Can the DeWalt portaband be used to cut G10/Micarta/Wood?

G

GrizzlyBear

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Dec 5, 2009
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I'm really thinking about getting that DeWalt portaband and mounting it vertically for my little shop I'm having built. My question is, while this saw is good for cutting bar stock, how well does it work on things like G10, Micarta and wood (both stabalized and non)?
 
It will chew through wood with no problem and cut micarta just as effectively. It will also work for G10, but it's slower going and hard on blades. The great thing about metal cutting bandsaws is that they will cut anything that is as hard as or softer than steel, whereas wood cutting saws run too fast for many harder materials.

--nathan
 
Yeah, I use my metal cutting bandsaw to cut everything...wood, metal, etc....don't even necessarily need to change blades...just take it slow. Only reason I would ever buy a wood bandsaw is if I took up carpentry.
 
Cool, I thought you could...but there was this hint of doubt in the back of my mind where I was trying to remember reading something in the hundreds of pages I have looked at on here about one being used for both but not the other. And that was it, can't use a wood bandsaw for metal. Thanks guys.
 
Thanks again. Anyone know why Tool King doesn't have the Dewalt Portaband listed on their site anymore? Did everyone go there and buy one with their taxes? ;)
 
I bought mine from Tool King about a year ago. At that time they had a sale on DeWalt tools so it was about $180 with no tax and free shipping. It works great on metal, wood, micarta and G10. There was a thread here about mounting it and replacing the cutting table.
 
I bought a second hand B&D Professional portaband with worm drive gears 10 years ago. I built a nice vertical stand with an on-off switch and it's still going strong. With a history in construction I used all the major brands and was most impressed with the Porter Cable. As tools slowly took over my shop, I'm really glad that I went this direction rather than the floor models. Way more footprint than what they do 99% of the time.
 
Glad I did my research...I didn't know the regular bandsaws wouldn't do well on metal (with correct blade of course). Going to do some searching on portabands now since the one on Tool King is gone off.
 
Make sure you get a deep cut saw. Its worth the extra. I have a Milwaukee with a variable trigger that is attached to a variac that I control the speed with a dial. It works awesome and will cut anything. Oh yeah make sure you get enough amperage. mine is 8-10 amps I believe
 
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