Diablo Steel Demon Circular Saw Blade Review
George VondriskaDescription
Wow!! That’s my very understated reaction to the Freud Steel Demon circular saw blade. I ran across this blade while shopping for circular saw blades at a home center, and was amazed to see that it’s capable of cutting mild steel up to ¼” thick. No way!! I figured it’s time for a circular saw blade review.
Impressive results
To date I’ve been cutting metal for my welding projects with an abrasive disc. I MUCH prefer the cutting speed and cut quality from the Freud Steel Demon. After testing this on my circ saw I bought a 10” blade I can use on an old miter saw. That will really speed up my metal processing. I honestly can’t get over how well this blade plows through mild steel.
Longevity?
I don’t know the answer to this, yet. I’ve made dozens of cuts in mild steel with no degradation of performance so, so far so good.
Blades available
- There are a few Steel Demon blades available.
- Thin metal; less than 3/32” thick.
- Medium metal; 1/16” – 1/8” thick.
- Thick metal; 1/8” – 1/2” thick.
- The thin and thick metal blades are available in 7-¼” blades with a 5/8” or 20 mm arbor. The medium metal blade is available in 6-½”, 6-¾”, 7” (20 mm arbor) and 7-¼”. I’m using a medium metal blade in this video. All of the blades have a TCG (triple chip grind).
More information
Want to know more about the Freud Steel Demon blades? Visit Freud’s website or call (800) 334-4107
Using power tools
From CNC routers to table saws to jointers, and more, WWGOA has LOTS of great information on using power tools. Have a look at our page dedicated to Using Power Tools.
I do a lot of woodworking, but I also dabble in a lot of other stuff, working on my own cars when I can, doing some welding, and it's the welding that got me in this direction. I was in a store the other day looking at circ saw blades, and this Steel Demon was one of 'em, and the promise is that it can cut up to quarter inch steel. So it's not unusual to cut some kinds of metal with a table saw, or a circ saw, but typically it's non-ferrous, aluminum, brass. This one is specifically a ferrous metal, steel cutting blade. So, this is the very first time I'm running it, and you're gonna learn what I learn.
I've currently got clamped to my table here, this is a piece of angle iron with an eighth inch wall, I've also got some quarter inch stuff here. So honestly, let's just see what it does and how it does it. I notice everybody here backing up. No, it's gonna be fine. Oh my gosh.
I've gotta do that again. I guess it passed that test, huh. That's, the cut speed is incredible. Carbide teeth. This is quarter inch.
Don't blink or you'll miss it. Well, that is a cool experiment. I've been doing my cutting lately with just an abrasive wheel on an old lighter saw and it works but it's slow. This is a game changer in the world of cutting steel, the thickness of steel I typically weld with. So obviously, the experiment was a success.
What this doesn't speak to is longetivity. How many of these cuts can I make? I dunno, I'll know more about that in a few months, but it definitely works in a circ saw, and makes the cut.
I do some metal fabrication as well. I have found a segmented blade, similar design to a diamond concrete blade, for cutting metal with a decent rate of cut and impressive longevity. I used to use an abrasive wheel as well, but at a 10" diameter, I found that the wheel wanted to stray off my mark as I cut, making it difficult to make a square cut, so the steel segmented blade was a wonderful find for me. While this looks like an impressive blade for a circular saw, as far as longevity, I would put the segmented wheel up against this in my chop saw any day. I think the segmented blade is rated for 1000 plus cuts.
will this blade cut wood too? I am re-purposing some 20 year old cedar decking, trimming the weathered 2x6s into 1x4s. I spend too much time looking for broken screws in the 2x6s. Will this blade solve that?
Small correction. The Blade in your video shows a Diablo blade, not Freud.
I have friends who are firefighters and sometimes they will cut an approximate 4' x 4' square vent hole in a residential roof with a gas chainsaw. They will center the cut over a rafter, the bash one side in with sledge hammer so the 4' x 4' piece with either turn near vertical or fall in. So the question, is there a safer, more efficient tool to carry up a ladder onto a sloped, possibly metal, roof in the middle of the night-maybe in the rain- to do that job?
I work in a metal fab shop for a living, I would NOT suggest wearing shorts while preforming any cutting operation involving sparks or hot metal chips.