Vise mount for DeWalt Portaband?

PIndelicato

PIndelicato

Joined
Sep 16, 2002
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I just received my new DeWalt D28770 portaband and I'm wondering the best/easiest way to rig it for clamping in a vise. I've seen pics of it mounted to a wall, but that's it.

At this point I'm thinking 2 pieces of angle iron attached to the handle attachment points, then the angle iron bolted to a length of 4x4 wood long enough to support the bottom of the saw and to chuck into the vise jaws.

If anyone has any pics of an easy solution to this, I'd appreciate seeing them.
 
I have a dewalt portaband that I made an angle iron piece spanning the handle and hook attachment holes for. I then took a 10" square of 1/2" plate steel and just butt welded the angle iron at right angles onto it. I bolted the portaband upright to the angle iron holes, and shimmed the bottom of the saw frame slightly for a tight fit to the base plate to reduce any play. Works good. When I moved I let my Harbor Freight saw go but kept this one, as it was much easier to transport. Just took it apart and put it back in the dewalt case. Which held about ten of my blades as well. I can bolt or c-clamp the baseplate down to the bench for stability. I also made a cutting table for it out of 1/8" steel sheet, just countersink the mounting holes so the screws don't catch your work. Oh, and I just used a 1 1/2" teardrop style hanger ring (for plumbing pipe) for a trigger clip. It's elliptical in shape so I can just push it over sideways to hold the trigger. I like the dewalt better than the milwaukee as it does not have a pressure sensitive trigger but a dial on the side to control blade speed.
 
Thanks vorpalknives, but unfortunately even simple welding is beyond my capabilities. If you happen to have a pic, however, I would enjoy seeing it as it might give me some inspiration for something more low-tech.
 
Hey,

I will be doing this exact same set up in the near future.

PJ and you drill and bolt?

Possibly you can exchange a weld for a simple mechaical fix?

Vorpla...thanks...but can you post pics?

I gotta see to understand...not your good words...they are fine..my slow mind needs some more to grasp it.

Shane
 
Here's my mount for the vise (sorry, nice pic of it IN a vise, you'll just have to take my word that it works great):

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The whole frame is bed frame, I even threw in a closeup of my junk welding. The 90 degree bar is just a support for side pressure, it has a neoprene pad on it to protect the saw case - this could be done in a way that doesn't require welding (like a screwed in 90* support), or could be omitted if you felt the screwed-in supports were enough. I drilled and tapped three 10-24 holes in the saw to attach the frame and used the existing holes on the handle to mount a 90 degree support. Since there was no cast-in support on my holes, I thought I should also attach it to existing supported holes. The spacer is corian, they are 1/4-20 bolts through it. The wood is just a piece of cut down stake to clamp into the vise.

I cut an S30V blade blank on it minutes after I finished building it. I borrowed a friends advice (and welder) while putting it together, but the design is mine.

This is all stuff I sent to a friend but since the question came up I put the info here. It's not a Dewalt, but maybe you can use the idea.
 
Unfortunately my darn digital camera has a spiderwebbed screen, so I'm looking into getting a new one soon but sorry no pics for now.... is there a way to upload a paint drawing or something?
 
Thanks for the pics, Acrid; that looks very nice and well thought out. I was hoping for something that would take 15 minutes to throw together with some wood and/or angle iron but you've obviously put a lot more thought into it than that!
 
P J 234 said:
Thanks for the pics, Acrid; that looks very nice and well thought out. I was hoping for something that would take 15 minutes to throw together with some wood and/or angle iron but you've obviously put a lot more thought into it than that!
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I don't have a Dewalt but I do have a very simple way to mount mine. I did no modifications to the saw. I put a piece of 1/2 or 5/8" X 4" X 10" piece of plywood in the vise and slide the slot where the handle is over it and its ready to do. Couldn't be much simpler than that.

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Raymond Richard said:
I don't have a Dewalt but I do have a very simple way to mount mine. I did no modifications to the saw. I put a piece of 1/2 or 5/8" X 4" X 10" piece of plywood in the vise and slide the slot where the handle is over it and its ready to do. Couldn't be much simpler than that.

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That's more my speed and brilliantly simple. I'll have to see if my DeWalt handle configuration can work the same way.

Thanks Mr. Richard!
 
I don't think there's two hours into it, honestly. Just a couple holes and some screws. Looks like Ray's will work just as well though ;)
 
I just put two pieces of leather on the vise jaws and clamp the handle just dont squeeze too hard.
 
Wow... this is a first. I DO own the DeWALT, and I DID make the simplest little doo-dad to mount it in a vise. :)

I have the materials and ability to weld up a fixture... but I normally overbuild EVERYTHING and spend more time on stuff than necessary. So I opted for K-I-S-S with the portaband. I had it on the wall but took it off for space reasons.

Here's the pics... it's just a piece of 4 X 10 X 5/16 bar that I drilled a hole in, so that I could screw a 1/4-20 bolt into the old hanger mount hole. Simple as simple could be!!! :)

Oh, and don't forget a good solid table, and cut the corner off so you can change blades without taking the table off. (mine is 5/16" stainless! :p :))

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Drill the hole and bevel the end of the bar/plate just a bit, so that it nestles right into the corner of the aluminum housing on the saw... like this:

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That's fantastic Mr. Wheeler, thanks for sharing your pics! I was trying to figure out something with the upper handle mount but the hangar mount looks to be easier.

I haven't tried it yet to be sure, but it looks like the lower handle design of the DeWalt won't allow holding it in the vise like Raymond Richard posted above with his Milwaukee(?)
 
You're welcome Paul :)

I don't think the handle configuration on this one would let you do what Ray did with his Milwaukie.

I actually like this set up even better than when I had it on the wall. The wall mount did involve a little welding, and utilized the top handle mount as well as the hanger mount. The way it is now... I can just swap the work table, take it out of the vise, and use it as a portaband... no messing with the brackets.

As long as you get the plate is mated up snug to the saw body, and you put it in the vise so that the saw rests against the jaws... then this is a real rigid set-up. :)
 
P J 234 said:
That's fantastic Mr. Wheeler, thanks for sharing your pics! I was trying to figure out something with the upper handle mount but the hangar mount looks to be easier.

I haven't tried it yet to be sure, but it looks like the lower handle design of the DeWalt won't allow holding it in the vise like Raymond Richard posted above with his Milwaukee(?)
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I hold my dewault in the vise by the lower handle. I just use leather padding to keep from scratching it up.
 
Bill Burke said:
I hold my dewault in the vise by the lower handle. I just use leather padding to keep from scratching it up.
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Mr. Burke,

Are you just clamping around the outside of the handle (as opposed to through the handle like Mr. Richard has done in his pics above?)

Thanks much
 
yep. the part of the handle up by the trigger is somewhat tapered but down at the frame there is a nice large area with parallel sides that holds very nicely in a vise.
 
Excellent, I'll give that a try before I do anything else.

Thanks again to everyone for their ideas and pictures!
 
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