Ingersoll Rand 429 3/8" Reciprocating Air Saw

[walterk]

Hi,
Do you guys use it? It seems it could come handy for some of the hard to reach bolts where cut off tool is too big or a torch too much of a risk setting things on fire. The big question is can it handle lets say 5/8" grade 8 bolt?
I asked Grok, and it says no good:
No. A 5/8 in Grade 8 bolt is outside what the 429 can cut.
The saw is built for sheet metal, aluminum, plastic, and fiberglass. Its stroke is only 3/8 in, and real-world use tops out around 1/8 in mild steel before it stalls or burns blades. A 5/8 in bolt is about 0.625 in of solid stock, so you would have to work the blade all the way through a section far thicker than that stroke.
Grade 8 makes it worse. Those bolts are quenched-and-tempered alloy steel, typically Rockwell C33–C39, with a minimum tensile strength of 150,000 psi. The fine high-speed steel blades that come with the 429 (and ordinary body-saw blades) will skate, dull in seconds, or snap. Even a good bi-metal blade in this tool will not get through it in any useful way.
For a seized 5/8 in Grade 8 bolt, use a cutoff wheel on an angle grinder, a reciprocating saw with a thick bi-metal or carbide blade and enough room to run it, or heat if the surrounding parts allow it. The 429 is the wrong tool for that job.

Too bad! Some of these bolts for sure take years off my life.