stryped wrote:
We had a local store open up and they have the metal cutting band saw
for 150 bucks or so. I bought one of these cheap bandsaws at TSC
several years ago and went through two of them before I finally
returned them and bought a chop saw. The problem was the blade cutting
3 inch square tubing crooked.

Should I try it again or not?

I just bought this last year for $199.00 and it's great. Much better
than the HF unit I used to have. I see they jumped the price up.
http://www.homier.com/detail.asp?Ses...=119&sku=03111

On May 7, 11:05*pm, syoung wrote:
stryped wrote:
We had a local store open up and they have the metal cutting band saw
for 150 bucks or so. I bought one of these cheap bandsaws at TSC
several years ago and went through two of them before I finally
returned them and bought a chop saw. The problem was the blade cutting
3 inch square tubing crooked.

Should I try it again or not?

I just bought this last year for $199.00 and it's great. Much better
than the HF unit I used to have. I see they jumped the price up.



http://www.homier.com/detail.asp?Ses...Zn0JAiL... .- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Does it cut square? Also, would a "portable" metal cutting bandsaw
like the Porter Cable at Lowes clamped to a table cut as accurate?

"stryped" wrote in message
...
On May 7, 11:05 pm, syoung wrote:
http://www.homier.com/detail.asp?Ses...8iRZn0JAiL...-
Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Does it cut square? Also, would a "portable" metal cutting bandsaw
like the Porter Cable at Lowes clamped to a table cut as accurate?



I have seen four 4x6 bandsaws today (I started looking since this group
opened my eyes to their possibilities). The price ranged from $249 - $599
(Canadian). Also, for the first time today I saw a portable band saw
(Milwaukee - $399).

I have also gone through a lot of the stuff referenced in this thread. I am
more confused than ever.

1) My "gestalt" is that the Chinese band saws are a an uncertain bet at
best, but one can minimize chances of malfunction by replacing the blade and
adjusting the various guides etc.

2) The portable band saw does not seem to be capable of cutting accurately
(in terms of angles) unless supported in a stand. Or unless I do not
understand the technique of their use right. The only company that seems to
make a stand for the portaband is Milwaukee. The stand costs almost as much
as the saw. Furthermore, I have not been able to look at the stand "in the
flesh". On the web site it is hard to see how well it performs the necessary
tasks.

3) There is always the question of how would a dry-cut saw for $275 compare
with all of the above for cutting stock up to 3"X3"?

Has anyone here either used a portable bandsaw in a stand or has anyone
built a stand for one? There is a slew of portable "HDC" band saws on Ebay
for under $80. Even with a saw blade replacement this should be a good
solution provided one can solve the problem of stabilizing the cut.

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

Michael Koblic writes:

1) My "gestalt" is that the Chinese band saws are a an uncertain bet
at best, but one can minimize chances of malfunction by replacing the
blade and adjusting the various guides etc.

I don't think it is uncertain. They provide the stuff you can't make, like
a big casting, and you can always correct things like bearings and guides
if you're a machinist.

HF also makes a portable that is a decent clone of the Milwaukee. Nice to
have both the 4x6 and the portable.

On May 9, 7:29*am, Maxwell Lol wrote:
"Michael Koblic" writes:
I have seen four 4x6 bandsaws today (I started looking since this group
opened my eyes to their possibilities). The price ranged from $249 - $599
(Canadian). Also, for the first time today I saw a portable band saw
(Milwaukee - $399).

Harbor Freight has one as well, and it's 1/4th the price. I bought it
on sale, with a 15% coupon, for about $58 (US). Wait for the sale, and
use the 15% coupon, if you can find one.

I also have the 4x6, and the portable is very handy at times when you want
a quick freehand cut.

2) The portable band saw does not seem to be capable of cutting accurately
(in terms of angles) unless supported in a stand. Or unless I do not
understand the technique of their use right.

Well, it's like a hacksaw. You can get better at cutting square. *And
you can use a file to clean up the edges. Since you may want to do
that anyway, you can use the file(s) to square the ends as well.

The question is - how much do you have to file away?

What acuracy is needed in terms of building a trailer???

On May 9, 10:46*am, stryped wrote:

What acuracy is needed in terms of building a trailer???

I cut the steel for my saw mill to tape measure / pencil line accuracy
and straightened out welding distortions with a jack.
The axle seats were aligned parallel with a framing level. I had the
blade tracking properly 5 minutes after assembly. Your trailer can't
possibly be as demanding as getting a bandsaw blade to track straight
on motorcycle tires and that was done with carpentry tools.

When you weld a tapered, badly fitted joint it's likely to warp out of
square as it cools. As long as you cut each piece to fit you can
compensate for the distortion. For a trailer this is more of a
nuisance than a real problem.

Jim Wilkins

What acuracy is needed in terms of building a trailer

The biggest need is for the distance from the hitch coupler to the
tire to be the same on each side (means the axle is on straight
relative to the hitch, and the hitch is centered correctly).

Square is nice (matching diagonals).

For the rest, you can probably get away with +/- an 1/8th or more.
For individual joints, this variation can be filled when welding. If
the main frame is accurate the rest of the structure is much less
critical. At that point accuracy becomes more a measure of how hard
do you want to work: The more accurate the cuts, the less work you
have to do to adjust or shim everything when clamping and lining
things up.

I would think that one of the handheld units would be more than
sufficient for what you want to do. Take your time measuring and
calculating (take notes as you go if you find you have to change
things so you can remember why if you have to set it down and come
back to it), mark your lines across the whole piece with a square
rather than just a dot where your measurement is, it will give you
something to follow with the saw. If a cut is starting to stray,
consider starting the cut over again from another side of the piece.
Get extra blades.
--Glenn Lyford

On 09 May 2008 08:29:25 -0400, Maxwell Lol wrote:

"Michael Koblic" writes:

I have seen four 4x6 bandsaws today (I started looking since this group
opened my eyes to their possibilities). The price ranged from $249 - $599
(Canadian). Also, for the first time today I saw a portable band saw
(Milwaukee - $399).

Harbor Freight has one as well, and it's 1/4th the price. I bought it
on sale, with a 15% coupon, for about $58 (US). Wait for the sale, and
use the 15% coupon, if you can find one.

I also have the 4x6, and the portable is very handy at times when you want
a quick freehand cut.

How is the HF portable holding up? I cut a LOT of unistrut and
allthread and a reciprocating saw simply doesnt cut it (pun intended)



2) The portable band saw does not seem to be capable of cutting accurately
(in terms of angles) unless supported in a stand. Or unless I do not
understand the technique of their use right.

Well, it's like a hacksaw. You can get better at cutting square. And
you can use a file to clean up the edges. Since you may want to do
that anyway, you can use the file(s) to square the ends as well.

The question is - how much do you have to file away?

On May 9, 11:52*am, Jim Wilkins wrote:
On May 9, 10:46*am, stryped wrote:



What acuracy is needed in terms of building a trailer???

I cut the steel for my saw mill to tape measure / pencil line accuracy
and straightened out welding distortions with a jack.
The axle seats were aligned parallel with a framing level. I had the
blade tracking properly 5 minutes after assembly. Your trailer can't
possibly be as demanding as getting a bandsaw blade to track straight
on motorcycle tires and that was done with carpentry tools.

When you weld a tapered, badly fitted joint it's likely to warp out of
square as it cools. As long as you cut each piece to fit you can
compensate for the distortion. For a trailer this is more of a
nuisance than a real problem.

Jim Wilkins

Will a heavy 6 foot by 12 foot square stucture made out of 3x3 tubing
warp much when welding if I tack everything first?

On May 9, 12:12*pm, " wrote:
What acuracy is needed in terms of building a trailer

The biggest need is for the distance from the hitch coupler to the
tire to be the same on each side (means the axle is on straight
relative to the hitch, and the hitch is centered correctly).

Square is nice (matching diagonals).

For the rest, you can probably get away with +/- an 1/8th or more.
For individual joints, this variation can be filled when welding. *If
the main frame is accurate the rest of the structure is much less
critical. *At that point accuracy becomes more a measure of how hard
do you want to work: *The more accurate the cuts, the less work you
have to do to adjust or shim everything when clamping and lining
things up.

I would think that one of the handheld units would be more than
sufficient for what you want to do. *Take your time measuring and
calculating (take notes as you go if you find you have to change
things so you can remember why if you have to set it down and come
back to it), mark your lines across the whole piece with a square
rather than just a dot where your measurement is, it will give you
something to follow with the saw. *If a cut is starting to stray,
consider starting the cut over again from another side of the piece.
Get extra blades.
* --Glenn Lyford

Is the key the axle spring seat centers are equal distance from the
hitch on both sides or the tires are on both sides as you said?

"stryped" wrote in message
...
On May 9, 11:52 am, Jim Wilkins wrote:
On May 9, 10:46 am, stryped wrote:



What acuracy is needed in terms of building a trailer???

I cut the steel for my saw mill to tape measure / pencil line accuracy
and straightened out welding distortions with a jack.
The axle seats were aligned parallel with a framing level. I had the
blade tracking properly 5 minutes after assembly. Your trailer can't
possibly be as demanding as getting a bandsaw blade to track straight
on motorcycle tires and that was done with carpentry tools.

When you weld a tapered, badly fitted joint it's likely to warp out of
square as it cools. As long as you cut each piece to fit you can
compensate for the distortion. For a trailer this is more of a
nuisance than a real problem.

Jim Wilkins

\\\Will a heavy 6 foot by 12 foot square stucture made out of 3x3 tubing
\\\warp much when welding if I tack everything first?

Yes. Its the order in which you weld them that will minimize the
distortion. Practice building small square frame-like things, then you will
understand the order.

On May 9, 4:01*pm, stryped wrote:
...
Will a heavy 6 foot by 12 foot square stucture made out of 3x3 tubing
warp much when welding if I tack everything first?

That exceeds my limited experience, which is why I describe what I've
already done and how well or badly it worked rather than give general
advise. I'm not qualified to design and fabricate a roadworthy
trailer; I don't even trust my welding skill enough to fix one for
someone else.

The lengthwise rails on the sawmill are 1-1/2 square tubing with 1/8"
walls. When I welded in the 1/4" wall tubing crosspieces near the
center the free ends of the rails pulled inward and I had to jack them
back out parallel. The crosspieces had been milled square on the ends,
then beveled about half way. Clamping and tacking didn't help.

--------------------------------------
| |
--------------------------------------

I think the rails bent because all the beads were all on one side.
Steel shrinks a lot as it cools. Usually I make mitered corners or add
gusset plates and the weld beads are distributed more evenly across
the width of the structural members, so they hold shape better.

Jim Wilkins

Is the key the axle spring seat centers are equal distance from the
hitch on both sides or the tires are on both sides as you said?

Pick a reference point, any reference point, it should match on both
sides.

stryped wrote:
On May 7, 11:05 pm, syoung wrote:
stryped wrote:
We had a local store open up and they have the metal cutting band saw
for 150 bucks or so. I bought one of these cheap bandsaws at TSC
several years ago and went through two of them before I finally
returned them and bought a chop saw. The problem was the blade cutting
3 inch square tubing crooked.
Should I try it again or not?
I just bought this last year for $199.00 and it's great. Much better
than the HF unit I used to have. I see they jumped the price up.



http://www.homier.com/detail.asp?Ses...8iRZn0JAiL...- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

Does it cut square? Also, would a "portable" metal cutting bandsaw
like the Porter Cable at Lowes clamped to a table cut as accurate?

It cuts as square as you want to make it. A matter of adjustments.
I wouldn't think I could trust the Porter Cable setup you describe.