Good by Harbor Freight BS!

panch0

panch0

Joined
Jun 16, 2008
Messages
3,415
Good bye Harbor Freight Band Saw! Hello Something that will actually work! I purchased this Milwaulkee 6232-21 Band Saw a couple days ago and the Swag Off Road table got here yesterday. Hopefully the time of hoping and praying I wont get my fingers gut off every time i need to cut something, cause the blade pops off is over. I could never get that harbor freight porta band saw to keep the blade on the darn tracks. It would end up popping off at some point. I took it back and changed it for a new one and I had the same problem. I have heard good things about these and the Dewalt band saws and hopefully that will be a nuisance left in the past. Anybody else got this setup?


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That Milwaukee is a good tool, should provide many years of service. Although I have never seen one adapted to a table I have seen many on construction site where they take tremendous beatings and last for years. Money well spent in my opinion, Good buy
 
Funny... I never had that problem with my HF portaband. Hope the new toy brings you higher productivity and safety! Enjoy.
 
Tryppyr, I heard some other folks were happy with theirs but I tried two and they were both a pain. I put shims and they held up longer but the blade would pop off. The last time it popped off about a month ago, I just put it aside and grabbed my hack saw to the little project I was working on. I am gonna gift that one to my uncle, maybe he will have better luck than I.
 
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Just out of curiosity, did you modify it in any way? I'm using mine as pure stock, with the exception of the feet I mounted so it stands upright. Mine still has all the covers on it and the original (tiny) guide plate.
 
Harbour freight is hit and miss. My Porter Cable porta band has blades pop off occasinally. Not weekly, but it does happen.
 
I have the Swag 2.0 stand. I'm using it with a beat up 20+ year old Milwaukie Portaband saw.

I didn't get the mitre table model like yours. I need to upgrade my bandsaw at some point.

Honestly, for $100 the stand is worth every penny. The quick detach feature is really nice.

I hope you enjoy your new toy!
 
Brian Ayres said:
I have the Swag 2.0 stand. I'm using it with a beat up 20+ year old Milwaukie Portaband saw.

I didn't get the mitre table model like yours. I need to upgrade my bandsaw at some point.

Honestly, for $100 the stand is worth every penny. The quick detach feature is really nice.

I hope you enjoy your new toy!
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I have the 2.0 with the Dewalt bandsaw. I really like it, except that I can't rip very long pieces.

I eventually made a custom aluminum insert to replace theirs (the swagoffroad one had wider gaps and extra holes).
 
tryppyr said:
Just out of curiosity, did you modify it in any way? I'm using mine as pure stock, with the exception of the feet I mounted so it stands upright. Mine still has all the covers on it and the original (tiny) guide plate.
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Mine were stock, the blade kept popping off every 5 minutes at first then I added shims to the second one and it held on better but still popped off every now and then.
 
Frank,

May I ask why you chose Milwaukee over Dewalt? They are both supported by Swag Off Road and similar in price.
 
Can you get any kind of radius cut using these or is straight line only? I found a Milwaukee deep cut for 125 and I am considering buying it.
 
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JGguns said:
Can you get any kind of radius cut using these or is straight line only? I found a Milwaukee deep cut for 125 and I am considering buying it.
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Only very very shallow curves. You can keep working an area to create enough space for the blade to turn a bit more, but usually better to just start another cut. You can't to that big a sheet anyway due to the depth of the throat. I start every stock removal blade on the one I have mounted. You can get close enough to most lines to cut the profile grinding way way down. Even very tight curves like finger grooves can have a lot of material removed quickly with a number of small cuts and have far less grinding to get final profile.

I have a bigger saw, but all I use it for is bigger bars of raw material since mounting the portaband.

A Milwaukee deep cut for $125 is a great buy. I have 2, both getting about 20 years old that still work great, one is semi-permanently mounted in a stand. Except for an occasional tire change on the wheels and a new drive chain on one very few problems.
 
MKP said:
Frank,

May I ask why you chose Milwaukee over Dewalt? They are both supported by Swag Off Road and similar in price.
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MKP, I heard both were great machines. When I used to be a Network Cabling Technician many many years ago, we used a Milwaukee band Saw and were pretty brutal with it when we would install emt conduit. I mean the guys would literally just toss it into the truck when done and it never gave out. Thats probably the only reason I chose it. If there wasnt a Milwaulkee available I would have just purchased the Dewalt just as easy.
 
bobbywett said:
I own this Grizzly Bandsaw....been using it as a shelf for wrenches and such for the past 4 years....I can't even get the belts on the damned thing anymore....they used to fly off, now they wont even go on....every once in a while I get up the courage to try a new belt....same problem....wont even go on the thing...just flop right off.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/4-x-6-Metal-Cutting-Bandsaw/G0622
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Belts, or blades?

I threw away one like that that kept tossing blades, it made me so mad
Blades
Check the bottom pulley

It just has one poor set screw and no dimple for it to stay in.
It has a tendency to move out of alignment with the top pulley


for belts, ?
maybe the same sort of idea?
 
Hopefully that new band saw of yours will work this time. Be safe all the time. DeWalt has a good rep that’s for sure. I’ve got a lot of yellow and black tools in my shed/shop.
 
We bought a 10 amp dewalt porta band..The main reason we bougth a porta band is so we could use it around the farm..I.E portable ;) harbor freight is hit and miss..i know lots of people who love thier saw but i know just as many that didnt..Ive got plenty of discount tools, sometimes you get a good one, sometimes you dont..
 
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