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Posted by Michael Koblic on April 20, 2008, 2:50 am
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I have an occasional need to cut stock of up to 2 inch diameter (or square,
shapes differ). I have been thinking of making my life easier and investing
in a chop saw. However, recently I came across a phenomenon called a
portable band saw. I have never seen this tool first hand. I understand that
it is capable of cutting up to 4 inches. It can be operated off-hand or a
stand is available which then allows the saw to be used as a chop saw
including cutting accurate miters.
All I have seen is pictures of the tools made by various companies and some
rave reviews of the same.
Does anyone here have first hand experience with these tools? Can you
compare them to chop saws? What are the benefits and limitations?
Thanks.
--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC
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Posted by Wes on April 20, 2008, 10:08 am
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>I have an occasional need to cut stock of up to 2 inch diameter (or square,
>shapes differ). I have been thinking of making my life easier and investing
>in a chop saw. However, recently I came across a phenomenon called a
>portable band saw. I have never seen this tool first hand. I understand that
>it is capable of cutting up to 4 inches. It can be operated off-hand or a
>stand is available which then allows the saw to be used as a chop saw
>including cutting accurate miters.
Are you cutting aluminum or steel? For aluminum, I use my wood chop saw.
For steel, I head over to uncles and use his metal cutting band saw.
Wes
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Posted by spaco on April 20, 2008, 10:37 am
Please log in for more thread options If this is the saw they call the "portaband" here's my 2 cents worth:
The portable band saw is a great tool. The guys around here started
using them about 4 or 5 years ago. I didn't think much of them until I
actually tried one. I was immediately sold on the idea.
The Porter Cable and Milwaukee brands are the ones I see around
here, but I'm sure others work well, too.
They cut very agressively. the two I mention are easy to handle and
are quite controllable. I asked for and got the Milwaukee "deep
throat" (or something like that) 0-300 or so rpm model for Christmas in
2006. One of its first jobs was to make about 20 cuts through 1 3/4"
solid steel bar and it works just fine.
I don't have the stand for mine, since I already have a 4 X 6 HV
band saw and a chop saw.
Comparison of portaband to a chop saw:
Chop saws are a LOT noisier and dirtier and smellier.
Chop saws are more dangerous because of flying sparks.
Chop saws don't like thick,wide materials
I don't think chop saws take kindly to non ferrous metals, especially
soft ones, whereas the band saw doens't really care.
The chop saw I have already comes with a stand and vise.
The chop saw can be carried around, but it isn't "portable" in the same
way that the portable band saw is... You can't just "lay" it onto the
workpiece and pull the trigger.
The chop saw's abrasive wheel can go "dull" all of a sudden for various
reasons (described and discussed recently on this NG), making you have
to stop and dress the wheel before continuing.
The chop saw wins when I have to cut unknown ferrous metals that might
be hard. One can destroy a saw band in a few seconds on hardened steel.
It probably would be the saw of choice for cutting dirty, rusty stuff
that would destroy a band saw blade.
Also, it would be better for cutting real thin material where you'd have
less than 2 teeth in the work, such as rusty exhaust pipe.
After writing the above, I'm not too sure why I still have my chop saw,
but the boys do seem to prefer it when working on old cars.
I use my 4 X 6 HV band saw more than any other metal cutting tool that I
have. It is permanently set up in my metal shop. I put things into it,
throw the switch and come back when it is done and has shut itself off.
If you get a band saw of any type or mfr, buy ONLY the best blade that
you can get. Cheap blades are NOT a "deal". I use the Doall Imperial
101, but I'm sure other companies have high qulity bi-metal blades to
offer, too. Unless you will be cutting thin tubing on a regular basis,
I'd use a tooth count of 10 to 14 teeth per inch.
Pete Stanaitis
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Michael Koblic wrote:
> I have an occasional need to cut stock of up to 2 inch diameter (or square,
> shapes differ). I have been thinking of making my life easier and investing
> in a chop saw. However, recently I came across a phenomenon called a
> portable band saw. I have never seen this tool first hand. I understand that
> it is capable of cutting up to 4 inches. It can be operated off-hand or a
> stand is available which then allows the saw to be used as a chop saw
> including cutting accurate miters.
>
> All I have seen is pictures of the tools made by various companies and some
> rave reviews of the same.
>
> Does anyone here have first hand experience with these tools? Can you
> compare them to chop saws? What are the benefits and limitations?
>
> Thanks.
>
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Posted by William Noble on April 20, 2008, 11:42 am
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> If this is the saw they call the "portaband" here's my 2 cents worth:
>
>
snip------------
> I don't have the stand for mine, since I already have a 4 X 6 HV band
> saw and a chop saw.
I have a portaband and a stand would be handy from time to time - I looked
on milwaukee's site and didn't see anything - is there a picture anywhere of
what they look like? (anyone got a spare one on the left coast?)
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **
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Posted by BobH on April 20, 2008, 11:39 am
Please log in for more thread options Michael Koblic wrote:
> I have an occasional need to cut stock of up to 2 inch diameter (or square,
> shapes differ). I have been thinking of making my life easier and investing
> in a chop saw. However, recently I came across a phenomenon called a
> portable band saw. I have never seen this tool first hand. I understand that
> it is capable of cutting up to 4 inches. It can be operated off-hand or a
> stand is available which then allows the saw to be used as a chop saw
> including cutting accurate miters.
>
> All I have seen is pictures of the tools made by various companies and some
> rave reviews of the same.
>
> Does anyone here have first hand experience with these tools? Can you
> compare them to chop saws? What are the benefits and limitations?
I do a lot of fabrication type work and started out with a chop saw.
Later, I bought a Portaband handheld bandsaw. I built a miter stand for
the Portaband and it is great! I hae not used the chop saw since I got
the band saw.
The other gentleman raised some good points about the use of a chop saw
for cutting very hard or unknown materials, but I work with new stock
almost completely.
The kerf width with a chop saw is around 1/4", often tapered and varies
as the blade wears. A bandsaw in a stand cuts a constant width, straight
kerf that is about 1/16" wide.
The chop saw is really noisy and sprays a large fan of sparks, making it
difficult to use inside. A bandsaw is relatively quiet and does not
spray sparks. Quiet is good for me becuase I live in the desert and if I
am working in the summer, it is usually at 4:00 AM and quiet tools keep
neighbor problems down.
If major portability is not a requirement, I think I would look at one
of the small horizontal bandsaws. I tried the Portaband without a stand
and found it very difficult to get accurate, straight cuts. With the
stand, the Portaband is really a small horizontal bandsaw. Maybe buying
one that is already set up would have been a better idea?
Good Luck,
Bob
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>shapes differ). I have been thinking of making my life easier and investing
>in a chop saw. However, recently I came across a phenomenon called a
>portable band saw. I have never seen this tool first hand. I understand that
>it is capable of cutting up to 4 inches. It can be operated off-hand or a
>stand is available which then allows the saw to be used as a chop saw
>including cutting accurate miters.