Patent ID: 7178436

Claim:
An apparatus for cutting steel members comprising: rotary drive means rotating a circular cutting blade, said rotary drive means having a first speed controller portion, a motor portion and a gearbox portion, the gearbox portion having a spindle portion attached to the circular cutting blade, and the speed controller portion configured to control a constant speed of the rotary drive means with a range of selectable speeds, feeder means for pivotally feeding said blade into and out of a cutting position through one of more of the steel members, the feeder means including a second speed controller portion and a motor portion for adjusting the feed rate; sensing means for sensing a load current associated with said rotary drive means; and control means for adjusting the rate of the feeder means with the second speed controller portion responsive to said sensing means to maintain a predetermined value of the load current drawn by the rotary drive means and for stopping said drive means instantly upon sensing a predetermined anticipated overload current of the full motor load drawn by the rotary drive means.