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 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?
Hi Mark,
Here is the reply from our experts:
The tooth geometry is ideal for steel, but will likely produce very poor results on wood. I haven’t tried it, but you might be able to get away with it for an occasional cut on a wood that is as soft as cedar, but what you are doing is a pretty intensive cutting operation; resawing and ripping. For what you are doing I would suggest investing in a good metal detector and cleaning up the wood first, then cutting using good woodworking blades.
Paul
Woodworkers Guild of America
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?
Hello Roger,
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Woodworkers Guild of America Video Membership
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.