On Apr 20, 12:50 am, "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.

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC
I use one of those cheap $250 metal cutting bandsaws. Change out the
blade for a bi-metal one and never look back. If somethings too big
for the band saw, like plate, I use a 4 1/2 inch grinder with a
cutting wheel. The chop saw will be faster and cheaper than the
bandsaw, but makes a lot of noise, sparks and grinding dust (both from
the cutting wheel and the metal being cut. For me the bandsaw/grinder
with a cutting wheel makes more sense.

On Sun, 20 Apr 2008 12:36:42 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

The chop saw will be faster and cheaper than the
bandsaw,

Not for 2" (or more) solid bar. The Milwaukee bandsaw goes thru that
much faster than a chop saw, and even than some horizontal bandsaws.
The difference there may have been in the blades, but I run a good
bimetal blade in my vertical bandsaw and it still doesn't cut round
barstock nearly as fast as the Milwaukee.

As Spaco noted, good blades make a huge difference. Milwaukee blades
are excellent.

I would like to thank all those who took time to reply in very helpful
detail.

The noise, dust and sparks consideration is not something I thought about
much. Even more important is the aspect of the uneven kerf which would
render cutting accurate mitres difficult and defeat the purpose of the tool.
I cut both ferrous and non-ferrous, BTW, and some of the parts are quite
small.

To summarize, the better options than a chop saw would be:
1) A band saw in a mitre stand
2) A "cool" cutting circular saw

The thing that puzzles me is that none of the major tool suppliers here
(Canadian Tire, Home Depot, House of Tools, Home Hardware, Rona) seem to
carry portable band saws. I shall have to travel further afield to see one.

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

"Don Foreman" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 20 Apr 2008 12:36:42 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

The chop saw will be faster and cheaper than the
bandsaw,

Not for 2" (or more) solid bar. The Milwaukee bandsaw goes thru that
much faster than a chop saw, and even than some horizontal bandsaws.
The difference there may have been in the blades, but I run a good
bimetal blade in my vertical bandsaw and it still doesn't cut round
barstock nearly as fast as the Milwaukee.

As Spaco noted, good blades make a huge difference. Milwaukee blades
are excellent.

Don Foreman wrote:

Not for 2" (or more) solid bar. The Milwaukee bandsaw goes thru that
much faster than a chop saw, and even than some horizontal bandsaws.
The difference there may have been in the blades, but I run a good
bimetal blade in my vertical bandsaw and it still doesn't cut round
barstock nearly as fast as the Milwaukee.

Floor space is at a premium for me. I've been pining away for a horizontal
but worried about the space. I think the Milwaukee (linda blair model) will
soon have a place in my shop.

I've used a Milwaukee portaband at work many times. It is an impressive
tool. Heck, I just remembered, I have a sawsall in the shop. I almost
bought a hacksaw to slit a coupler I was making before I decided to go over
to uncles and use his 4x6. I could have used my sawsall and saved the trip.

Wes

On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:53:38 -0400, Wes wrote:

Don Foreman wrote:

Not for 2" (or more) solid bar. The Milwaukee bandsaw goes thru that
much faster than a chop saw, and even than some horizontal bandsaws.
The difference there may have been in the blades, but I run a good
bimetal blade in my vertical bandsaw and it still doesn't cut round
barstock nearly as fast as the Milwaukee.

Floor space is at a premium for me. I've been pining away for a horizontal
but worried about the space. I think the Milwaukee (linda blair model) will
soon have a place in my shop.

Floor space was and is an issue for me too. I've had my Milwaukee
nearly 10 years now and I still grin every time I use it. It seems to
work better than it would be reasonable to expect. Can't say that
about many tools!

OK, here is a supplementary:

I went through a bunch of websites and found:

1) Bandsaws
a) House of Tools do a Makita "kit" (portaband). Our local store did not
have one last time I looked.
b) House of Tools do a band saw on a stand - it cuts 4x6. It takes up a
fair bit of space, but costs "only" $299.
c) EBay has a glut of portable band saws of uncertain manufacture - all
new, all about $60. Would this be a good option if one put in it a good
quality blade?

2) Dry-cut saws
a) Home depot sells two dry-cutting saws - RAGE 2 and RAGE 3. The RAGE 2
looks like a standard dry -cut machine. RAGE 3 looks like a common or garden
mitre saw but with a TCT blade is said to cut everything (within reason).
Either saw sells for $275.

The one thing that puzzles me about the dry-cut saw, and could potentially
be a problem, is that all manufacturers recommend to start cutting at the
narrowest part of the work piece, i.e. the opposite to band saws. They
recommend, e.g., that square stock be clamped with one of the corners facing
upwards, flat stock the narrow side up etc. I wonder how absolute this
requirement is: If followed, almost no mitre cuts could be done on anything
with square or rectangular profile.

Does anyone have a view on this (or the items above)? If I could not cut
mitres I would definitely lean towards a band saw, however attractive a
cheap dry-cut saw would be in terms of space saving.

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

"Michael Koblic" wrote in message
news:qPSdnWDaCdkpmZHVnZ2dnUVZ_sWdnZ2d@uniservecomm unications...

On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:27:53 -0700, "Michael Koblic"
wrote:


The one thing that puzzles me about the dry-cut saw, and could potentially
be a problem, is that all manufacturers recommend to start cutting at the
narrowest part of the work piece, i.e. the opposite to band saws.


Opposite? News to me. I do that with every saw I own.

Or am I missing something?

Gunner


"[L]iberals are afraid to state what they truly believe in, for to do so
would result in even less votes than they currently receive. Their
methodology is to lie about their real agenda in the hopes of regaining
power, at which point they will do whatever they damn well please. The
problem is they have concealed and obfuscated for so long that, as a group,
they themselves are no longer sure of their goals. They are a collection of
wild-eyed splinter groups, all holding a grab-bag of dreams and wishes. Some
want a Socialist, secular-humanist state, others the repeal of the Second
Amendment. Some want same sex/different species marriage, others want voting
rights for trees, fish, coal and bugs. Some want cradle to grave care and
complete subservience to the government nanny state, others want a culture
that walks in lockstep and speaks only with intonations of political
correctness. I view the American liberals in much the same way I view the
competing factions of Islamic
fundamentalists. The latter hate each other to the core, and only join
forces to attack the US or Israel. The former hate themselves to the core,
and only join forces to attack George Bush and conservatives." --Ron Marr

On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:27:53 -0700, "Michael Koblic"
wrote:

OK, here is a supplementary:

I went through a bunch of websites and found:

1) Bandsaws
a) House of Tools do a Makita "kit" (portaband). Our local store did not
have one last time I looked.
b) House of Tools do a band saw on a stand - it cuts 4x6. It takes up a
fair bit of space, but costs "only" $299.
c) EBay has a glut of portable band saws of uncertain manufacture - all
new, all about $60. Would this be a good option if one put in it a good
quality blade?

2) Dry-cut saws
a) Home depot sells two dry-cutting saws - RAGE 2 and RAGE 3. The RAGE 2
looks like a standard dry -cut machine. RAGE 3 looks like a common or garden
mitre saw but with a TCT blade is said to cut everything (within reason).
Either saw sells for $275.

The one thing that puzzles me about the dry-cut saw, and could potentially
be a problem, is that all manufacturers recommend to start cutting at the
narrowest part of the work piece, i.e. the opposite to band saws. They
recommend, e.g., that square stock be clamped with one of the corners facing
upwards, flat stock the narrow side up etc. I wonder how absolute this
requirement is: If followed, almost no mitre cuts could be done on anything
with square or rectangular profile.

Does anyone have a view on this (or the items above)? If I could not cut
mitres I would definitely lean towards a band saw, however attractive a
cheap dry-cut saw would be in terms of space saving.

If you want to cut solid bar stock 1" sq or dia, a bandsaw would
definitely be the best choice. The cold saw (e.g. Rage3) will do
angles and tubes just fine. It is obviously intended to do miters and
does them well. With a bandsaw you can get some blade wander when
cutting miters while the cold saw blade is considerably stiffer.

Note blade costs and number of cuts expected per blade. Cost per cut
will be much higher with the cold saw. Good bimetal bandsaw blades
are not costly (7 or 8 bux, 3 for under $20) and they last an
amazingly long time when cutting mild steel, ally, etc. The key is to
match the blade to the material, always having at least 2 teeth in the
thinnest part of the cut or you may knock the teeth right off the
blade. With thick stock a coarser pitch cuts considerably faster. A
blade change in a portable bandsaw takes about 10 seconds and no
tools.

"Don Foreman" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:27:53 -0700, "Michael Koblic"
wrote:
If you want to cut solid bar stock 1" sq or dia, a bandsaw would
definitely be the best choice. The cold saw (e.g. Rage3) will do
angles and tubes just fine. It is obviously intended to do miters and
does them well. With a bandsaw you can get some blade wander when
cutting miters while the cold saw blade is considerably stiffer.

Note blade costs and number of cuts expected per blade. Cost per cut
will be much higher with the cold saw. Good bimetal bandsaw blades
are not costly (7 or 8 bux, 3 for under $20) and they last an
amazingly long time when cutting mild steel, ally, etc. The key is to
match the blade to the material, always having at least 2 teeth in the
thinnest part of the cut or you may knock the teeth right off the
blade. With thick stock a coarser pitch cuts considerably faster. A
blade change in a portable bandsaw takes about 10 seconds and no
tools.

That makes sense.
My understanding was that the bandsaw manufacturers recommend starting the
cut with a maximum number of teeth in contact with the material. But perhaps
I misinterpret the manuals...

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:40:36 -0700, "Michael Koblic"
wrote:


"Don Foreman" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:27:53 -0700, "Michael Koblic"
wrote:
If you want to cut solid bar stock 1" sq or dia, a bandsaw would
definitely be the best choice. The cold saw (e.g. Rage3) will do
angles and tubes just fine. It is obviously intended to do miters and
does them well. With a bandsaw you can get some blade wander when
cutting miters while the cold saw blade is considerably stiffer.

Note blade costs and number of cuts expected per blade. Cost per cut
will be much higher with the cold saw. Good bimetal bandsaw blades
are not costly (7 or 8 bux, 3 for under $20) and they last an
amazingly long time when cutting mild steel, ally, etc. The key is to
match the blade to the material, always having at least 2 teeth in the
thinnest part of the cut or you may knock the teeth right off the
blade. With thick stock a coarser pitch cuts considerably faster. A
blade change in a portable bandsaw takes about 10 seconds and no
tools.

That makes sense.
My understanding was that the bandsaw manufacturers recommend starting the
cut with a maximum number of teeth in contact with the material. But perhaps
I misinterpret the manuals...

You're not misinterpreting the manuals. But take that as a
recommendation rather than as cast in stone. Consider: a cross cut
or miter cut on a cylinder starts with a point of contact rather than
a line, right? Ya just start lightly (light blade pressure) until
there's enough of a cut that several teeth are engaging.

When cutting square or angle stock, it works best if you can start it
on a face rather than an edge or corner. It may not be possible to do
this perfectly if the saw is mounted on a pivot as in a mitre fixture.
It still works.

Something like the Rage3 might be the best choice for making lots of
miter cuts in angle or tube, if you don't mind short blade life (175
cuts or so according to the website) and high blade cost. The
bandsaw will be more versatile, blades last well and are cheap. I
have no problem making freehand miter cuts to a chalkline that are
absolutely good enough for weldments -- but they're probably not as
precise as those made with a miter cold saw.

If I were doing a paid job with lots of miter cuts in steel and
productivity and time were more important than blade cost, I'd go
with something like the Rage3.

"Don Foreman" wrote in message
...
Something like the Rage3 might be the best choice for making lots of
miter cuts in angle or tube, if you don't mind short blade life (175
cuts or so according to the website) and high blade cost. The
bandsaw will be more versatile, blades last well and are cheap. I
have no problem making freehand miter cuts to a chalkline that are
absolutely good enough for weldments -- but they're probably not as
precise as those made with a miter cold saw.

If I were doing a paid job with lots of miter cuts in steel and
productivity and time were more important than blade cost, I'd go
with something like the Rage3.

Wow!
175 cuts per blade?
That is significantly different from that quoted by the other dry-cut saw
manufacturers (Milwaukee, DeWalt) - they are talking in terms of 1000 cuts+
per blade. That does make a difference...

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:55:08 -0500, Don Foreman
wrote:

When cutting square or angle stock, it works best if you can start it
on a face rather than an edge or corner. It may not be possible to do
this perfectly if the saw is mounted on a pivot as in a mitre fixture.
It still works.


Id have to dispute that. When cutting angle, I always lay it wide
side down so it looks like an upside down V "^" and ease into the
cut.

It cuts much faster, has better chip clearance and runs cooler.

When cutting a flat or rectangular piece, I generally place a block,
rod or bar under the side closest to the driven wheel, so the stock
lays at an angle "\", for the same reason, its cutting and dropping
chips quickly, blade is not in the cut for so long and runs cooler.

Shrug..and my blades last a long time.

Gunner

Political Correctness is a doctrine fostered by a delusional,
illogical liberal minority, and rabidly promoted by an
unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the
proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

Don Foreman wrote:

Floor space is at a premium for me. I've been pining away for a horizontal
but worried about the space. I think the Milwaukee (linda blair model) will
soon have a place in my shop.

Floor space was and is an issue for me too. I've had my Milwaukee
nearly 10 years now and I still grin every time I use it. It seems to
work better than it would be reasonable to expect. Can't say that
about many tools!

I've cut a lot of overhead stuff down at work. Sometimes I have to use a
sawsall but If I can do it with the portaband, it is my first choice. I
*WILL* have one before this year is done. Square inches of cut vs price for
the two are not worth comparing, even if you shoot oil on the blade using
the sawzall (it helps). A Supersawsall with the 1.5" stroke is best sawsall
fo metal but it sucks for capentry, there the normal .75 stroke one rules.
Hard to cut out a stud if the blade leaves the cut.

Wes
--
"Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect
government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home
in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller

On Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:54:13 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, Don
Foreman quickly quoth:

Floor space is at a premium for me. I've been pining away for a horizontal
but worried about the space. I think the Milwaukee (linda blair model) will
soon have a place in my shop.

Izzat the one with the fully articulating head or the one which
projectile barfs on you when you preach at it?

--
Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions
of the parties are ever so well known to each other or ever so similar
beforehand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always
continue to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of
vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of
the person with whom you are to pass your life.
-- Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, 1811

Larry Jaques wrote:

Floor space is at a premium for me. I've been pining away for a horizontal
but worried about the space. I think the Milwaukee (linda blair model) will
soon have a place in my shop.

Izzat the one with the fully articulating head or the one which
projectile barfs on you when you preach at it?

Damn, wrong Linda, ment the Ivory pure girl

Wes

"Wes" wrote in message
...
Larry Jaques wrote:

Floor space is at a premium for me. I've been pining away for a
horizontal
but worried about the space. I think the Milwaukee (linda blair model)
will
soon have a place in my shop.

Izzat the one with the fully articulating head or the one which
projectile barfs on you when you preach at it?

Damn, wrong Linda, ment the Ivory pure girl

Wes

well, someone wins the prize for making me laugh tonight

it was ivory snow, and a quick google search reveals that the lady in
question was Marylin Chambers, and the infamous movie was behind the green
door


** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

"William Noble" wrote:

well, someone wins the prize for making me laugh tonight

it was ivory snow, and a quick google search reveals that the lady in
question was Marylin Chambers, and the infamous movie was behind the green
door


I guess I don't win the prize for porn affictionado

Wes
--
"Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect
government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home
in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller