade with stick wax.
You need to push, not pull, the blade through the work.
It'll be REALLY REALLY loud.  Wear earplugs!
The cut pieces will be extremely hot!
Metal shavings get everywhere, not good for the motor and track bearings.
A bandsaw is a much better choice.


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## francist

This is another one of those things I wish I could say I didn't do, but I did. I worked five years as a glazier and we built a lot of aluminum greenhouses. For some of the specialized joint cutting I had the Craftsman radial rigged up but it really wasn't a comfortable operation. I think part of it was that the arm wasn't really as rigid as one would have wanted, and that effect seemed to compound with the aluminum. I never liked using it.

-frank


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## chips&more

I did a copper gutter job once.  And used a Dewalt miter saw to cut the ends. The job came out great, but my nerves were shot. I can’t imagine using a radial arm saw to cut metal. It’s dangerous enough cutting wood with it, especially ripping…Dave


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## tjb

Personally, I agree with the majority of respondents.  Many years ago, I did a lot of woodwork but had to stop because of allergy issues.  I used a radial arm saw quite a bit, and now after becoming familiar with metalworking tools, it's easy for me to visualize an accident waiting to happen.  My suggestion: sell the radial arm saw and use the proceeds to buy a decent metal bandsaw.  I have one that I bought pretty cheap, and it has become indispensable in my small hobby shop.

Regards,
Terry


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## ericc

I bet it would work just fine, but it would need some modifications.  Just look at its metal cutting counterparts.  Step back, and think about the differences.  First, it is too fast and the blade is too floppy.  Modification: use a smaller blade, and those disks to stiffen the blade.  Second, the saw can climb or throw the piece it is cutting.  Modification: control the movable saw head and the metal.  The table will need real T-slots and clamps.  The flimsy wood fence will need to be replaced with something a little stronger.  The saw itself should not be fed by hand.  Screw or lever feed only, and the backlash must be controlled.  Third, rigidity of the arm is not sufficient.  Modification: a restraining bracket that mounts solidly to the front of the table.  This will cut down the size of the pieces that you can cut, but a metal saw which can cut huge pieces should weigh a few hundred pounds or more, and the radial arm saw just isn't quite there.

Leverage your knowledge from machine tools, and you will be able to figure out where you need to make modifications by yourself.  There are some commercial examples that you can surf on the Internet for ideas, but for some odd reason, there don't seem to be any hobby machinist versions.  I have seen a couple in youtube videos, but the makers said that they didn't work well.  As for an unmodified radial arm saw, I wouldn't do it.


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## FanMan

A radial saw to cut metal is something you do only if you have no alternative... but sometimes you have no alternative.  When I was doing it I didn't have a metal cutting  bandsaw or even a mill, it was either the RAS or a sawzall and a file.  Even for woodworking the RAS gets a bad rap (undeserved, I think).  You just gotta be very careful, and work within its limitations.  But (for woodworking) it's still one of the most used tools in my shop, for the kinds of work I do there's nothing that works as well.


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## Chipper5783

Yes you can cut metal just fine with a radial arm saw.  As I read through the responses to date , it seems I am the ~5% voice against the tide.

In certain LIMITED applications a RAS makes a very good metal cutting tool.  I'll still agree with all the comments above that you still need a metal cutting saw for the majority of metal cut off operations that you will encounter in a machine shop.  There are LIMITED applications where an RAS (or smaller counterpart - such as a sliding compound miter saw) are very good metal cutting tools.  The general application is thin profiled metal.  For years Wolfe Machinery bought up the old heavy duty DeWalt RAS tools and refitted them specifically for cutting profiled panels (i.e. roofing, building cladding) - obviously it is not using a conventional wood working blade.  Another example is cutting aluminum soffit material - I have probably cut thousands of pieces of soffit material with a SCMS - with a conventional woodworking blade (blade on backwards) and it works very well.  It is not a scary task at all.  I can't take credit for that idea - it is a common method of cutting thin aluminum.

Jake, I don't know if that answers your question - yes you can cut certain metal products on a RAS.  I'm in agreement with the other replies - you still need a proper cut off saw.


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## Jake2465

Chipper5783 said:


> Jake, I don't know if that answers your question - yes you can cut certain metal products on a RAS. I'm in agreement with the other replies - you still need a proper cut off saw.



I think it does. I will need to look into a metal cutting band saw because the metal I normally would need cut is thick. Right now I could use a piece of aluminum cut down to size and it measures 10"x10"x1". One of the sides needs to be cut down to around 7.5" .

Unfortunately in my area I have a hard time finding any good deals on used equipment. I am better off buying the band saw new and that means I would need to pony up around 1K to make the purchase. So, now it just boils down to how often I think I would use that saw for the money I spent on it. My metal supply usually gives fair rates on my aluminum in precut configuration, but sometimes they have good deals on drop which is where the band saw would come in. I would buy the drop for a better price and then cut it to my liking back at the shop.

I guess one way to think about it is that once I buy one of those saws, then I always have it on hand and my convenience goes up. And I do like convenience. I remember spending around $300 for a full 115pc screw machine drill bit set and at first I thought I had lost my mind paying that amount for some drill bits, but then I saw how quickly I could just walk over to my set and pick out the exact bit I needed for a job and be done with it V.S. having to hop in the car and go to the hardware store. It would appear that peace of mind has a value all its own.


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## MrWhoopee

I have cut a little aluminum with an RAS. It's nerve wracking, loud and dangerous. The RPMs are way too high for cutting steel, even with carbide. Look at dry cut saws, which are intended for cutting metal.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200641810_200641810

They only turn about 1400 rpm. Depending on your needs, a dry cut might serve you better than a bandsaw.


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## Franko

I definitely would not recommend it. I tried a non-ferrous carbide blade on a 10 miter saw. It worked a few times. Then, when attempting to cut a section off a 2.5" aluminum rod, it grabbed and broke the miter saw in half. It sounded like an exploding bell and scared the crap out of me.

The problem as I diagnosed it was run out and side to side oscillation, and a even a cheap miter saw has way less than an expensive radial arm saw.

I have a good solid Powermatic table saw with almost no blade run out. I use a heavy duty slider with t-slots and clamp downs and the non-ferrous carbide blade cuts aluminum mirror smooth. I make sure as much of me as I can manage is off-line of the blade. I do that with wood, too. If I need to look closely at the cut, I do it from the side, never in line with the blade.


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## pontiac428

I think radial arm saws are the bee's knees for cutting extruded aluminum using a sensible wood cutting blade.  I have no other use for mine, since I don't do wood work, and somehow it's still a fixture in my shop even after moving it a dozen or more times over the last 25 years.  It's a machine with decent work holding, sharp cutting edges, and a controllable feed rate.  I don't think there is any problem with using this tool for alloy.  If I'm building things with lots of bevels, miters, or simply need a clean, square cut, it works a treat.


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## TonyRV2

Why screw around tempting fate? Like someone said before, sell the RAS and put the proceeds toward a metal cutting bandsaw. Consider for instance a used portaband and then mount it on a home made stand.  There are a lot of youtubes showing how to do this. Or if your budget allows purchase a nice heavy duty table made just for portabands from SWAG.  These are a bit pricey...$125 or so, but its the route I went because I just wasn't inclined or inspired enough to build one of my own.


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## cg285

i like adrenaline. i chose to tempt fate.


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## TonyRV2




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## pineyfolks

I still have and use a 7 1/4" worm drive skill saw that I converted to a chop saw with friction disks.. I mostly use it for cutting hss tool blanks but I have cut up to 1 1/4" key stock and square tubing.


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## chips&more

When it involves safety and your health or your love ones. IMHO I would not give or take said advice from the internet. If something goes wrong and causes bodily injury and quoted the internet as the reference for the cause of the injury. It sounds like a sorry day for the injured and a nightmare of legalities for the internet poster(s). It should all start with “do at your own risk”. This thread about cutting metal with a RAS IMHO is not totally safe. Why risk it, I don’t like hospitals. I like all ten of my fingers and two eyes. My three cents…Dave


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## tq60

Did not read all...

We cut aluminum all the time with our RAS.

SHEET STOCK and small angles.

The MUST HAVE is a "control cut" blade.

These have low tooth count with a shoulder behind the tooth so it cannot take a bite but rather just small chips.

In wood you can pull as hard as you can and the saw cuts like butter and does not stall 

In aluminum one uses great care as the material is not wood but now hot chips and if it gets loose not good plus noise.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337Z using Tapatalk


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## rock_breaker

Add 1 more to the nay sayers, radial arm saws (IMHO) are to loosely fabricated to use for metal cutting. I have used a carbide tipped blade in a skill saw to cut 3/8" aluminum however. Clamped a straight edge for guidance. Really a messy operation.
Have a good day
Ray


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## JohnG

In the window industry, industrial chop saws are the standard way to cut aluminum extrusions up to 1/8" wall thickness.  The saws are carbide tipped, triple chip ground with a negative rake angle.  As several people have pointed out, chop saws feed against the cut, rather than with the cut as radial arm saws do.  Rigid fixtures and secure mechanical hold downs are required.  The cut has to throw hot, rather thick chips as these are the heat sink for the cutting friction.  Operators want to slow the saw down "to improve the cut"; but thin chips can't carry away heat fast enough, and metal clogs the blade.  The aggressive feed requires a powerful saw, and there is a lot of noise.


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## reidry

I’ve owned several Radial Arm saws, no way would i use one in metal, not even on a dare.


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## Tony Pisano

I was about to agree with all the no's, then just remembered that at the first machine shop I worked at, we used to use a radial arm saw on aluminum. We made thousands of extruded aluminum frames for furnace filters. We would get 3 to 4 thousand pounds of extrusions at a time, then cut notch and rivet them. I have a precision comercial tube cutting saw I bought from the shop I last worked in, for cutting aluminum and brass tubing. It has a foot operated bar that pivots the blade out to make a cut. It does not work very well for solid stock and you do have to either use mist spray or bar wax or the teeth will clog up in a few cuts.


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## Z2V

cg285 said:


> i like adrenaline. i chose to tempt fate.


That frame of mind will hurt you some day, I just hope it doesn’t kill you.


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## cg285

Z2V said:


> That frame of mind will hurt you some day, I just hope it doesn’t kill you.



hahaha. made it 66 years so far, still racing dirt bikes and walking on roofs


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## Rata222

Jake2465 said:


> Well that's sad . That thing has been sitting in the corner of my shop for years. I was hoping to put it to use .



Jake2465
There was (and still is)  a safety recall on many  the Craftsman Radial Arm Saws made from 1968 to 1995.
They will send you  $100 for return of the motor and carriage.  If yours is one of the models listed -that $100 would help towards the cost of a bandsaw.  
It took about 6 weeks for me  to receive my check.
Google   "Craftsman Radial Arm Saw Recall"    or here is the link.... http://radialarmsawrecall.com/

Good Luck, Jim


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## Kiwi Canuck

One of the problems with adding a ferrous metal cutting blade to a woodsaw/chopsaw is the RPM's are too high for cutting metals which need slower speeds.

I did quite a bit of research on replacing my abrasive cutoff wheel on my chop saw to a metal cutting blade, problem was most ferrous metal blades are only rated for 1500 RPM max. and the chops saw was around 3500RPM.
It's possible to make this work and many people use the blades without issues but I wasn't willing to risk it so after reading about these saws, I picked up one of them.

Slugger by Fein, it was about $630.00 CAD IIRC.








https://fein.com/en_ca/sawing-and-c...saws/14-in-slugger-metal-cutting-saw-0302133/

The saw is amazing, it cuts really fast and not too loud, we have cut mild steel up to 1/2" thick, stainless 3/16" and aluminum 1/2" .

The blade just purrs when cutting through the metal, virtually no burr and the cutoff is cool to the touch.

I will still get a band saw one day but this unit is probably 3 times as fast as a band saw and can cut up to 5" by 5" approx.

David.

Edit, here's one on Amazon for a good price with free shipping and check out that first review, sums up the saw pretty well.

https://www.amazon.com/Slugger-MCCS..._rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=ADH2RZ2P4F3ENSF3SYME


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## NortonDommi

Evolution make some good quality well priced saws specifically for metal I can recommend.


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## ch2co

I started cutting aluminum plates on my radial arm saw many years before I heard how dangerous it was. I needed some smaller 
chunks of 1/2" 6061 alum plate and didn't want to have to order it precut to size.  I had a carbide toothed metal cutting blade
that I got for cutting some 1/8" brass plates for a kitchen cabinet I was making. I figured out that climb could be a (dangerous) problem, 
and decided to cut from the front of the plate, pushing the saw back instead of pulling it forward.. I clamped the plate to the table on 
both sides of the cut with 2X4's both on the front edges and on the top of each plate thus holding it against the back fence and 
downward against the table. I started with very light cuts with the blade making only about 1/16" groove along the top surface.
I then slowly increased the cutting depth for each cut finally arriving at taking about 3/16" with each cut. I was amazed at how easy
and quick it was to cut 10" x 10" pieces out of the 1/2" plate.  After figuring out the setup, it went very quickly, the thing that took 
the longest was getting all the clamps on and off for each piece.  I've attached a few pictures of this to show the complete operation 
including the great edge finish that I got.  My biggest safety concern was the possibility of loosing a carbide tooth from the blade, so
I made sure that I wasn't standing in front of the saw. So although some say it's very dangerous, I say that you can make it as safe 
as most shop operations if you use your noggin an take it slowly.

.


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## Kiwi Canuck

NortonDommi, which Evolution saw do you have? It seems they make a few different models at very different price points.

Obviously you are happy with it, any issues? My neighbour is looking to buy one of these saws and he is balking at the cost of the Slugger. (they are now $738 +taxes here)

Some reviews of the Evolution 14" & 15" (even though both come with 14" blades) were not very positive and had issues with play in the blade alignment and the unit being cheaply made.

Both brands appear to be made in China but I went with the Slugger because of the Fein name behind it and the mostly very positive reviews.

I compared this one from Evolution as it seemed the closest match.

https://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Power-Tools-EVOSAW380-15-Inch/dp/B003TX1UPO

I think it was about $100 less than the Slugger online but I needed one quickly for a job and couldn't wait a week and my local KMS tools had a few left with the old pricing so I haggled a bit and got a fair deal. 

David.


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## NortonDommi

Hi Kiwi Canuk I have a Rage 185 circular saw and a Rage-3 cut-off saw but would love one of the newer sliding saws. I'm very happy with them. Bought at good price on Trade Me. I made an arbor for my mill/drill and use the 185 mm blade for heavy slotting, heaviest to date has been 2" 1145 and it breezed through. Evolution make a range of tools in three classes. The English website is the best for information.
  The lack of heat is the best thing I like about them as I was using either a bandsaw,(which was either put away or set up for something else when I needed to make a cut),or gas or hacksaw or abrasive cut-off wheel.
  First impression was that they were a bit lightly built but not so, well designed, easy to adjust and use and except for brick I just stick to the steel blade.
  I've seen blades on Ebay at very good prices but even retail they are a lot cheaper than other brands such as Makita, Bosch, DeWalt etc.


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## silence dogood

A good friend of mine restores furniture and works with woodworking machinery.   Those saws can grab more than just wood.  It only took a split second, but John's left hand is now the shape of a crabs claw.  I like tools and have too many.  A radial arm saw is one tool that I refuse to own.


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## KBeitz

RAS...

The blade speed is way to high and you should use a blade with neg. rake...


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## srfallsallot

Jake2465 said:


> Now, what if the saw is pushed away for the cut instead of pulled toward the operator? Would that help the climb cut issue?


I have done this many times. Push do not pull. Clamp work to table and keep your hands far away. It works just fine for tubing and angles. Not sure I would do this a lot though.


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## Winegrower

It would be nice to know if the OP is still around, and his fingers, too.


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## ch2co

As I have written before, I (still) cut aluminum bar, rod, plate etc with a carbide toothed metal cutting blade. Caution is a must as should be the case with any machining operation. The material must be THOROUGHLY CLAMPED TO THE TABLE on both sides of the blade, and with blocks on front and sides of the material. 

The saw is gently pushed NOT PULLED into the material from the front TOWARDS the backstop. Multiple cuts at increasing depths are taken usually about 1/16” to 1/8” deep each. EASY DOES IT.  DO NOT STAND IN FRONT OF THE BLADE!  A flying carbide tip could be very dangerous should it break loose. No hands should be anywhere near the table UNTIL THE BLADE QUITS SPINNING. 
And yes,  I have witnessed what can happen if the cut is made from the back towards the front of the material. This is to be avoided art all cost.   When properly setup this can be a fairly rapid and easy to control process that produces beautiful clean cuts.

The Grumpy Old Coot


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