Recommendation? Portable Band Saw

A

AbLonewolf

Joined
Jan 30, 2020
Messages
75
Good morning folks!

I am planning on purchasing a portable band saw for cutting blade blanks. I own several Milwaukee cordless tools, and have several batteries, and as such, looking for a red one.

Researched the M12 and M18 Fuel. Reviews are excellent.

I will be cutting mostly 1084 bars, 1.5" to 2.0" wide and 1/8" to 5/32" thick.

Which of the 2 would you guys recommend?

Also, is a 18 TPI blade adequate for most cuts?

Thanx in advance...Jay
 
Yes on the blade, although Milwaukee blades are just OK. Definitely corded.
 
Horsewright said:
Yes on the blade, although Milwaukee blades are just OK. Definitely corded.
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What blades do you recommend? I agree the Milwaukee are only ok, I found the ones bought at Homedepot are performing noticeably better than the ones I have gotten off of Amazon but defiantly would like to buy better blades.

I have to thank you as you turned me onto the portable band saw and swag table and it has become a huge asset in the shop for many projects.
 
Seedy Lot said:
What blades do you recommend? I agree the Milwaukee are only ok, I found the ones bought at Homedepot are performing noticeably better than the ones I have gotten off of Amazon but defiantly would like to buy better blades.

I have to thank you as you turned me onto the portable band saw and swag table and it has become a huge asset in the shop for many projects.
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Ya bet! I like the Lennox blades from Lowes. But thats a trip down the hill. Was down there a couple weeks ago first time in a long time and they were now carrying Bosch saw blades, for every size bandsaw on the planet except a Portaband (which is the only saw they had for sale go figure). I've no experience with Bosch blades. Told the wife I was gonna have to get motivated and order online but then bought couple more boxes from the Depot. They always sucker me in, I mean I can see it from the ranch gate. Lil video for ya the wife making up some of her horse shoe coasters. She uses the portaband to trim the nails.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CH_kvGjjqmT/

What they look like when she's done:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFkJiqYDzS_/
 
I just purchased a corded Milwaukee Portable band saw. Also got one Milwaukee 18TPI just to try. Ordered 5 Lenox blades also to try. Also ordered a foot switch as some suggested. Will be ready to go!

To all that provided the great advice (ie. corded versus cordless)...TYVM!

Great people with vast amount of knowledge here! Much appreciated!
 
Definitely go with corded. Definitely go with foot pedal. Not a bad idea to grab a Swag table for it too. Love mine.
 
Absolutely get the swag table! I use a cordless dewalt, but that’s because I was already invested in the batteries. The benefit is I take it outside to cut all my steel/g10/micarta, so much less dust in the shop.
 
They get stuff done:

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Got a Milwaukee> Thing I don't like about it is your blank runs into the frame if its longer than 6 inches. I seen a deal where you can shim the rollers so the blank misses the frame. Anybody seen this?
TJ Smith
 
TJ Smith said:
Got a Milwaukee> Thing I don't like about it is your blank runs into the frame if its longer than 6 inches. I seen a deal where you can shim the rollers so the blank misses the frame. Anybody seen this?
TJ Smith
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That's why I didn't get one, but I was close though. And there is also the work piece width problem. I find the set up very limited. I used something like it for a year or so.
It is better to look for a used proper 12" vertical band saw.
 
Hello everyone,
Sorry, I just wanted to get some opinions on what I have done, mostly if it is safe or not. I bought a used Dewalt portable bandsaw off of Craigslist, but instead of buying a SWAG table, I bought a piece of the flattest 12"x12"x1/4" steel plate (it wasn't that flat, but flat enough for me to profile some knives then take over to the belt grinder) from Lowe's and mounted the bandsaw to it. Then I hung it in a 5-gallon bucket, and the table sits on the edge of the bucket. It is well supported, especially when I push the bandsaw all the way to the back. I used a strip of velcro to hold the trigger down, and I use a power strip as the switch to turn it on and off. I like that it also catches all the debris, and I just empty out the bucket every once in a while. I also just bought some phenolic sheets from Ebay, so I was thinking of replacing the table with this instead since people seem to use phenolic pieces for jigs as well. Thank you for your time it is much appreciated, and if it is unsafe, I will change the setup.
 
Might be better to use a foot switch to control the on/off they aren’t very expensive and lets you quickly shut off if needed.
 
Thank you for the responses. I was looking on Amazon and saw a WEN one, here. It says it is rated for 15-Amps, but the reviews saws it is 10-Amps and was confirmed with the company for 10-Amps when one customer contacted them. The portable bandsaw I have is 10-Amps, would this work or would it be better to get a 15-Amps footswitch? I'm not sure if I would need some extra headroom for the initial start-up of the bandsaw.
 
Justintoyo said:
Thank you for the responses. I was looking on Amazon and saw a WEN one, here. It says it is rated for 15-Amps, but the reviews saws it is 10-Amps and was confirmed with the company for 10-Amps when one customer contacted them. The portable bandsaw I have is 10-Amps, would this work or would it be better to get a 15-Amps footswitch? I'm not sure if I would need some extra headroom for the initial start-up of the bandsaw.
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Not sure but I believe mine is 15amp just got it down the road from Harbor Freight.
 
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