Portable band saws, which is Better?

[BLACK DEATH]

If am thinking of buying one of these. Milwaukee, dewalt & makita make them and i don't know who else does. Which is Better or are they just about the same Product? I may go corded unless cordless is actually better in a way. Here is what i am looking at encase you are confused. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.maxtool.com/images/DWM120.jpg

 

[bhalv]

don't know enough to say which is "better" but they are darn useful tools. would sell you my Milwaukee if there was a cheap way to ship it.

 

[Jack Olsen]

I have a Milwaukee deep-throat (corded) portaband, and really like it. You can get a base for it from Swag Offroad. In my opinion, the base makes it an extremely useful tool.

 

[Crusty Nut]

hard to beat a Milwaukee port o band. I need to get a base for mine, but it still gets a lot of use as a hand held.

 

[BLACK DEATH]

Bhalv.... I can get the new from hd for $150 as i bought a gift card for half price. .50 cents on the dollar. Jolsen that's exactly what i will do if i get one, purchase the swag mount for vertical use.
Mr nut, thanks for your input and buy that base as it seems worth it.

 

[kngelv]

I usually like the DeWalt stuff more than Milwaukee. However in this case the Milwaukee is the better way to go. I use them all the time when doing demo work at the plant. The Milwaukee's hold up better than the DeWalt at least for this tool.

James

 

[Larwyn]

I would not trade my Porter Cable Porta-Band (worm drive) for any of them. But all of them that you mentioned are good saws too.

 

[Greatbear]

I've really leaned on my Milwaukee deep cut bandsaw in the 20+ years I've had it, and it has yet to fail me.

 

[rodm1]

I would not trade my Porter Cable Porta-Band (worm drive) for any of them. But all of them that you mentioned are good saws too.

Yep old stock Porta-Band are the best The new stuff no idea if any good.

 

[TheGrooveking]

Here's a thread that has some photos in it.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101838&highlight=cordless+bandsaws

I have a corded Milwaukee portable deep cut bandsaw that I've had for 15 years that has been bullet proof, I've recently bought the Stought, they have two models, which also seem to be the basis for either the DeWalt or the Bosch cordless units.

TheGrooveking

 

[BLACK DEATH]

So wich one has the deepest cutting Depth of any portable and Cordless?

 

[evintho]

The Milwaukee 6200 series have 4" throats, probably the deepest you can get. IMHO, Milwaukee is the king of the hill. You may want to think about used, also. There's one on the CC, Texas CL right now for $100 (but I'm sure that's only the asking price). Clean it up a little, slap on a new blade and you're good to go.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004T9QK/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[jayrush13]

I have used both Milwaukee and Dewalt at work Both are good tools i like that my dewalt has a light on it it pretty helpful when trying to make precise cuts

 

[BWS]

20+ yo B&D Industrial here,works fine.Reason for post was to say when/if this one takes a chit....will be replacing it real quick.We have very nice nice horizantal and vertical bandsaws.But it amazing how much stuff still gets wacked with the porta-band.I welded a short'ish stub of 1x1 steel angle,for a miniture "table"....at factory blade/work support.This allows us to throw the saw in a bench vise in welding cell.

Being the lazy type.....its usually easier to just cut small stuff with this setup(Pony,springy clamp on trigger)....then square/prep on stationary belt grinder.Than,walk over to one of the bigger saws?Also,if theres ANY chance of hittng hardspots or mystery metal........its way cheaper trashin a porta-band blade than one of the bigger blades.BW

 

[mooman]

The Porter Cable "Porta Band" is king. Once DeWalt bought them, they changed it to a Dewalt branded product and kept the old design. I don't know if it's still avail.

They now make a new style with the rubber bumpers and a light that's just junk. Our fab shop ran through these like water.

 

[-Brent-]

There's a reason that Milwaukee is so darn popular. It's a flat-out great tool. Easy to service, too. I had one on my work truck that belonged to my past employer. I liked it so much, I bought one of my own.

Mine was bought used and needed fixing and It works like new again. I'd highly recommend it. I've seen the Swag Offroad mount too. And if mine were a ***********, I'd buy the mount.

Hope that helps.

 

[54FordPanel]

I have a DeWalt, and I love it. I don't have any other brand to compare it to.

 

[koditten]

Milwaukee deep throught too. I think I bought it in 1995. Unbelievably handy tool.

Just be aware that they are a bit heavy. First time I used mine, and I mean the first cut, I was so amazed at how fast it cut thru tube steel. I'm watching the blade hog thru the steel and I get all the way thru and forgot how heavey it was. Saw dropped and I ended up cutting the power cord right off. Blew the breaker and had to put a new cord on the thing. Thankfully they are desighned to shorten up the cord if needed. I needed.

I was so happy on how well the thing worked, I just sat there laughing out loud at myself.

Regardless, when or if it dies, it will be rapidly replaced with the same model.

KO

 

[Mr onetwo]

My old company used Milwaukee deep cuts for years and years.Every truck had one.Super tough and easy to fix.The only weakness I found was in the variable speed switches and the old style tool rest.I always preferred 2 speed models...switches lasted forever.The tool rest on the old ones was weak...broke all the time.The new style is very much improved IMHO.Keep in mind that we were a heavy commercial mechanical and guys were very rough on stuff.I own a 6236 2-speed and love it. Jack's comment on the table for it is true also....great product!

 

[PCO6]

I bought a cheap one from Princess Auto partly because I didn't think I'd get a lot of use out of it. I have been surprised by how well it works and how useful it can be. I like the DeWalt model and will probably buy one when my cheapie konks out.

 

[BLACK DEATH]

Evintho that one sold and i missed out. My local hd doesn't stock the Milwaukee but they have the dewalt one. I wish my lowes carried Milwaukee.

 

[carbon]

Just saw that Milwaukee came out with a new model, 5" deep cut and a LED light to match the dewalt. No idea on the quality. Lighter than the most recent previous one.

 

[rlitman]

I don't know the depth of cut on my Porter Cable's but more depth of cut isn't necessarily something I'd be looking for.
The band length is the same on all but the mini ones, so in order to get more depth of cut, either you're reducing the throat by moving the wheels closer together, or increasing the angle that the blade twists. Neither is a good thing in my opinion. The old PC Porta-Bands really had everything just right.

Not too long after I bought my first one, I saw a second with the stand at a local pawn shop. My first one was cooler than sliced bread to me. The new one totally eclipses it. With the stand, it's just like having a horizontal bandsaw. A teeny tiny portable one perhaps, but still a VERY useful tool.

 

[BLACK DEATH]

All the hd here are sold out of the Milwaukee one but they have a display model. He also said he thought there was a newer one coming out as he hasn't seen them refill the stock on this item. I wonder if they still have the case on the display.

 

[BLACK DEATH]

The display was a 6230 model. No box or anything. How old is a 6230 Model? It also looked like it was leaking oil or gear lube. Also didn't have a blade or rubbers on the wheels.

 

[carbon]

Here's the new Milwaukee.

 

[BLACK DEATH]

So what is the main difference between the two or is minor Things?

 

[91bronc300]

Acme tools just started selling a 6232-21 last month. The new one is 11 amps vs 10.5 for the old. They also added an LED light like on most cordless drills. The real addition, the most useful I think, is they added a speed dial in addition to the usual speed trigger, just like the 6232-20 posted above. I don't know what's different between a 6232-20 and a 6232-21. They're both new and they both seem the same.

 

[Mori55]

Acme tools just started selling a 6232-21 last month. The new one is 11 amps vs 10.5 for the old. They also added an LED light like on most cordless drills. The real addition, the most useful I think, is they added a speed dial in addition to the usual speed trigger, just like the 6232-20 posted above. I don't know what's different between a 6232-20 and a 6232-21. They're both new and they both seem the same.

1 is variable speed and the other is 2 speed.

 

[johnems]

I have to ask. On versone shows AC only and the other shows AC/DC what is the differance. They all plug in to 110. What does DC get you?

 

[mrobins297aaa]

we used both the Milwaukee and the porta cable porta bands with the bases cutting thread rod and angle iron everyday in the trade.
there both good saws but the milwaukee just didn't seem to be as good a saw as the porta cable porta bands.

 

[jayrush13]

I have to ask. On versone shows AC only and the other shows AC/DC what is the differance. They all plug in to 110. What does DC get you?

An AC/DC would let you run it on a DC only Welder/Generator

 

[BLACK DEATH]

Are the porta cables that much better?
What makes them better?
How much cutting depth does it have?
They are hard to find but are out there.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I'd make sure the one that I was looking for could be adapted to a base to be used as a metal bandsaw.

There's a few threads/pics showing them around. I think I would want the abilty to do double duty.

 

[mrobins297aaa]

Are the porta cable saws that much better than the Milwaukee's?
Probably not, I'm trying to remember why we liked using the porta cable saws better than the milwaukee's (I'm retired and its been over 10 years since I used one on a daily basis)
first off we never used them without the bases and if I remember correctly the porta cable had a better clamping system, a chain and vise grip type clamp. I don't remember what the milwaukee had but it wasn't as good or wasn't as easy to use. We were using these saws 8 hours a day, 5 days a week so you didn't want something that was a pia to setup all the time.
There was something else about the milwaukee and the base that they had at that time that just didn't work well, I just can't remember what it was.
Like I said its been a while and I'm sure what ever Milwaukee's making now is a good tool especially if your going to use it without the base and if its for home use it'll probably last a couple of lifetimes.
just my two cents

 

[Winneratalosinggame]

If am thinking of buying one of these. Milwaukee, dewalt & makita make them and i don't know who else does. Which is Better or are they just about the same Product? I may go corded unless cordless is actually better in a way. Here is what i am looking at encase you are confused. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.maxtool.com/images/DWM120.jpg

All 3 are great saws, Milwaukee was the first and comes in 2 different sizes!