Back in the “Your Favorite Tools of 2018?” post, I commented that the Milwaukee M18 Fuel metal-cutting circular saw was one of my favorites even though it came out in 2017.
I received a sample of this saw back in 2017 and have been using it occasionally to cut some steel bars and angle iron, but until I joined a Maker Space last fall and got into welding, I haven’t been able to give it as much attention as I should have.
Cutting metal with a circular saw is nothing new – many years ago I trimmed a steel-clad door using a standard circular saw with a carbide blade. They even make special standard-sized circular saw blades you can use for cutting metal. Still, this new breed of battery-powered saws is designed specifically for metal cutting. They’re lighter and designed to prevent metal chips from flying everywhere.
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I had been using a 14″ Evolution saw for cutting metal stock, until I jammed it and broke off a bunch of teeth. Without the use of a metal cutting saw, my project was on hold util I remembered the M18 Fuel metal-cutting circular saw I had sitting in my basement.
Specifications and Features
Stuart wrote a preview article about the saw back in 2017, so I’m just going to summarize the relevant specs and features.
- 5-3/8″ to 5-7/8″ blade size with 20mm arbor hole
- Brushless motor delivering 3,900 RPM
- 2-1/4″ cut capacity (with 5-7/8″ blade)
- Weighs 6.5 lbs with 5Ah M18 battery
- Hanging hook
- Stainless steel shoe
- Impact resistant window
- LED light
The included 5-3/8″ 30T carbide blade is meant for cutting EMT, strut, sheet metal, angle iron, and other ferrous materials. The stated battery life is 370 cuts in 3/4″ EMT — presumably with the 5Ah battery.
The bare tool comes with a 5-3/8″ 30T blade and sells for $219, while the kit adds two 5Ah batteries, an M18/M12 charger, and contractor bag for $419.
Buy Now (bare tool via Acme Tool)
Buy Now (kit via Acme Tool)
It turns out that some of the Home Depots around me have the bare tool in stock, and so I’m also including a link to Home Depot so you can check the availability near you.
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Buy Now (bare tool via Home Depot)
While looking on the Home Depot website I also found a pretty good deal: the M18 Fuel metal cutting circular saw kit with a M18 mud mixer for $419, the same price as the metal cutting circular saw kit alone. This deal appears to be online-only.
Buy Now (Combo kit via Home Depot)
Usage
In the past 3 months, I’ve been using the M18 Fuel metal-cutting circular saw quite a bit. Here are a few examples of what it can do.
In the video above I’m working on a locking table saw dolly, trimming the excess steel off the caster mounts. I’m cutting pretty slowly because I’m trying not to knock my phone off the table while it’s recording the video, and so the saw can cut the 3/16″ angle iron faster.
Still, it’s a good demonstration of several aspects of the saw: how easily it cuts steel, how fast the brake stops the blade when you release the trigger, and how the saw contains or deflects the metal chips.
Above you can see a closeup of the dolly feet. One thing that’s easier to do with a circular saw than a stationary chop saw is to notch out angle iron like I did for the feet. Ideally a band saw would be a better tool to use, but I didn’t have one available at the time.
I had an idea to organize a file drawer, and it involved cutting 45° notches in two matching pieces of 3/16″ angle iron. After marking out the cuts I proceeded to clamp the stock in the vise and make 3 to 4 passes with the circular saw. It took a lot of cuts to make, but the saw handled it easily. I would probably have been able to complete the project on a single charge, but I had started with a half-full battery.
For another project, I needed some small rectangles of 1/4″ steel for the base of a stool. The steel needed to be thick enough so I could tap it and screw casters into it.
Before anybody comments on the horrible weld, although I’m just a beginner, I am not that bad. I had just started run out of shielding gas on the left side and it took me the entire length of the weld to figure why it was sputtering so badly.
It took the M18 Fuel metal-cutting circular saw a little longer to cut through the 1/4″ steel plate, but it was able to handle it. I wouldn’t recommend cutting through yards of steel plate this thick, but it works well for small cuts.
Issues
I left the saw at the Maker Space for several months, and the people that I talked to that had used it were really impressed with the saw. Although, one day I walked in and tried to use the saw, but I couldn’t see the cut line and the saw was having trouble cutting even 1/8″ steel.
Above is what the view of the blade should look like through the protective window. It’s even easier to see the blade and the cut line when the LED is shining after you pull the trigger.
This next photo is what the guard looked like after I picked up the saw that day. It’s not dirty, it’s scratched beyond repair. There’s a long shaving trapped inside the guard and I suspect this was part of the reason it was scratched.
Nothing I had cut had ever created long shavings, and I suspect the material was either not ferrous or there was something wrong with the blade.
I went online, located the service parts list (PDF), and found the part number for the clear guard (44-06-0201). Then I found the nearest Milwaukee Service Center and called to see if they had the part. Unfortunately they had just sent an order, so it would be two weeks before I could get a new guard, but it would cost me less than $2.
While I was waiting, I picked up a new blade at Zoro for $40 after shipping and tax. Comparing the new and old blades, I could see the carbide teeth on the old blade were severely worn down to the point where the carbide was the same height as the back side of the tooth. This blade was toast, no wonder it wouldn’t cut. It’s possible that the teeth might be able to be reground, but it would require reshaping the steel tooth as well as sharpening the carbide.
Since I didn’t have a guard I could see though yet, I tried to use the saw without the guard in place and that was a mistake. I was continuously pelted with metal chips in the face. I had already taken the precaution of wearing not safety glasses, but safety goggles, but it was too distracting. I definitely do not recommend trying this.
Danger aside, I was able to determine that with the new blade, the saw was back to it’s former steel-eating glory and I was eagerly awaiting the new guard so I could use the saw again.
Final Thoughts
I was pleasantly surprised at how easily the M18 Fuel metal-cutting circular chews through ferrous metals like steel with the included blade, but that’s not all this saw can cut. You can also buy other blades to cut aluminum, brass, copper, plastics, plexiglass, PVC, and more, but I have yet to try that.
As I wasn’t there, and nobody approached me about the damage to the saw, I don’t know how the extreme wear to the blade and guard occurred. It very well just could have been used so much the blade dulled naturally, or it could have been abused. Such is the nature of a communal work space when you leave your tools for general use.
I haven’t tried the other cordless metal-cutting saws like the Makita or Bocsh yet, and I suspect they probably perform just as well. The purpose of this review wasn’t just to try out this saw, but to show what a saw in this category can do. They are definitely quicker than using a cutoff wheel on a grinder, and probably safer on the whole too.
Thank you to Milwaukee for providing the review sample.
Jared
Interesting. I don’t think I’d use it enough to justify owning, but maybe someday.
Just fyi, there’s a typo: “It tool a lot of cuts to make”.
Off-topic a bit, the post mentions: “They even make special standard-sized circular saw blades you can use for cutting metal.” Is there such a blade I could try in my 6 & 1/2″ cordless Dewalt saw?
Maybe that’s asking too much. I assume that it would only be light-duty, but I do have a long stretch of corrugated metal roofing to cut on one of my outbuildings…
fred
Corrugated roofing and decking can be a challenge to cut with a small blade that does not have enough depth of cut to span the hills and valleys. We used Evolution and Morse corded saws with 9 inch blades – even then, chatter can be an issue if the work is not well supported.
BTW – there is another typo – its a M18 mud mixer.
Benjamen
Thanks, no new m12 mud mixers…fixed it.
Jared
The stuff I’d be cutting is way thinner and has much lower ridges than that. I actually tried cutting it with a regular (worn out anyway) blade on a scarp piece just to see what it would do. The results weren’t good. The problem however, was not the cutting depth and it did cut it. Just wasn’t pretty.
Benjamen
Error fixed.
Did you see the video in the Hilti post where they used a gas saw and multi-material blade? here’s a direct link — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ83HpL0jrE
fred
Fireman and rescue crews probably love those saws. We liked the Evolution and Morse saws because they did a decent job of preventing sparks and bits of swarf from raining down on the floor below where we were cutting holes in the roof deck. We’d still cordon off an area and support both the work and worker to be safe.
Its almost always a good idea to select the proper tool for the job. One of our businesses was a pipe and metal fabrication shop. We had various cutting options – including a big Marvel plate saw, Doall saws, plasma cutters etc. But even then we’d send some work out when water jet cutting seemed like the best way to get the job done
Jared
Ha! I complained in the comments of that post that I couldn’t seem to find SPX blades in Canada – I had the same project in mind.
Vlad
It’s a great saw! I’ve build steel trex deck(trex metal framing) last summer, and cut all beams and joist with this saw. Supper easy to use!! One of the best @milwaukeetool products.
You can see some videos how we used it on my Instagram @vladfinecraft
Altan
These are great tools, time savers, much better and quicker than angle grinders to cut metal sheets.
aerodawg
My experience with saws like this and the Evolution are that they work great for mild steel and aluminum but you get into alloy steel or something hardened and they smoke the blade like you saw. The cutting surface speed is just too high even on units made for metal. That reason coupled with the amount of 4140 prehard I use made me get rid of the Evolution I had for a standard metal band saw.
Jim Felt
Question.
Will Hilti’s just announced “diamond” metal cutoff blades fit this saw?
Obviously they offer multiple times the life of these kinda inexpensive carbide blades.
And thoughts about the Bosch version v. this M18 saw?
I’m in both systems so I’d be very curious.
10-4
Koko The Talking Ape
Terrific article!
I wonder if anybody has tried using magnets to control/contain metal chips flying from the blade.
Jon
I don’t mean to be the safety police, and can’t perceive depth very well in the video, but that doesn’t look like a wise place to have your left hand while making a cut. Your knuckles don’t look too far from the blade.
Benjamen
There are two sides of the shoe, the short side you see and the long side where my hand is. My fingers are inches away from the blade holding the shoe.
You are right , it looked close to me in the video too.
John
“Before anybody comments on the horrible weld… ” Saved a few unkind comments!
That 20mm arbor size is a bit weird! All my 4.5″, 5.0″ and 7″ are 22.2mm. Is this a Milwaukee only size or will there be other companies doing 20mm? I know Diablo only do 7.5″ with a 20mm arbor.
For less than $2 having a spare protective window is a no brainer.
Benjamen
There are other 5-3/8″ 20mm arbor blades out there if you google it. . The Diablo Steel Demon comes in that size for one.
John
Found it at: http://www.diablotools.com/explore/saw-blades/steel-cutting
The local supplier does not have it! The closest is 6.5″ with 20mm.
But then they don’t have the De Walt battery compressor mentioned in another post. Nothing new in Australia…..we are behind the times by 6 months to a year as usual!
Julian Tracy
I have had a Makita non-BL 5 3/8” metal cutting 18vokt saw for at least 7-8 years and have used it for near everything.
One thing that helps if cutting aluminum is using a wax-based stick lubricant before cutting – helps for cutting and avoiding the aluminum building up on the blade. Actually helps with steel tool; you can just cut into the wax stick a few times to coat the teeth and it’ll speed up your cutting.
I’ve always just used the standard blade for both steel and aluminum – no issues. The Makita blade runs about $27 online.
Stuart, I’m surprised you haven’t used it to cut all that fancy pants 80/20 stock for your carts? My little Makita saw will zip through the 2”x2” 80/20 profile pretty easily; can only imagine a newer larger brushless saw would treat it like butter.
Also – curious why did you not drill a series of 1/4” holes in your angle stock and then just made two cuts at every slot location instead of doing the 3-4cuts per slot method? Seems like it’d have been a ton faster and cleaner results.
Benjamen
Hmm, didn’t realized the Makita non BL was that old.
Doesn’t the wax eventually gum up the guard? On the Evolution saw I was using at Make, the guard was so caked with lubricant that there was only a small channel for the blade. Of course that could have been people overusing lubricant.
I can’t speak for Stuart (or Ben V), but I’m guessing it’s easier and more accurate to use a miter saw for extrusions.
Why didn’t I drill holes before I cut slots, because that would have been way easier wouldn’t it? Ummm, because it was a spur of the moment project and I didn’t think of it. Would have been cleaner too.
Julian Tracy
Your saw just got beat to crap from idiots abusing it if the clear guard was so bad it needed replacement.
I couldn’t even imagine ever needing to replace that part in the lifetime of use I’d be using my saw for.
Just goes to show, if you didn’t pay for it, you just won’t give a damn about it.
Something to be said for working alone. With basic care, even hard use will not see you needing to replace or even repair a cordless tool.
Mike
That’s why I never lend my tools out, wish the blade was on the left
Jon
For angle iron, extrusions, pipe, and other similar material, how do you think the circular saw compares to the portaband type band saws? I am looking for a saw for much the same purposes as you mentioned, but to me it looks like the Milwaukee deep band saw would fit that need better.
Anyone have both? which do you prefer?
Chip
I have the m12 and m18 bandsaws,as well as the Makita circular saw.
Using a speed square,and circular would be my preference, after a cut-off/miter saw..and bandsaws last.
Circular will cut much faster,and unless you have a table for your bandsaw.. holding a portaband in 2 planes is slower and more difficult.