Must read for unsatisfied bandsaw owners!

Patrice Lemée

Patrice Lemée

Joined
Aug 13, 2002
Messages
5,703
It's been said before but I just have to repeat it.

If you own a cheap 4X6 bandsaw or any bandsaw for that matter that is just not working very well, I have the solution for you.

Buy a portable bandsaw (I bought the Dewalt but I am sure there are a few others out there that work as well).

I just finished installing mine and making a table for it and WOW!

Do not even think about it! Just destroy your old bandsaw in a joyful and preferably apocalyptic manner that will bring peace to your tired soul and order the Dewalt. :D

Patrice
 
Hey Pat , my piece of s#@# 4 x 6 bandsaw is sitting in the corner of the shop , slowly being gutted for useful parts . So far , the pulleys , some of the roller bearings , some metal and of course the motor cord and switch .
 
thats what i did. i have a delta mounted--no problems whatsoever. its very reeliable and i use the crap out of it. it has a variable speed knob. i would highly reccomend it-marekz
 
No pics Phil but it is the same as seen before on here. A U bracket on top and a simple bracket at the bottom, both bolt in place of the handle and cord hook. All that attached to a post in the shop.

Simple replacement table in alu.

I luv it, as the other gents who posted on here obviously do.

Patrice
 
Heres a couple of pics of my Dewalt setup. For the money I think the portables are the best metal saws you can get!

IMG_0347Standarde-mailview.jpg


IMG_0346Standarde-mailview.jpg
 
are these able to cut out the profile of a blade in say 3/16 O1 steel... ?

and which blades are good with them... or are these just good for cutting iron fittin's and such

if it does... that frame Ed made up is right on !!

Greg
 
Greg Obach said:
are these able to cut out the profile of a blade in say 3/16 O1 steel... ?

and which blades are good with them... or are these just good for cutting iron fittin's and such

if it does... that frame Ed made up is right on !!

Greg
Click to expand...

In its annealed state, I should think that it will cut thicker flat stock that 3/16" so YES!
 
Ive had my HF bandsaw for a number of years. Do the portabands cut better/faster or what?
 
It's my opinion that a well tuned 4x6 will never be outshined by the portables. I have a 4x6 and a portable, I have used probably half a dozen 4x6 saws and three portables. Mine is mounted for a vise, the other two I've used were bench mounted. Two were Porter-Cable Portabands and mine is from HF with variable speed. I have used the new red HF saws out of the box side by side with an older green saw that's been worked on. You can tell the difference, and the new saws need a few things done to run really well, but I don't guess that's any different than taking the time to set up your portable.

One of the advantages to the 4x6 is being able to sit at it and really lean into the work, my experience is that you can also get a tighter radius, I think it has to do with the flex in the length of blade. On my portable, when the teeth break out of a blade it gets caught rather easily, which is contrary to my experience with the 4x6 saws. The one major advantage I see to the portable is the blade cost - if you are breaking blades regularly, then it'd be nicer to do it at $7 each instead of $20. I've only broken one blade in the last three years, they usually wear out before then.

I've never used the Dewalt or Milwaukee saws, for what it's worth. In my opinion, Dewalt tools have fallen off in recent years. When I first ran into them, they were making a serious bid for the contractor market, but now they seem to have a lot of cheap big-box tools. Maybe not the case with their outlet operated tools, however.
 
kinda what i thought... i slowly worked some of the bugs out of my 4x6 and its ok... just have to get out of the habit of buying cheapo blades.....

guess i'll save up for that plasma cutter and do it right...


thanks
Greg
 
I cut 1/4" 1095 on my Dewalt portable and it cuts like butter. That is with the blade that came with the saw and right out of the box, no adjustments at all.
I don't have AcridSaint experience but from my limited personnal experience so far this bandsaw cuts circles around the 4X6.

Patrice
 
My Grizzly 4x6 is going on 25 years of hard use and never a problem. It should be dead
but still gets used every day.

I have a larger Grizzly that's close to 10 years old and has cut up over 10 tons of W2.
Never misses a beat.

Not saying the portables are bad, just saying some of the others are good :)
 
Patrice Lemée;7314589 said:
I cut 1/4" 1095 on my Dewalt portable and it cuts like butter. That is with the blade that came with the saw and right out of the box, no adjustments at all.
I don't have AcridSaint experience but from my limited personnal experience so far this bandsaw cuts circles around the 4X6.

Patrice
Click to expand...
I'm with you. And the variable speed on mine is great for cutting thin material. I have already cut some of Don's 2" monster W2 with it with no problem,
 
ah.. if it cuts 1/4 1095 then it should be no prob on the O1..... i wouldn't be looking for an alternative to my 4x6 but then again i find it can poop out on me at the worst of times.... blades popping off... lack of power to cut thick stuff.. sometimes jam's with cuttings .. after i started using it only for straight cuts, alot of the problems went away... but still, i wish it was more rigid...and i'd rather spend time on knives than trying to get this clunker up and running

( note... i did rework just about everything on it to line up.. it was so poorly set up in the beginning that i had to laugh :(
- now it does pretty good


think i'll look into getting one of those small ones

Greg
 
Pat - very possible that the saw you have is much better, I have heard many folks say the Dewalt is the cat's meow. My experience is with other brand portables, so I can't say with certainty. I only own two saws, I've just been to a lot of knifemaker's shops :D
 
Really nice feature of the 4 x 6 is being able to use it in the horizontal mode to cut large stock. I cut some train track to make hardy tools a while back. Just clamp it in the vice and turn it on. I made a sturdy table with a white corian table top for it, and put a seat on it for those long detailed cuts. My cheap HF bandsaw has paid for it self.
 

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