I purchased a Harbor freight chop saw and a bunch of blades while we were on a jobsite about 75 miles from the shop. Understand that I already own 3 chop saws, a Milwaukee and two DeWalt saws. But none were on this truck.
We were framing door with 16 gauge metal studs, and window openings with 18 gauge studs.
We had 130 doors and 88 windows to frame. Needless to say, by the end of the job, we'd gone trough about 4 times as many fiber blades as usual. The Harbor Freight saw was just about useless, Motor was making a terrible sound, switch was acting up, and even the pivot had lost it's integrity.
I was about to throw the saw in the dumpster. One of the workers asked if he could have it, So I gave it to him, He told me he spent $65.00 repairing it.
That was the first time we used an Chinese saw and those imported fiber blades, and I can tell you that it will be the last time. The brand name saws use better components, and after scores of jobs, none of the Brand name saws I own show any of the issues this one saw showed after only a week of work.
The brand name blades also seem to give more cuts, faster cuts, and even though they cost more, they are cheaper to use in the long run. At least for high usage situations.
We only use brand name cutters for out die grinders, side cutters, chop saws. It's costly up front, but the last so much longer, that the extra initial cost is off set by the service they yield.
John Arbuckle (1838-1912) once said, "You get what you pay for". One of the truest comments ever made.
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