Chop Saw or Band Saw?

[RVA-Jeff]

For general purpose hobby cutting/welding. Spring for a ~$250 HF band saw or significantly less $$ for a chop saw? Pros and cons, please.

 

[DonPowers]

I use a 14" Milwaukee dry cut chop saw, 7" Metal Devil dry cut saw and a Super Sawzall.

The chop saw makes quick, straight & clean cuts, also surprisingly quiet. If you are going to cut pipe, channel, angle etc. this is the saw.

The Metal Devil, with the appropriate blades, will cut anything from sheet metal to plate steel. I know some Iron Workers that have cut 1" plate with one, slow going but nice clean cut.

I don't think the Sawzall needs any justification, it is just one handy tool when nothing else will work.

 

[ez-duzit]

Spring for a better bandsaw.

 

[Askme42]

Portaband

 

[Scout Driver]

Do both if you can.

Scott

 

[BD1]

Depending on what type of material and work you will be doing, a portaband as mentioned is hard to beat. You real need a chop saw too. Check Craig's list, I found a like new Dewalt for a $100.00, great deal.

 

[madcrisis]

As im interested in doing this as well, What are situations where one would favor a band saw over a cop saw the other? Or vice versa? Also how about consumable pricing availability. Is a mid range chop saw better than a low end band saw?

Again these questions are being asked by a hobbyist/ diyer just like OP

EDIT: I will persinally use it for cutting steel for welding projects. Not sure of OP's intentions. Also Ive seen chop saw with abrasive as well as toothed blades. What are the inherent differences?

 

[Jack Olsen]

I made a fence for my front yard, so I had hundreds of pickets to cut. I can't imagine having done that without a dry cut chop saw. But I use a portaband with a Swag Offroad base all the time. I've never felt the need for a full on horizontal bandsaw, although I know people use and love them. For me, floorspace is an issue, and the horizontal saw would be a pain in the neck when I wasn't using it.

Northern tool makes a bargain dry cut saw. Discussion about it here.

This isn't my portaband, but you get the idea of how you can use the base to hold it in a vise and then store it on a shelf when you're not using it.

 

[Scout Driver]

Jack, that portaband in the vice is the best thing I've seen all day. Now you have me looking for a portaband!

Scott

 

[AllAboutTools]

Yes, swag offroad has some really nice "tables" for portabands!

 

[Farmall450]

Yes, swag offroad has some really nice "tables" for portabands!

They sure do. I will say to the OP that the school has a horizontal Wilton bandsaw and it's a beast, wonderful for cutting everything from exhaust pipe to stock, etc. I see HF has a comparable (in size) saw.

 

[RedneckWelder]

I love my portaband, but it ***** for doing a lot of cuts. Cuts in the field, though, I run it off of my welder and it's beautiful for that.

I recommend, if you can swing the cash, a dry cut saw. The abrasive cut chop saws are cheap and they work OK but a dry cut saw blows them out of the water.

 

[Scout Driver]

You guys keep the positive portaband comments coming! My fiance is reading over my shoulder and is commenting that you are giving her good birthday ideas for me!

Scott

 

[zkling]

Try to find a med size horizontal bandsaw. Especially if you plan on cutting solid bar stock.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Portaband

Yep. And get a SWAG table.

 

[GTA Matt]

I just bought an Evolution Rage 3 dry cut saw. More expensive then a typical chop saw, but still the same price as the $250 HF saw you mentioned.

 

[Packard V8]

They're so cheap, one of each is within reach. Over the years, at garage sales I found a Makita chop saw for $35, Wilton horizontal band saw for $100 and a Portaband for $75.

jack vines

 

[crewchief888]

as jack mentioned a floor type bandsaw takes up a fair amount of room.

i have a similar problrm with lack of floor space/storage.

i stayed with an abrasive chop saw, on a HF portable stand, in the garage.

 

[rockinacummins]

Band saws are so quiet and clean. It's so easy to fall in love with them after using a noisy, dusty chop saw. I hate chop saws but that's all I have and it does it's job.

 

[eddiemeddiem]

Portaband. And when your budget allows, Swag table for it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bcradio]

portaband

 

[deaddawg58]

Another vote for portaband.

 

[harvey29]

I own a chop saw, bandsaw, and cold cut saw and would choose my bandsaw every time.

 

[ez-duzit]

If you rarely need to cut metal, and then only light duty hobby stuff; if you're working out of the trunk of your car, and have no place to setup; if you mostly only do small, portable jobs, in the field, away from a shop, you might get by with a Portaband. And there is a lot you can do with an abrasive chop saw. But if you intend to do accurate metal fabricating, without the need for a lot of touch-up grinding, you'll need a stationary machine, like a 4" x 6" or larger. Many conveniently convert from horizontal to vertical use--this is what I recommend, to start.

Though I no longer have it, the old Delta 14" combination wood/metal vertical bandsaw is a fine investment, if you are tight on space, but need both functions in one machine.

I was fortunate to find a deal on a new Vectrax 7" x 12" vertical/horizontal mitering bandsaw. And on a Vectrax 18" vertical bandsaw with blade welder.

 

[RVA-Jeff]

Thank you all, you have given me a lot of good things to consider.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I have several types of saws, but another to consider for a smaller shop is a Portaband mounted in one of the factory devices linked to below. It can sit on a table or have legs attached. I also have one of these in the shop for cutting materials off quickly and easily. A creative guy could make his own version.

http://documents.dewalt.com/documents/English/Instruction Manual/Porter-Cable/En693090.pdf

 

[ilovevocs]

I like my rage. I have been shopping for a descent used low turn c.c. Saw for a long time. They seem to hold their value very well and for the price I couldn't justify spending that much at this point. I have other things to spend my money on and the rage works.

I have owned a 4x6 hor bandsaw, Milwaukee abrasive saw, and a do-all v-16 bandsaw. I have my do-all going into storage and I'm buying a portaband with stand to supplement. I'm out of floor space.

 

[Jason280]

I have two Portabands, a HF chopsaw, and older Taiwan 4x7 bandsaw, and an Evolution 9" dry cut metal saw. All have their uses and advantages/disadvantages, but if I could only have one, I'd probably stick with the 4x7 bandsaw. Its the easiest to use, very quiet, and will cut while you're doing other stuff. Just spend the money on a good one, as the cheap ones will need tweaking out of the box to cut straight.

Honestly, though, it really depends on what you will be cutting. For a lot of people, the chopsaw is fine...and it's certainly the cheapest.

 

[ez-duzit]

If you can only afford the cheap 4" x 6" Chinese bandsaw, here are the mods you can expect to find necessary.
http://www.mini-lathe.com/Bandsaw/Bandsaw.htm

Included are links to many things related to buying a bandsaw; most regarding the horizontal/vertical bandsaw, which is so essential to metalwork.