Great rebate deal with DeWalt band-saw

NickWheeler

NickWheeler

Joined
Dec 3, 1999
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I've been shopping around for a "porta-band" to add to my tool collection for quite awhile now. It came down to the Milwaukie or the DeWalt and I decided on the DeWalt because it has a trigger lock. Model D28770K

Anyway, I just happened to get lucky and find it on Amazon for $230 (in stores it's usually $270-300) AND you get a rebate slip for a free 4.5" angle grinder if you purchase by like June 15th or something like that. I bought this same angle grinder a few months ago and it's awesome (and it ruins $90 at Home Depot).


Edited to take the link out as it looks like I'm spamming. I just wanted to pass on info for a good deal :)
 
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Thanks for the heads up Nick. Sounds like a great deal considering you get the angle grinder free.
How much are blades for the porta-band?
 
That was part of the selling point for me Bruce. You can buy high quality blades for these things for around $15-25 for a package of 3 blades. I found them at a local place recently.... $7 for 3 blades.

I've got the 7X12 for big stuff and repetitive cutting of damascus tiles, but the porta bands (mounted to a bench) are really nice for cutting blade and guard stock. :)
 
Another neat thing about the dewalt is that the blade guides are two ball bearing on each side of the blade. I have taken one bearing off of each screw and then put on a new blade and started the saw. With the saw running apply a running angle grinder to the back edge of the blade and reduce the blade width by about half. you now have a 1/4 inch wide blade that turns corners alot easier than the half inch wide blade that you buy. it is kind of a pain to grind down the blades but I think worth the trouble.
 
This sounds like the hot ticket for making small parts like hammers and triggers. I've always thought somebody should offer a smaller width blade for my 4 by 6 bandsaw but no.
 
I looked at the DeWalt porta-bandsaw, but I could not visualize it's use for cutting out blades from stock. Would you/could you do that?? How?

Phil Millam
Winthrop WA
 
So, I've been thinking about a bandsaw but I'm trying to make up my mind. I could afford one of these porta-bands but Harbor Freight has a horiz./vert. with a 1 hp motor for about the same price or a little less. Bear in mind that this would be my primary (read: only) bandsaw for quite a while. Which way would you go? I know HF's stuff isn't going to be as good as DeWalt but 1 hp vs. 6 amps is a pretty big difference. I'm not particularly concerned about the portability aspect, more the performance.
 
jackrabbitslim-


I don't plan on using the DeWalt as a portable saw. I am going to fabricate a mounting bracket and cutting table for it and then mount it to the wall.

I had the infamous "knifemaker" bandsaw for the last 10 years... a Jet "4X6"

While it was a decent saw, it was never anything great. I DID do a lot of cutting with it, but had a lot of problems like the blade popping off at very inoportune times or facts like you can't bring the blade guides down very close the work when cutting thin stuff like blade steel.

I bought a 7X12 this past January that is 10 times the saw the 4X6 could ever wish to be, but also much more $. I use it for cutting big stock though... structural stuff like square tubing and I-beam. For building "stuff" to use in the shop... not so much for knifemaking other than cutting damascus billets.

This DeWalt will be used for cutting blade stock, guard stock, maybe even wood and such. The saws of this type are much better built than the 4X6. Also, to buy a high quality blade for the 4X6 like the Lenox Diemaster II it will cost you around $20-30 per blade. For the same type of blade for the porta-band, you're looking at that much money for THREE blades.

I didn't use the horizontal feature on my 4X6 bandsaw until I got into forging and building stuff like dies for my press.... so if you're going for stock-removal now, I don't think the horizontal feature would be that important to you, but I could be wrong.

Just some stuff to think about :)
 
here is a setup I used for a while with the HF

HFMiniBandsaw.jpg


the saw was pretty poor I got the warrenty and it took three replacments to get a full year of use, This setup with a better saw would be better
 
Hey Nick, Thats a great price on the blades. Is it possible to order blades from that outfit you got them from? You'll like the DeWalt. I've used a Milwaukie porta band saw pretty much from the start.
 
nick did ya get the bandsaw you posted?? i havent seen that one in person yet?? if you have received it can ya give us your oppionions i would like to get in on this special if you found it favorable for cutting blanks and such-
i know i want a portable bandsaw of this fashion dewalt is good stuff but
some are better than other for what we do due to throat depth thanks bb
 
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