Lidl Offers FYI

[The Medway Handyman]

Useful looking stuff from Lidl w/c 28/9/09

SCMS @ £69.99

LED worklight looks rather good at a tenner.

Taps & drills set £5.99

Steel rule could also be used as a saw/router guide £3.99

• other stuff.

[T i m]

On mine I also have:

Sliding Mitre Saw with Laser Guide.

Is there a difference between that and a 'Cut off / chop saw' and if so what please?

"Sliding Mitre Saw with Laser Guide

1,700 watt With laser cutting guide for accurate cuts Mitre range: -45° to +45° Max. cross cut length (mm): 205 Max. cutting depth (mm): 65 No load speed (rpm): 4,800 With adjustable clamps Includes blade changing tool and universal saw blade, size Ø (cm): 21 Cable length (m): 2 3 year manufacturer's warranty Price per item £69.99* (Only available while stocks last)"

Reading the description of the above it doesn't appear to mention what material(s) it's designed / suitable for, other than the mention of the 'universal saw blade. So does that mean it can cut anything (within reason) or does any fool know that it's just for wood?

ie, Say I had several lengths of 50 x 50 x 5mm steel box I wanted to cut ...

Cheers, T i m

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It can be swivelled to do angled cuts - both in the vertical and horizontal plane. And because the whole saw slides can cope with wider wood. I have a similar old B&Q one - but with a 10" blade which will cut 12" wide. I'd not like anything smaller. Of course it depends on what you do.

[Jules]

Mine (bought in the US) was like that, too. I've used it to cut PVC pipe as well as wood, and it did happily eat through a nail that I'd missed when cutting some scrap wood for a temp. jig the other week, but the teeth seem too coarse for me to expect it to work with metal - I had horrible visions of it snagging the workpiece and launching it across the 'shop, never mind any clamps...

65mm seems awfully low for cut depth, by the way. That's got to be a typo, surely...

cheers

Jules

[Rod]

Also, as in, you have "SCMS @ £69.99"[1] as well? :-)

[1] Pasted from TMH's OP.

[T i m]

And there's metal (like the odd nail or bit of flat) and there's METAL (like several cuts through some large sections) of course.

It's amazing how far stuff can be autoflung. Yesterday I used a hand-electric drill mounted polishing mop for the first time on a bit of m/cycle pseudo-ally and you should have seen the polish stick fly! ;-)

Erm, it looks like it only has a 210 dia blade so allowing for the rad being 110 mm and then the mounting hub etc?

Cheers, T i m

[Dave Liquorice]

Looks like the variable Lidl offers strikes again, you have two mitre saws available a SMS one and SCMS one?

Pretty sure the mitre saw up here (Carlisle) is not a compound one. It's not described as such, just a SMS, and the picture doesn't look to have the required dual axis of movement for a SCMS.

Yes, on a sliding saw the blade/motor unit slides front/back. This enables longer cuts to be made. Without the slide action you have a cutoff/chop saw and limited by the blade size in both depth and lenght of cut.

Soft stuff but not really metals.

Angle grinder, hack saw (powered).

[T i m]

Ah, missed that ta.

The question still stands of is it the same (role) as a 'cut off saw' though? ;-)

T i m

[Dave Liquorice]

Only a 210mm dia blade.

[The Medway Handyman]

That was SCMS (sliding compound mitre saw).

The cutting width & depth of a mitre (cut off/chop saw) is limited by the blade size as they only cut downwards.

A sliding mitre saw has rails so the blade can move down & then forwards/backwards. Assuming both have a 210mm dia blade the CMS would cut

160mm x 60mm wheras a SCMS would cut 200mm x 65mm.

I'd say just wood, although most TCT blades will handle alluminium OK.

You can buy SCMS which will do that

idea how long the 'universal blade' would last or what they cost though - get the feeling they may be expensive..

[T i m]

Erm, in case you can see this ..

it looks like one that I can see.

Ok.

Understood. So that doesn't determine what materials can be cut as such? ie, both types of saws *could* be used to cut anything?

Ok.

Ironically I have a steel cutting horizontal band saw but it's somewhat buried in the garage and I thought this trailer rebuild might be a good opportunity to get some new toys. ;-)

Joking aside, a mate has the same saw as me but has said he's pretty well replaced it with a chop saw as it's quicker and more flexible. His one needs cutting fluid and the last time I used it round his (seat sub frames on the kit car) we rigged up an old SU electric fuel pump for the purpose. ;-)

I might go for one of the cheapo 14" abrasive disk types as as you rightly say I could do the job with a cutting disk in the angle grinder but I think the fixed bench type might just be a bit more accurate (than doing it by hand with said). Also, as long as the angles are reasonably symmetrical the finish doesn't matter as the cuts are going to be welded anyway.

Another use for a crop saw would be cutting stock for use in the lathe (currently hacksaw in the vise).

Cheers, T i m

[dennis]

It will do what a cut off saw will do and more. ,-)

Assuming the depth stop works, you can knock out lap joints and tenons with ease.

[T i m]

for me right now. I did see a couple of DeWalt jobbies on eBay but they were either 110V (I have a transformer but it would make it all more awkward) or millions of miles away and 'collect only' or still too new / expensive.

The abrasive disk type disks seem to be pretty cheap (but consumable, £15 / 5). The metal - metal cutting blades seem quite expensive. I guess if I was bothered about the finish of the cut I'd either get the metal blade version or drag the bandsaw out for general cropping of steel stock (angle / bar / box etc). I think one of the 14" bench abrasive crop saws would be more accurate than the gas axe, easier than doing it by hand and more portable (take to tool to the job etc) than the big horizontal band saw I've already got.

Ooh, and I like pretty sparks. ;-)

T i m

[T i m]

Ah, but *generally* more associated with carpentry than metalwork?

I basically want to have something that I can use in the garden or workshop (so reasonably portable) for cutting up lengths of metal. It's also going to be fairly infrequently (just when a project comes up) when I am using it I can take my time with a d-i-y level tool.

But then you never know what 'other' uses these things will get used for. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[Dave Plowman (News)]

An angle grinder in a stand with the correct disc does a decent job of this. Much cheaper than a saw. I got a stand in Lidl some time ago for very little quids. But it only takes a 4" grinder. I'd like one for the 9" one.

You can get circular saws said to cut steel - seen them advertised in car mags. But how special that blade is and whether it can be fitted to other saws I dunno.

[dennis]

A good tungsten blade will cut metal easy enough, its what happens to the swarf and the heat that kills stuff. If its got plastic guards they will last a few minutes if you are lucky. I wouldn't buy one to cut up lots of metal a few nails and screws in wood wouldn't worry me.

At least it looks small and compact. I made the mistake of buying a 12" bladed one from a B&Q clearance and it is huge. I seldom need to cut anything as big as it goes and I think I could have made better use of a smaller one. At least it didn't cost much.

[Dave Liquorice]

TMH said "SCMS @ =A369.99"

You say "also have" so implies you have SCMS *and* SMS available.

[Roger Mills]

Well, the one which will be available at my local branch (Warwick) doesn't

*claim* to be a compound mitre saw - and there's no mention of bevel angles. *However*, looking at the picture, it looks very similar to a Rexon compound mitre saw which Screwfix are selling for £170. In particular, it looks as if it just *might* tilt about an axis just below the sliders, in line with the blade slot.

Would anyone else care to compare Lidl's picture with

see whether you agree?

[T i m]

I said that before I realised that TMH had also (possibly) mentioned the same thing.

Ok, and not suitable for me in any case it appears. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[D.M.Chapman]

Things like

idea what they are like...think I've seen them in B&Q as well.

Darren