portable and small bandsaws

[clintonwelding1]

will this small bandsaw cut light steel. for example 1/8th flat stock
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?acti...S100&lpage=none
and also how do i use this and will it for for the same purpose.
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?acti...6238&lpage=none


thank you for any info happy thanksgiving

[chaikwa]

I just get an opening page for Lowe's, no pic of a bandsaw, so I don't know what kinda saw you're referring to.

I have a Milwaukee 4 1/2" Porta-Band that I use a LOT. Cuts anything that'll fit in it! Well worth the 300 bucks I spent for it. It has eliminated a lot of torch gas as well as sparks. Except for grinding bevels where a piece will be welded, it has eliminated grinding as well.

Hope this helps.

chaikwa.

[HAWK]

Same here: Lowes home page for many products but no saws. I too have a variable speed deep throat Milwaukee portable band saw for field work. It is great though straight cuts on square stock take some time to do correctly. I would not trade it for anything.

[Stick rod]

Have the Milwaukee portable saw.Great piece just wish I`d bought it sooner.Won`t go without it.

[clintonwelding1]

thats what i wan lookking at along with $99 9inch delta bandsaw

[cope]

Forget Lowes and get a 4x6 horizontal metal cutting bandsaw. $199 or less at Harbor Freight or Northern, aroumnd $300 for a Jet. I have a Milwaukee portable bandsaw, but it is not the best for shop work if you only have 1 saw .

[HAWK]

Forget Lowes and get a 4x6 horizontal metal cutting bandsaw. $199 or less at Harbor Freight or Northern, aroumnd $300 for a Jet. I have a Milwaukee portable bandsaw, but it is not the best for shop work if you only have 1 saw .

Very true! I worked with only a portaband for a few months between shop and field and it drove me nuts in the shop.

[burninbriar]

For Clintonwelding, a hoizontal bandsaw would be good in my opinion. Since he doesnt drive , a hand held unit really isnt needed. Later on after getting a drivers licence , and if mobile work is in the future , then I would concider the portable unit.

[Laiky]

The 9" delta your reffering to is probably for wood only. Lowes doesn't sell any metal cutting bandsaws. If you do buy something just be sure toget it from a reputable place (NOT HOME CRAPO) i would even be suspect of Lowes. I buy online or at sears now.

Hope this is for a christmas wish list, because you'll never get a real tig machine at this rate!

[clintonwelding1]

well if i do get it its gonna be an early christmas gift so if its really bad i can return it

[unixadm]

Don't buy any bandsaw from Lowes if you plan on using it for steel or aluminum. Getting the right blade would be a challenge and on top of that, the blade FPM would be way too fast. When you cut metal, you want a slower blade speed. On wood, you want a faster blade speed. There are few saws that do both, and they are not going to cost $100, they are going to cost at least $800 for a Wilton or something similar, with much better machines costing several times that.

[cope]

Harbor Freight. Wait for a sale or get a little more for Christmas.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=37151

[BigDTig]

I can't recommend the HF saw linked above. I sold mine because it couldn't cut square.

I've heard you can swap parts out on it and get a better machine, but my experience with this saw was not very good and I can't recommend it.