Horizontal Bandsaws vs Cold Saws

[T411]

1. What is more desirable for a welding/fabrication shop?
2. And why.
3. If they each have their place What are examples?

No specific specialty as far as fabrication goes… furniture, doors, gates.

 

[Kaizen]

I have a horizontal and don't really like it. I really only use it when i have thick metal or lots of parts to cut up. It has 2x the footprint as a chop saw as well. Mine has the cooling fluid setup but it does fine without it. Mine is an older saw and does not easily make angle cuts. I can move the fences but they always seem to move and takes tools to do it. Honestly i just made some light stands for curing lamps out of 3/4 tube and used a grinder for all of the cuts. If i had a chop saw i could have done it there easily.
With either set up add into the cost an adjustuble roller stand or two so you can cut 12 footers without issue.

 

[Firebrick43]

I have used both and in my shop for odds and ends I would want a bandsaw.

You can get quite a bit capacity for the money with a bandsaw.

If I was cutting thousands of something 2” or under it would be a cold saw but I don’t think from your post that you are doing those kinds of things

 

[no704]

As always it depends. Cold saw is faster. Blades are a lot more $$. Band saw can handle bigger parts and don’t care as much about cutting different material with the same blade. If you’re cutting the same material in a production environment a cold saw will be better. If it’s one or two parts that are different sizes/materials the bandsaw wins.

 

[Renegade1LI]

I have both in my home shop, but I prefer the bandsaw, a lot less to go wrong. I have a Grizzly swivel head BS, I love turning the saw not the work. For small stuff I usually use the HF 4 x 6 band saw, it's a great cheap go to saw that cuts well. I really never use the cold cut saw as the band saws with a good blade provide a safe clean cut.

 

[KwikFab]

Both at my small home shop, as well as different fab shops I've worked at, myself and everyone I've worked with have always preferred bandsaws.

You can set it and forget it when cutting larger and/or thicker material while prepping the next things to get cut. Blades last a long time. Clean up is significantly easier. It's a hell of a lot quieter too.

I had an EVO that I used twice on small jobs and gave it away, meanwhile I run my 20 year old Made-in-Taiwan bandsaw as often as I can.

At the last shop I worked at, accuracy of parts was not optional, everything had to be perfect. Three guys ran the bandsaws cutting parts following sets of blueprints, and paired with the laser cut parts done from our other dept until all parts were gathered. Each welder (I was a welder there) would grab the forklift, grab a pallet of parts, and weld it all up per the blueprints.

Never ever had a fitment issue and our +8-10' assemblies had to be perfectly square.

 

[strength_and_power]

I thought I wanted a cold saw so I found a Scotchman 350 used and bought it. Had to wire in a static converter to get it to work. Got a VFD for it but never wired it up.
Cold saws require a different toothed blade for solids vs tubing, thick wall vs thin. I was good about swapping the blades until I wasn’t and tried to cut some 4” 11ga tubing with a coarse blade meant for solid. One of the gullets on the blade fell into the vertical. A cold saw motor spins at 1750 rpm. Through reduction and the worm gear, the blade spins at 33rpm. With a shitload of torque. When it jammed, it broke the blade into 4 pieces and made a helluva racket. $150 blade gone.
Cold saws must have coolant. You can get away with running a band saw dry. Coolant gets everywhere, it can start to stink, you have to add make up water to account for loss and evaporation.
I ended up giving the cold saws to a buddy, he hasn’t used it yet.
My next saw is a horizontal band saw with mitering head.
Hey a decent bandsaw, you’ll be much happier

 

[MushCreek]

As others have said, the chop saws are great for fast cutting of shapes. Since I often cut thick chunks of steel, I use a horizontal. I picked up a monster 8"X24" Kalamazoo for $160. I've been using the same blade for years, but it goes for long spells without being used. I put it on casters, and it slips into a long narrow spot that's not good for much else. It looks like it came out of a swamp, and someday I might go through it and restore it, but for now, it works just fine.

 

[My Old Tools]

I picked up a power hacksaw, Marvel #2 draw cut. It does everything I need. I'm not trying to make money, so speed isn't an issue, although I don't think it is much different than a smaller band saw. It is accurate, blades are cheap and last forever, capacity is decent, it 45's accurately. It cost me $200. I've since seen a few more at similar price.

 

[CraigStu]

I had the equivalent to the HF horizontal bandsaw from 30yrs ago. I always used it in the upright position as a bandsaw. And had added on some supports for the little sheet metal table. The problem w/ it was that the blade twists 45deg before the cut and back 45deg after the cut. The guides were nowhere near as capable as they needed to be so using it horizontally never worked well unless you cut something pretty thin. Otherwise the saw cut several degrees off of vertical. I was actually glad when the thing finally died as it gave me an excuse to buy a JET vertical bandsaw. If you want a horizontal bandsaw, I'd buy the very best one you can afford.

 

[racecougar]

I'm in the horizontal bandsaw camp here. It's quiet, accurate, has more capability than a cold saw, and you can set up a cut and let it run while you prep for the next.

 

[Kaizen]

I'm in the horizontal bandsaw camp here. It's quiet, accurate, has more capability than a cold saw, and you can set up a cut and let it run while you prep for the next.

I always end up just sit there mezmerized watching it chew through it like a metal woodchuck animal

 

[T411]

I have both in my home shop, but I prefer the bandsaw, a lot less to go wrong. I have a Grizzly swivel head BS, I love turning the saw not the work. For small stuff I usually use the HF 4 x 6 band saw, it's a great cheap go to saw that cuts well. I really never use the cold cut saw as the band saws with a good blade provide a safe clean cut.

I definitely like the idea of a swivel head for angle cuts and not having to adjust the work. Thanks for all the responses. Definitely makes me lean towards putting my money towards a bandsaw at least for one before the other.

 

[Steve from Socal]

The term 'cold saw' seems to include carbide cut off saws here? A cold saw as mentioned by strength_and_power are slow speed saws that use thick HSS blades with tooth profiles for particular jobs. The cold saw is production of blanks is the most consistant of saws. The frame of the saw and the blade stiffness are the reasons. Cold saws have blades that can be sharpned and retoothed. Carbide cut off saws for steel are like most other cut off saws with a frame that is lighter in construction than cold saws, the blades are like other carbide saws a thin plate. The mass of the old style cold saw is where it gets the prize for consistant cuts. Either if these can be faster than a band saw and both have the potential for greater accuracy.

Horizontal band saws come in so many different sizes/ types. A small H.F. of the like is not even in the universe of an automatic dual column but, here the small cut off saw is what is at play. A small band saw will have a frame that pivots the saw, that is a weak point, the blade and guides also vary in stiffness. Then the question of what materials and sizes/shapes are we cutting. Size of cut and size of materials also play in selecting a saw. A cut off band saw AND chop saw would be ideal. Either will work for many jobs in a home shop. Buy good blades, that makes a saw a saw.

 

[LeeG]

I used to use a cold saw a lot. It was a pain switching blades between steel and aluminum and between solid and tube, but nice when you had a bunch of the same material to process.

I started out with the HF 4x6 saw, but later upgraded to the Femi ABS105. I haven't regretted the change. Here's my review from a few years ago. https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/femi-hemsaw-105-abs-long-term-review.502834/

Lee

 

[Rusted Nut]

A cold saw requires you to operate the saw while cutting. A horz bandsaw can cut while do perform other tasks, which can save time on larger stock. Then again, this is garage journal; so buy both.

 

[u2slow]

I recently added the common/generic 7x12" band saw to my shop equipment. Used prices seem to be about 1/3 of new.

Prior to this, I was cutting everything with abrasive discs or a porta-band.

 

[MushCreek]

This is Garage Journal. Get a wire EDM and get REALLY precise cuts!

 

[strength_and_power]

I always end up just sit there mezmerized watching it chew through it like a metal woodchuck animal

A buddy has a horizontal with programmable downfeed, pneumatic clamp, auto feed and piece count. Super cool to watch that thing cycle.

 

[strength_and_power]

This is Garage Journal. Get a wire EDM and get REALLY precise cuts!

And cut times measured in days. A buddy worked in a machine shop and ran a wire end machine. He’d go in after hours with permission and run a work program on one machine and his personal parts on another. Parts came out absolutely gorgeous but some took all night or all weekend to cut.

 

[Old Man Roger]

When I was making aluminum railings and gates, I would manually chop through a ton of light material with a chop saw. When I was making motorcycle crash cages, using a lot of 1/4 plate, I would stack them about 6 inches thick and use the band saw. Set it and forget it while I was welding.

 

[MushCreek]

I used to run an ancient power hacksaw that had auto feed and auto clamping, all mechanical. We would clamp together about a dozen 12' bars of 1" X 2" steel. A chain ran from the machine to the clamp. When it finished a cut cycle, the head would raise back up, a cam action opened the vise, another mechanism pulled the chain, and thus the pack of bars until they hit the stop. The vise would close, and the saw would cut the next batch. It was a boring job so I didn't pay much attention to it. I assume the chain puller had a slip clutch so it could just slip once it fed to the stop. The parts were a couple inches long, and eventually became bullet casting dies for the reloading hobby.

 

[alex2929]

Found a heck of a deal on a big wellsaw 1118 a few years ago. I love it. I’ve never had a come saw but the chop saw hasn’t been used since.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I definitely like the idea of a swivel head for angle cuts and not having to adjust the work. Thanks for all the responses. Definitely makes me lean towards putting my money towards a bandsaw at least for one before the other.

Depending on what you are actually doing home shop, small fab or major fab may decide what you buy.

For the little guy, a decent used band saw can be bought cheap and give years old service. It can be the stop gap for the time being and replaced a funds allow, then becoming back up or the second machine when busy.

I bought my Wilton 7x12 for less than $120 on Govdeals.

 

[Jackfre]

IN my bigger shop I had a 6” horiz, Delta band saw I picked up used for a couple hundred bucks, a 14” Evolution & the big Milwaukee Porta-Band mounted on the Swag plate. Downsizing I could not keep the Delta and do now with the EV and the PB. I get by with those quite nicely, but if you are in a fab shop doing quite a lot of metal I don’t see it as an either or. Yes, you can get by with one or the other but what is your time worth? Miter cuts on the EV have been fiddly to set up but the cuts on 4x4, 3x3, 2 by, etc have been excellent. Oh, I’ve also picked up the Diablo metal blade for by M18 Milwaukee circ saw that has handled smaller and lighter cuts nicely.

 

[cannuck]

When it comes to size of material and flexibility nothing beats a band saw. As I mentioned in another thread: spend the extra money to get one with a fixed vice and swivelling head - and if you are really serious about getting the most versatile tool there are some that will swivel 45 degrees each way (do a mess of mitered angle joints and you will see why). If you want the very best, get one with fixed table with hold down T slots and a vertical blade that moves straight (as opposed to in an arc) and tilts both ways

The one in the link is a series II (I have a very old one and a series I) and will do 18x22 material but you can mount a complete part of any shape on the table (just as you do with a milling machine).

Another factor is safety. My 13YO has been able to completely set up and run my 7 x 10 since he was about 7. He is only now getting brave enough and skilled enough to work with hand feeding vertical. I would not want him to use a cold cut yet for fear of tooth snag pulling a part out of vice.

IMHO the order of what a shop needs is: largest band with widest blade you can fit in or afford; largest variable speed, narrow blade vertical for hand fed work and a cold cut on a feed tray beside your small material racks.

 

[zmotorsports]

I waffled back in 2015 when I was trying to decide on whether to upgrade from my old Jet 4" x 6" horizontal to either a bit larger mitering head horizontal bandsaw or a cold saw. I ended up with analysis paralysis until I finally pulled the trigger on a new Baileigh BS210 mitering head bandsaw. I love this thing and highly recommend a mitering head vs. a standard bandsaw with the angle vise. I use my bandsaw a lot. Matter of fact, I don't even have my abrasive chop saw anywhere close at hand in the shop and it is retired to a storage shelf. I haven't used it in 10-years since purchasing the new horizontal bandsaw. Between my vertical and horizontal bandsaws, I feel I am pretty well covered and no longer even entertain the idea of a cold saw.

 

[cannuck]

I waffled back in 2015 when I was trying to decide on

Yeah, but will it swing both ways? (the saw, not necessarily the operator)

 

[cvairwerks]

I've got several saws and they all do different things....chop saw, power hacksaw, vertical band saw, horizontal band saw and a cold saw. Right now, just the vertical and the cold saw are in the shop due to space limitations.

 

[zmotorsports]

Yeah, but will it swing both ways? (the saw, not necessarily the operator)

No, both the saw and the operator only go one direction.

 

[GeoBruin]

I agree that some in this thread are responding about tct "chop" saws rather than actual cold saws. OP posted examples pictures and clearly did mean a real cold saw.

I've never used a real cold saw, but I could see the value (as other have said) for many accurate repeat cuts of smaller diameter material. For a home shop, it seems like quite a leap to run a cold saw but I suppose if you have the money and the space (and probably 3 phase power) you could do it.

That said, I'm on team bandsaw. I would also advicate for a saw with a swiveling head as mentioned above, although I had to make an exception for my latest acquisition which is this Roll In bandsaw. The head does not swivel, but that's because it has a completely different mechanism for engaging the work. As a result, I just finished making a clamp/vise setup to make miters quicker and easier, but it does still require positioning the work at an angle relative to the saw to make miter cuts. All that said, I felt it was worth it for the added capability the saw provides.

 

[cannuck]

No, both the saw and the operator only go one direction.

I'd ask "left or right" but we don't discuss politics or pronouns on GJ.

 

[tool_scrounge]

I waffled back in 2015 when I was trying to decide on whether to upgrade from my old Jet 4" x 6" horizontal to either a bit larger mitering head horizontal bandsaw or a cold saw. I ended up with analysis paralysis until I finally pulled the trigger on a new Baileigh BS210 mitering head bandsaw. I love this thing and highly recommend a mitering head vs. a standard bandsaw with the angle vise. I use my bandsaw a lot. Matter of fact, I don't even have my abrasive chop saw anywhere close at hand in the shop and it is retired to a storage shelf. I haven't used it in 10-years since purchasing the new horizontal bandsaw. Between my vertical and horizontal bandsaws, I feel I am pretty well covered and no longer even entertain the idea of a cold saw.

They are nice saws. I purchased one for a previous employer since most folks using the shop were not experienced machinists but needed to safely cut a piece of metal. It worked out great.

 

[cvairwerks]

I picked my cold saw pretty cheap after watching craigslist for quite a while. It's a Haberle HL3, and I got it and a Delta pedestal grinder for a whopping 400$. Both are 3P, but I'll be running them both on a VFD.... too little space to have a rotary or static phase converter.

 

[dr_clyde]

If I could only have one, I'd have a bandsaw. Specifically, a Marvel tilt frame saw. They truly are one of the best saws ever designed.

I own 4 different saws, and they all have their place.

The Marvel is king for versatility. It can basically do it all, but specializes in odd setups. It's slower than a cold saw, takes up more floor space, and are kinda expensive. But it makes up for it with the large capacity, versatile head tilting, unique vise setup and power feeds.

If all I ever cut was tubing and small bar, cold saw all the way. They're fantastic for repetitive, accurate cuts. Especially for miters. I worked in an off road fab shop that basically only cut tube, and the only saw we had was a Bewo (Scotchman) cold saw. Mine is a Startrite 350 from the 80s and it works great. Having full flood coolant and low RPM is great for cutting stainless tube or parts that are heat sensitive like plastics. I also love the dual angle swivel head, allowing the bar to stay on the stands and I can set up any miter I want. I used the heck out of mine when I made a lot of custom handrails and cut a whole pile of small tubes.

If I needed to cut larger shapes with no miters, horizontal bandsaws are excellent. I have mine set up to cut production on 4" - 12" diameter rounds for the lathe. Bigger blade, full flood coolant, heavy duty rigid vise, these saws excel in making accurate, straight cuts in solid bars and beams. You can get them with mitering heads, but at the cost of rigidity and squareness.

The vertical contour saw is amazing for one off fab work. Making custom jigs, tools, fixtures and parts, the vertical bandsaw is hard to beat for cutting any weird shape that could have a curve.

Hard pass on those silly "dry cut" saws. They're LOUD, messy and in my opinion dangerous as hell. Get a bandsaw if you are considering one of these. I've seen these catch the part, jam it in to the vise, and explode a blade, fling parts across the shop, and one co-worker almost lost a hand when it jammed so hard on a piece of tube that slipped in the vise it tried to **** in his hand. The blades are expensive, fragile and can only be sharpened a few times before they're scrap. A true cold saw blade can be sharpened all the way down to the hub.

 

[danielbuck]

a good solid horizontal bandsaw with fixed vise and rotating head is what I like. You can setup the material in the same spot regardless of the cut angle, so that's nice when working with 20 foot lengths of tube you don't have to keep moving either the saw around, or your outboard supports. And I've always run my bandsaw dry, even though it is setup for coolant. I just don't cut the volume of material to warrant doing that.

 

[Sweetcorn]

I've had them all and used them all extensively, but for a general purpose machine, it's hard to beat a bandsaw.

I'm partial to the Roll-In Saw, model EF1459. It's a vertically oriented bandsaw with feed and a 14.5" x 9" block capacity. Can turn the clamp for miter cuts, and can corner notch since the blade stays perpendicular to the table/work piece, etc.

 

[Steve_P]

If this is for a shop where you're billing the customer for your time, obviously a cold saw is going to be MUCH faster. I think that every pro fab shop I've been to have both types, for a reason: cold saw for fast tubing cuts, and then at least one band saws for flats, large bars....

For home shop type use, making stuff for yourself, a band saw would probably be the most "universal" and cover nearly everything, at the expense of speed.

 

[Renegade1LI]

I hate to say it but I use the HF 4 x 6 band saw allot. It's small, compact, cuts nice and was only 200$. And for small pieces I use the Hercules portable on the bench.

 

[Old Man Roger]

I hate to say it but I use the HF 4 x 6 band saw allot. It's small, compact, cuts nice and was only 200$. And for small pieces I use the Hercules portable on the bench.

Don’t be ashamed, I used two HF 4x6 saws full time for years. Usually cutting through about 6 inches of stacked 1/4 plate, and then cutting miles of schedule 40 about 3 or 4 pipes at a time.