HF portable band saw?

[C.BRAXMAIER]

http://www.harborfreight.com/portable-variable-speed-bandsaw-47840.html

has anyone used one of these, are they any good?

 

[Jack Olsen]

I had one. It's a pretty good little saw.

 

[jayrush13]

Absolutely horrible they tried giving those to us at work I would rather use a hacksaw

 

[TinKnocker]

i have seen parts scattered from one on a job site. maybe nice for home use, but not in the field.

 

[PCO6]

I have the Princess Auto portable band saw which appears to be the same. It's not always in stock but when it is it always seems to be on sale for $100 or so. The sound it makes doesn't inspire confidence but it's got the job done quite nicely for the 5 or 6 times I've used it. These are real handy when you need to take the saw to the metal vs. the metal to the saw.

http://www.princessauto.com/pal/product/8106783/

 

[Regnar]

I like mine for home use. I think pro would get sick of the tensioning mechanism as the rubber on the wheels is kinda soft and allows the blade to slip. Far better than a hacksaw when you actually purchase a metal cutting blade. The one in the box is for wood.

 

[VTX1800]

I've used my Harbor Freight version a few times, it seems to work OK, especially when it wasn't very expensive.

 

[BD1]

Look for a used Milwaukee or Dewalt and then get a stand for it.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=portaband+stand&qpvt=portaband+stand&FORM=IGRE

 

[Lhorn]

There was a pretty good review on that band saw on shopfloortalk.com a few years ago. talked about a few minor mods too. I forgot my log in so I couldn't do a search to find it.

Edit:
here it is:
http://www.shopfloortalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6214

 

[diggerrick]

What are the advantages of a Portaband over a Sawzall?