Budget beginner, are these a good choice for D-press & Band Saw?

[catsmasher]

Thanks, it's starting to make a little more sense to me now.

...I think.

Sounds like the kit from swag may be the way to go for me. catsmasher already asked, but I would also like to know if swag's kit wil fit the HF saw too?

Great question!

 

[BryFry]

... Go buy a Dewalt or Milwaukee porta-band. Go to swag off-road and order the kit. It's a table that bolts to the porta-band. You don't need to know how to fabricate. If you can loosen and tighten screws you should be able to put it together.

The portable bandsaw you buy has three screws you will remove ( these are for a very small guide plate that comes w/the saw)you will then attach the big plate they are selling to the same screw holes and clamp one of the ends....You won't need to fab anything they already did it for you which is the hard part

...Just a quick update to any other fellow newbs that may be reading this:

I bought the new Dewalt Porta Band, and the table from swagoffroad.com, and just for the record it is NOT a direct fit. i.e. the black part pictured here with two holes is the stock Dewalt plate, sitting on top of the Swag plate, the holes do not match up.

You have to take apart part of the Dewalt, take out the sliding part that is threaded for the two screws that hold the black plate on. Then you have to cut that piec in half, and reinsert it to make it match up with the Swag plates holes.

Not a big deal, except that does lead back to my initial concern of: ...How do you cut the metal part/s you need to make the saw work, if the saw is not set up to work properly without first cutting the part??

Well you could use a hacksaw (which I do not have), or maybe the cutting disc on a Dremel or something. But I ended up using the not fully assembled porta band to cut the small part in half. I got it to work, but I would not recomend it. I held onto the part with a pair of visegrips and some pliers, but there isn't really any way to run it through smoothly with the guid plate off, so the part ended up getting ripped out of my hand a few times before I just muscled it through.

Anyway, it seems to be set up alright now!

 

[Atlas Knife Company]

Glad to see you got it working.

 

[hmullica72]

...Just a quick update to any other fellow newbs that may be reading this:

I bought the new Dewalt Porta Band, and the table from swagoffroad.com, and just for the record it is NOT a direct fit. i.e. the black part pictured here with two holes is the stock Dewalt plate, sitting on top of the Swag plate, the holes do not match up.

You have to take apart part of the Dewalt, take out the sliding part that is threaded for the two screws that hold the black plate on. Then you have to cut that piec in half, and reinsert it to make it match up with the Swag plates holes.

Not a big deal, except that does lead back to my initial concern of: ...How do you cut the metal part/s you need to make the saw work, if the saw is not set up to work properly without first cutting the part??

Well you could use a hacksaw (which I do not have), or maybe the cutting disc on a Dremel or something. But I ended up using the not fully assembled porta band to cut the small part in half. I got it to work, but I would not recomend it. I held onto the part with a pair of visegrips and some pliers, but there isn't really any way to run it through smoothly with the guid plate off, so the part ended up getting ripped out of my hand a few times before I just muscled it through.

Anyway, it seems to be set up alright now!

Did you end up with the Craftsman drill press? I've had that same model for about 4 years, and have no complaints about it. Good workhorse.

 

[BryFry]

Did you end up with the Craftsman drill press? I've had that same model for about 4 years, and have no complaints about it. Good workhorse.

Yeah, I ended up getting the Craftsman 2/3 hp, 10 speed table top drill press, with the laser guide thing. I just set it up yesterday, but haven't used it yet. Seems pretty nice though as far as I can tell.

Now I need to figure out what speeds I should use when drilling steel??? I've done a sertch on it, but always get conflicting opinions on the subject. Some people say go slow, and some say faster is better??? ....I have no idea....!?!

 

[hmullica72]

Slower is definitely better when drilling steel. I have had bits round over and become useless trying to drill steel at normal speeds...all it will do is heat up the bit and the steel, and work-harden them until they smoke and burn. My rule of thumb is to go slow with the drill press and the bandsaw when dealing with any metal, and speed it up when cutting/drilling handle materials, liners, and such. Wear safety glasses and good luck!

 

[DanCo]

Make sure you use cutting oil or at least some type of lubricant when drilling and cutting, and go slow. The lube/oil helps a ton.
Dan