Portabands as vertical bandsaws?

[Jason280]

I've been using a portaband quite a bit on a few projects, and started eying a couple of the table conversions. For those that use the table setups with portabands, how do you like them?

I just picked up a Milwaukee 6230 deep cut bandsaw, and will likely end up fabbing up my own table.

 

[Super Mech]

Subscribed as I am pondering this idea also. Thinking about a stationary bandsaw too.

 

[pbon]

They are pretty good. I have an earlier version of the Swag table for use with a Milwaukee or DeWalt.

 

[zak77]

I put a HF portaband in a homemade stand and i really like it for small cuts, and even bigger cuts. I had to cut out a 5"x 8" section out of a larger piece of 1/4" plate and although i couldnt cut it all on the portaband, i cut as much as possible since it was so fast. I finished the cuts with a angle grinder.

 

[TruckRed]

I am just an avid do it yourselfer. I have a *********** Milwaukee mounted on a swag off road table and have been using it for 4 years, also have a stationary bandsaw. The portaband is used 10 to 1 more than the stationary.It is great for cutting anything that the throat depth will take. I use it mostly for cutting steel round, plate, angle and tube, I couldn’t live without it!

 

[theoldwizard1]

I am just an avid do it yourselfer. I have a *********** Milwaukee mounted on a swag off road table and have been using it for 4 years, also have a stationary bandsaw. The portaband is used 10 to 1 more than the stationary. It is great for cutting anything that the throat depth will take.

And that is the main reason I have not bought one ! I could probably live with a skip tooth blade when cutting wood (instead of a faster speed), but I have to have at least a 10" depth of cut !

 

[bcradio]

I have one and I hate it. It does not cut straight at all and I was never able to get it lined up on the table right. It is 100% the tables fault and not the Porta band saw fault. I definitely do not recommend the swag if that's what you're looking at.

 

[Jason280]

Interesting. Have you contacted SWAG to see if there was a way to troubleshoot the table?

 

[bcradio]

I did and they just sent me the instructions that I already had

 

[Jason280]

I would call them up, they were extremely helpful when I ordered my finger brake....surely there's something that can be fixed, they've sold a bunch of the tables.

 

[u118224]

I got the Swag table that mounts in a vise a couple of weeks ago, I really like it.

 

[tripplejl]

I've got the swag portaband table and it's my go to. I would love a vert bandsaw but it would take up to much real estate in my garage.

 

[MadMark]

I have a stand for my Milwaukee bandsaw. it has a key that holds it in the upright position.

I'm trying to sell both saw and stand but the shipping would be expensive.

 

[Retroman]

Got the SWAG and it works pretty good, doesn't cut perfectly straight with the fence but I can follow a line pretty good.

 

[Indexmill]

Mark,

Be careful now cutting that bottle; it will squirt like hell.

 

[ekimneirbo]

Why not buy a cheap wood cutting bandsaw and a junk bicycle and build something like this ?
(Just for clarification, this isn't mine)

 

[ekimneirbo]

I would call them up, they were extremely helpful when I ordered my finger brake....surely there's something that can be fixed, they've sold a bunch of the tables.

With that avatar, why would you risk hurting your hands using tools ?

 

[Super Mech]

That bicycle contraption looks pretty cool but it really needs a chain guard.

 

[2oolhound]

I've got an old portabrace saw the PO mounted on an old craftsman router table. I find it extremely useful for quick cuts and odd shapes. Beats fastening a makeshift table on my other one only to have to take it off again for the next job. The router table is ribbed parrallel to the blade so it's easy to drop a straight edge ijnto the ribs as a guide for long straight cuts. It's also got a 1/2" slot for your basic table saw type angle guide.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Here's one more guy with the SWAG vise-mounted table. I use it so much I ended getting a second portaband so I could leave the SWAG one set up and ready to go. So simple to throw it onto the vise and make a cut.

 

[scooternut]

Replace throat plate with a new "table," clamp vise on the new table. The dewalt is also easily held by the handle mount, handle removed.


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[Jason280]

I have a stand for my Milwaukee bandsaw. it has a key that holds it in the upright position.

I'm trying to sell both saw and stand but the shipping would be expensive.

I've been keeping an eye out for one of those stands, but I've never seen one pop up in any of the local pawn shops. How accurate are the cuts?

As far as the tables go, it looks like they are pretty straightforward to fab....just a couple bolt holes and a slot for the blade. Plan is to leave the bandsaw permanently mounted, at least until I find a deal on a true metal cutting horizontal saw.

 

[mc4life27]

I've got an old portabrace saw the PO mounted on an old craftsman router table. I find it extremely useful for quick cuts and odd shapes. Beats fastening a makeshift table on my other one only to have to take it off again for the next job. The router table is ribbed parrallel to the blade so it's easy to drop a straight edge ijnto the ribs as a guide for long straight cuts. It's also got a 1/2" slot for your basic table saw type angle guide.

Pictures? I'm thinking about doing the same.


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[mc4life27]

I have three portaband saws one mounted to a home made table that never leaves, on normal and I just got the little m12 one for electrical work. I use the one I have mounted In the table almost daily. I just bolted a plate to the saw and then mounted it to a hitch set up so I can move it if I need to but I use it so much I never do.


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[anndel]

I've got the swag portaband table and it's my go to. I would love a vert bandsaw but it would take up to much real estate in my garage.

Ditto, I don't even have room for a benchtop bandsaw.

 

[Jason280]

on normal and I just got the little m12 one for electrical work

I have 4 bandsaws right now (not counting the Milwaukee 28v with dead batteries), and I honestly use the M12 bandsaw more than any of the others.

 

[PugetDude]

This subject seems to come up from time to time, so I'll post pics of mine again. Cost under a buck- Two pieces of scrap aluminum and a few flat head machine screws... Works really well and hangs on the wall when I'm not using it- and can be converted back to a portaband in less than 2 minutes by removing two screws to re-install the shoe. I've cut everything from fiberglass up to 1/2" plate for suspension brackets, etc.
I use Starrett 14/18 Blades.

 

[Showkey]

Another owner of the SWAG with Milwaukee ***********.

Absolutely works perfect ........cuts straight as an arrow. The light on the Milwaukee saw projects a perfect straight shadow line on the material.

I purchased it to replacing cutting stock witha cut off wheel.
The SWAG is far more accurate than the abrasive cut miter saw......as the abrasive saw blade drifts especially on angle cuts.

Have 14” Delta wood band saw......considered building a speed reduction system but.......metal and wood saw dust are a bad combo.

 

[poppakap]

Another owner of the SWAG with Milwaukee ***********.

Absolutely works perfect ........cuts straight as an arrow. The light on the Milwaukee saw projects a perfect straight shadow line on the material.

I purchased it to replacing cutting stock witha cut off wheel.
The SWAG is far more accurate than the abrasive cut miter saw......as the abrasive saw blade drifts especially on angle cuts.

Have 14” Delta wood band saw......considered building a speed reduction system but.......metal and wood saw dust are a bad combo.

No chance of using the portaband for wood?

 

[alexb2000]

I have a 16" vertical metal cutting bandsaw, a couple of large horizontals, a Milwaukee on a SWAG table, a mitering bandsaw, and a battery powered porta-band.

IMO the strength of the Milwaukee on a SWAG table is that a portaband frame is not 90 degrees to the blade so you can cut a 20' piece of stock in half without hitting the frame as long as it isn't too deep. That and the view of the cut is much better than using a portaband freehand and so the results are more accurate. If I were space limited or working mobile this would be my preferred saw out of all the options I own. For the money you just can't go wrong.

 

[DGersic]

I’ve posted pictures of mine before, but here it is again.




The LED lamp and button switch are from Amazon. The square tube I bought locally, cut and welded. The steel for the table I already had. Making the mounting bracket to replace the shoe was the hardest part, but even that wasn’t too bad. Would have been easier to make the cuts using a table bandsaw.

Design somewhat copied and modified from other similar tables I found images of online.

It’s a handy tool. The limit on depth of cuts is a bit of a challenge sometimes, but it’s small enough to fit in my one car garage. I’d love to have big tools, but then I’d have to park outside.

Have recently used it to make this



Penta bolt wrench from a $4 socket and some scrap round stock I found in the street.

Also made these wing nuts



to finish the modifications to my yard vacuum. Grade 8 bolt and thick washer welded to a cutout rounded tab.

And parts of this



dash insert. Rough cut the stainless steel to size with my angle grinder. Then the rounded ends and mounting tabs (not shown) were cut with the bandsaw.



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[mc4life27]

I have 4 bandsaws right now (not counting the Milwaukee 28v with dead batteries), and I honestly use the M12 bandsaw more than any of the others.

Yup that little one is great. Now that I have my own and not borrowing my bosses I use it way more then my other two. Just wish it could cut up to 2 inch. The 1 5/8 works but a couple of times that little bit of difference would have helped out some. But hands down my favorite Milwaukee tool I own along with my 3/8 m12 stubby.


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[Showkey]

No chance of using the portaband for wood?

Wood not an issue ....but the limited throat really limits it’s practical use.

 

[e015475]

I have the SWAG table and a Portaband. I use it almost every day. I had a wood band saw with a jack-shaft speed reducer, and I spent more time trying to get it to work than I did cutting metal, so I sold it and never looked back. I also had a Kalamazoo horizontal band saw. Once I got the SWAG, I stopped using that too and it went to CL. Took a lot of floor space

A few comments-

- I had to modify the SWAG base to get it to work with my Portaband. I expect this from Chinese stuff, but was pretty disappointed I had to do this with the SWAG. Wrote them and complained - no response

- The fence on the SWAG is useless with the Portaband. The only way to get a reasonably straight cut is to freehand it then sand it straight

- The newer the blade, the straighter the cut. It is a struggle getting a straight cut with an old blade. I like the bimetal Morse blades. I run them till I hit the fatigue life of the weld joint and the blade starts to jump each time the weld joint passes through the work piece, but you really have to maneuver that blade around

- Blades off ebay or Amazon are about half the price of Home Depots. I order a bunch at a time and keep them on a peg welded to the tool stand

- The light on the Portaband *****. The shadow it casts obscures the cut line. The solution is a strong LED light aimed at the cutting face of the blade, not behind it. I use my HF Braun trouble light so I can put the light just where I want it.

- A HF foot switch is a very nice feature. I hold the trigger switch on the Portaband closed with a velcro strap to use the foot switch.

- I get the appeal of having the saw in a vice, but for me, it is too low. I have my saw on a stand that puts the table right about the bottom of my sternum. I can control and see the work better.

- I cut a lot of tube for exhaust and header work. The only real way to get a straight cut in tube is to pierce the tube with the blade then start rotating the workpiece and follow the cut line back to where you started. I always have a grip on the tube with a vice grips and kickbacks are almost inevitable. (I usually true them up before welding using a 48" belt sander and a 36 grit belt)

- DoAll wax stick or some of the lube from Olsen really helps when you are cutting aluminum