I'm in the market for a portable bandsaw, in lieu of a $200 to $300
horizontal bandsaw (for which I don't have the shop space). The main
use is to cut metal stock off into lumps to be machined, so usage will
be moderate.
Milwalkee seems to make the best portable bandsaws, for about $300, but
I don't know that I need this much saw, so I also looked at Harbor
Freight's noodle factory knockoff, Item 47840-0VGA, for $75.
Does anyone have one of these? How well do they work? What are the
problems? (I know that I will need to replace the supplied blade with
Lenox or Starrett.)
And, are there better choices?
Thanks,
Joe Gwinn
If Jeff Wisnia doesn't check in on this, he has one and reported that
it works just fine. Use Milwaukee blades. My Milwaukee cuts about
twice as fast as most import horizontal bandsaws.
I've never compared , but my Milwaukee cuts through a 3" round of 4140 in
under 3 minutes . I mostly use the 10/14/?? blades (Morse , IIRC and made
in USA) from HF , about 20 bucks for 3 blades .
I've also used some DeWalt single-pitch fine tooth blades for thinner
stuff . The HF blades are pretty good bang-for-the-buck IMO .
No , I replaced the bolts that hold the back half of the case with some
that have deep nuts instead of heads (hex stock machined on the lathe) .
Used those to bolt it to a stand with the blade vertical , like a regular
band saw , and replaced the little stop strip with a small table . It's
limited to short cuts , but works great for the size and type of projects
I'm doing . Usually use it to cut stock to machinable lengths .
Yeah, cuz of the throat limitation.....
But, you *could* put a pivot on it, so it could function like the typical
4x6 green or red HF bandsaws, right?
Just need a vise of some sort.
Ito the 4x6 bandsaw size, what would this portable rate as?
...
I once thought that I didn't have room for a H/V saw & bought a
Milwaukee PortaBand (used on eBay). And I made a stand for it:
formatting link
It was OK, especially since I didn't know any better. Then a neighbor
gave me a 4 x 7 HV & I somehow made room for it. There is NO
comparison. Nobody should ever buy a PortaBand 'cause they don't have
room for a 4 x 7. MAKE room - it doesn't take that much. Worse case -
put it on casters & wheel it out when needed.
Bob
I've seen set-ups that use these saws as a pivoting saw ... but that was
more work for no gain in functionality for me purposes . I'd say this is
probably similar in capacity to a 4X4 bandsaw .
What do you use it for?
Other posters agree that the HF unit does do the job, which of course is
always the big question with noodle-factory products.
I don't doubt that a real horizontal bandsaw is better, but I really
don't have the space. The mill and the lathe took all the space. Not
to mention the metal/wood cutting vertical bandsaw (Wilson 8201?).
I think I will order the HF unit.
Joe Gwinn
I usually carry the work to the saw (the venerable 4x6), but occasionally I
have to carry the saw to the work, and this is what I use, with good
results.
Just cutting off stuff. It is noisy, though, and lately I have been
doing a lot of cutting off on my Bridgeport.
Always a big question, yes.
I think that you would not regret it.
i
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