DHS680 and DCS551

[kat]

I was wondering if these two are interchangeable. I mean can you use DHS680 to cut metal, and DCS551 to cut wood ?

[Biggie]

Simple answer is yes they can be used interchangeably, a wood circ saw can cut metal and a metal circ saw can cut wood as long as you have the correct blade. 

 

A few considerations to keep in mind though:

 

1. They usually require specialty blades to switch from one to the other.  A metal saw usually has a slower rpm under 4000 where as your wood saws get up into the 5000rpm range.  The two saws also have different arbor sizes which makes finding a metal blade for a wood saw or wood blade for a metal saw more difficult.

 

2.  A metal saw will throw a lot of shrapnel so they have guards that are more enclosed.  If you're going to use a wood saw to cut metal you better have safety glasses and long sleeves. Also because the guard is more enclosed on the metal saws, they don't have a bevel adjustment.

 

I'm more accustomed to the metal circ saw as its what I use every day at work and in a pinch I've used it to cut wood 2x4 with the metal blade.  You probably wouldn't want to build a house with it but for a few cuts it has no problems.  I personally have never tried using a wood saw circ saw with a wood blade to cut metal so I don't know what those results would be.

[Makita_2233]

14 hours ago, Biggie said:

Simple answer is yes they can be used interchangeably, a wood circ saw can cut metal and a metal circ saw can cut wood as long as you have the correct blade. 

 

A few considerations to keep in mind though:

 

1. They usually require specialty blades to switch from one to the other.  A metal saw usually has a slower rpm under 4000 where as your wood saws get up into the 5000rpm range.  The two saws also have different arbor sizes which makes finding a metal blade for a wood saw or wood blade for a metal saw more difficult.

 

2.  A metal saw will throw a lot of shrapnel so they have guards that are more enclosed.  If you're going to use a wood saw to cut metal you better have safety glasses and long sleeves. Also because the guard is more enclosed on the metal saws, they don't have a bevel adjustment.

 

I'm more accustomed to the metal circ saw as its what I use every day at work and in a pinch I've used it to cut wood 2x4 with the metal blade.  You probably wouldn't want to build a house with it but for a few cuts it has no problems.  I personally have never tried using a wood saw circ saw with a wood blade to cut metal so I don't know what those results would be.

Wouldn’t recommend using the 680 at all to cut metal. Makita will void the warranty if found out it was used to cut metal, that’s if you had a warranty problem I guess. From memory a 165mm metal cutting blade is 5000 and the 680 is 5000, that’s push the blade at its limit. It will dull quickly. If I’m cutting steel on the 551 with the saw 45° to me I can feel chips hitting, it would be worst with the 680 because it doesn’t have that clear PC cover. The 553 is a lot better with the chip collection. FYI the 680 and 533 both have a 20mm arbor, will be the same in most metric countries. The North America 680 as a 5/8 arbor and their 533 has a 20mm arbor 

[Biggie]

My bad, yea in the US metal saws have different arbors than wood saws.  I don't think I would want to use a wood saw to cut metal either but I know Diablo makes a metal blade for most of your common sizes and they can spin at like 11000rpm.