Which Portable Bandsaw?

T

Tristan76

Joined
Jan 28, 2021
Messages
10
Hello,
I hope I'm not opening a can of worms with my first post but I don't trust online star reviews that much anymore so I came here hoping for advice. After doing some research I decided to go with a portable bandsaw to profile blades and hopefully also cut some wood for scales. So, I'm hoping the saw can do double duty for wood and metal. The two I'm mainly considering is the Dewalt or Milwaulkee along with the matching swag table and foot pedal. The issue is neither are super cheap and I didn't know if there was a good argument for one over the other. I appreciate any advice given. Thanks!
 
I've got a Dewalt that works great. Haven't had a Milwaukee but I would think it would be more than up to the task. Best choice is the swag table with the foot pedal. Can't go wrong there.
 
I appreciate the response! I almost pulled the trigger on the Milwaukee today because it was in stock but thought I would ask first. I have no experience with bandsaws but most of my other tools are dewalt. Good to hear the Swag table is quality kit
 
Definitely the Dewalt! No experience with the Milwaukee except i dislike their blades which I have a lot of experience with. Definitely get the Swag table. I have often said that the Dewalt Portaband would be the one tool I replaced that day if I wore it out and it died. I have and did. Even though it was a two hour drive.
 
Thanks so much! Something told me to wait on the Milwaukee and check with some experts first. I’ve always been a Dewalt fan but wasn’t sure on the bandsaw front. I’m new to blacksmithing but man is it a satisfying hobby to enjoy with my son
 
Hey tristan,
So I agree with the others about the swag table its great! But.

Go shopping at pawn shops before you go buy a new dewalt or milwaukee. I picked a dewalt up at the pawn shop for 100$.

The light didn't work and it's a little beat up, but it works like a champ!
 
I have a Milwaukee and it’s great. I do not use Milwaukee blades though. I really don’t think you could go wrong with either saw.
 
Deep throat, make sure it works with the SWAG table.

Corded, batteries are BS


I use the Canadian version of the Old harbour freight design, one was bad, the second one is great. It will not fit the SWAG.

The new HF design looks better.
 
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I have the Harbor Freight one and the warranty. Plus a swag table. I use it 3-5 times a week and it 5 years old still runs like a top..
Also I think the Harbor Freight Bimetal blades area good value for the money..
 
I have the Milwaukee and really like it. I have dewalt tools and like them also. Either one will be good. A swag table is a must.
 
I have 2 dewalts and zero complaints. I would consider making your own table set up as they are easy to make and can be better than a swag - specifically you can make a table where you can change out the blades without taking the bandsaw off. If you Google “Dewalt portable bandsaw stand” you will find a couple example pictures
 
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Here's my daughter, normally a mild mannered ER Tech:

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But on days off she can become a knife blade cutting machine. Yesterday she got 30 out of 105 done:

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She even videoed herself cutting out some of the blades:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKq5z10jDUJ/

Also a pretty darn good cowboygirl:

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I have the Milwaukee with SWAG table. It works but there isn’t any offset with the blade and the saw body. Only get about five inches of cut before you hit the saw body. You can angle your piece to get it past but it seems to put a bind on the blade. The Dewalt might not have that problem? I’d like to know myself.

Jon
 
I have the milwaukee (bought it used off eBay). The Dewalt will work just as well. Like numbers said, get the deep throat so you have a little more clearance room. And corded although I dion't see how the foot pedal would work otherwise. I agree with Horsewright as well, it'd be replaced as soon as it fails. I buy lenox blades at Lowe's for it. Bi metal. And it will work for both wood and metal but not as well on wood as an actual wood machine. But the wood machines do a worse job on metal. So a portaband is better for the option.
 
My Dewalt has about 6 inches of clearance. Its not really an issue with careful planning of how you lay out your knives. Its a deal if ya don't.

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I lay out in vertical rows of all the same knife model or models of the same oal. First cut is cutting the vertical lines, cutting off each section. Then take a section and cut in from one end along all the lines. Flip it around and cut in on all the lines. Now each knife is separated and there is only a little whittling to do to clean up the knife blank. Each sheet of AEB-L steel here is approx 6"x23". I usually can get 17-25 blanks from each sheet depending on the blank size. If I flip my templates around and squeeze em in here and another there and cram as many blades in as I can I usually will get 2 to 3 more blades per sheet. But I will probably spend 2 to 3 times more in time getting them separated. The trade off for a couple less blades and following the vertical layout above is worth it to me to save the time that it does. I have also developed a couple of designs to take up extra space when I can't get quite fit something else in. Interestingly these have become quite popular models and all three of them are now are also stand alone models. This Cowboy Toothpick a guy can fit in often when there just isn't room for another regular blade:

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Same with the Vaquero. This one was so popular it rapidly became its own stand alone model but is still great for filling in spots on a sheet. It will also fit in vertically on most sheets:

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A Poco (Dave Spanish for not enough steel left over to make another Gordo) will fit here and there and give ya one more blade out of that blank spot that ya can't quite fit a regular blade into:

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Scaniaman said:
Horsewright Horsewright at your large production, how come you're not water jeting?
Click to expand...

Tried it and it simply didn't pencil out for me and how I work. We've visited about trying it again but really this is working out for us. My wife does the majority of the cutting and she'll come out and do an hour here an hour there and pretty soon ya have them all cut out. I can profile them in an hour or two and drill the holes in a day.

Biggest problem is I probably have too many models and too many options. Water jet works very well when there are lots of one design all the same. Then its a real cost saver. But I've probably got 25 different designs or so, I've never really counted. Some have bolsters some don't some of the same model may or my not have a bolster but all these are differences that add cost to water jetting because its a change. If I was at the stage of wanting 25 of each model and 25 of each variation of each model, water jetting would pencil out. We have also been doing this long enough that it is really starting to be pretty cool. I've got about 150 blades back from ht and ready to be finish ground at any given time. That gives me a pretty good time cushion of doing a little bit at a time to get another batch of 100 plus ready to go to ht.
 
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