Chop saw or band saw - Page 1

culveres · Wed Aug 05, 2015 11:03 am

I have an Evolution Rage4 7.25 " dry metal saw. $150.00 @ Sears, HD, Amazon, and elsewhere. Not an industrial saw but seems to do all I need for my hobby shop. They have bigger sizes and compound miter slide saws. Makes a clean cool cut. Mine runs 3000 rpm.

Wed Aug 05, 2015 5:55 pm

jlfxdwg wrote:You told your boss that Grizzly was a decent saw if I recall correctly.

Otto Nobedder wrote:If you go with a band-saw, spend some coin, get a good one with coolant/lubricant.

My boss made the mistake of buying cheap. I was trying to get a good port-a-band, and he went "cheap bandsaw". I'm not happy. He bought a Grizzly Industrial Chinese made dry 4X6 bandsaw, and I've spent more time making it work than it would have taken to cut the parts with a port-a-band.

I do like the dry/cold saws. Users must be trained in "letting the tool do the work", or they'll destroy (very expensive) blades, but used right they cut very clean, pretty fast, and very accurate.

Steve S

I did say that Grizzly has good tools. I didn't realize they were importing cheap Chinese tools for their low-end stuff.

I also didn't see where that picture in the catalog said, "actual size."

I'll get that damn saw dialed in , if it kills me! There's a topic here (under "Metal cutting", I'm sure), that discusses turning a basic harbor fright (intentionally misspelled) horizontal bandsaw into a reliable tool. I'll dig it up.

Welcome to our li'l community!

Steve S

DeepSouthWelder · Thu Aug 06, 2015 3:05 pm

Thanks for all the information guys a band saw it is.

nathan · Sat Aug 08, 2015 3:03 am

Otto Nobedder wrote: There's a topic here (under "Metal cutting", I'm sure), that discusses turning a basic harbor fright (intentionally misspelled) horizontal bandsaw into a reliable tool. I'll dig it up.
Steve S

I'd be interested in seeing that. I saw their little saw was only a couple hundred bucks last time I was there. If it could be made to work well, that would be awesome.

rick9345 · Sat Aug 08, 2015 9:24 am

it is all in the fine tuning, spend a day to get it aligned

http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=8392.0

Boomer63 · Sat Aug 15, 2015 9:57 am

I am a huge fan of the Ellis horizontal band saw. Easy to maintain, wet and dry. The last saw you will need to buy!

Sat Aug 15, 2015 3:01 pm

Here's the topic I was hunting... Turns out it was "Northern Tool", not Harbor Freight, but there's a link in one of the posts I want to study.

http://forum.weldingtipsandtricks.com/v ... saw#p46898

Here's the link...
https://wiki.artisansasylum.com/images/ ... _rev-1.pdf

Steve S

nathan · Mon Aug 17, 2015 12:14 am

Nice! Thanks for the PDF. I did the same "band saw" search on the forum and saw the topic you posted. I think I need a band saw. They make life easier. If I got the HF one, it would probably pay for itself on the first job, justifying a makeover. You people give me too many ideas of ways to spend my money - usually before I even have it!

Sanford · Mon Sep 07, 2015 9:30 am

My steel Supplier has an Ellis and is in love with it, I own a cheaper horizontal bandsaw and a Baleigh coldsaw. The cold saw works well but is a pain to keep clean and requires a wide range of different blades ($150 and up) for cutting different wall thicknesses and material type. Bandsaws seem to have a much larger capacity than most cold saws. The model I bought was about $2200 5 years back and is 220v single phase, most cold saws are 3 phase. As far as port-a-bands I can never get straight cut with them especially on big tubing.

pgk · Tue Mar 15, 2016 4:59 pm

I have a Dewalt abrasive cut off, a Scotchman cold saw and a cheapy 4x6 band saw, if space wasn't a problem I would sell what I have a get a Ellis. For what I mostly do I don't need a milled finish cut although a smooth straight cut is nice, a good band saw is hard to beat, I think you will be happy with your choice. I like the Ellis because it doesn't use coolant.

Antorcha · Tue Apr 19, 2016 9:27 am

YooT00B is full of tune up the HF bandsaw videos. Try it sometime

That said:with My Makita dry 12 or Morse on bigger stuff my helper and I will be home before you get the paint gun out. Accuracy of squareness with either machine would be measured with a feeler gauge. I can cut 10 pieces to one cut against a bandsaw unless it's set up with the stock feeding through leveled rollers and a GOOD feed stop and vice.Putting a dry saw against a bandsaw is like competing against a plasma cutter with a jigsaw.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1DYRWDVquo

MosquitoMoto · Wed Apr 20, 2016 12:59 am

I've taken my focus off the pie-cut exhaust stuff for awhile and I'm cutting a lot of aluminium now...tube and plate.

I happened across a huge old relic of a band saw for the right price - free - and I've spent some time refurbishing it and setting it up. New urethane tyres, new belt and blades. All it needed was some love.

It's now my go-to machine for aluminium, particularly where complex shapes need to be cut out of plate that's up to 6mm thick. Using it is child's play and I can cut out shapes that, when done, need a minimum of edge finishing.

I just need to fabricate a nice, adjustable fence for it now and then straight cuts should be a breeze, too.

Kym

thatoneguy · Tue May 03, 2016 4:21 pm

I'm in a similar situation right now. I'm either going to be buying an Evolution Rage 2 or save a little longer for a Milwaukee PortaBand. The Rage2 has speed and accuracy on its side. But I like how the portaband can be used on so much and used vertically should the need arise. I think im going to go with the Rage2 for now and eventually get myself a portaband... But im not sure. Advise is appreciated, thanks.

rick9345 · Thu May 05, 2016 1:32 pm

Otto Nobedder wrote:Here's the topic I was hunting... Turns out it was "Northern Tool", not Harbor Freight, but there's a link in one of the posts I want to study.

Here's the link...
https://wiki.artisansasylum.com/images/ ... _rev-1.pdf

Steve S

Applies to any bandsaw,have used it from HF to Wells etc,works 1st time setup takes time,worth it in blade life and straight cuts

The_Fixer · Fri May 20, 2016 8:34 pm

Something to watch out for you guys cutting thin materials.... Tooth pitching.

On thin stuff standard blades can be too coarse resulting in rough cuts or damage to the blades. Expensive after a while.
On a cold saw this can cause chattering in the blade, not only hard on the blade, but the brass gearboxes don't like it too much either.
So when buying stuff, be aware of the correct blade for your work.

DLewis0289 · Fri May 20, 2016 8:59 pm

In the shop I have a couple Peddinghaus band saws and the big saw at the end of the FICEP beam line. They are all fine, but very expensive (purchase price, maintenance, blades, cutting lubricant). I have at home a little cheap Jet vertical/horizontal combo and honestly it is a nice little saw.

Have a couple DeWalt chop saws for small aluminum stuff setup on long tables. No complaints, just don't use them a ton.

Rarely have a chop saw on a truck but NEVER leave home without a Milwaukee deep throat porta-band.

Really comes down to how much you use them. You get what you pay for, however even a cheapo like the Jet should make repeatable cuts and miters. If you are an ornamental guy, chop saw that swings for miters of course.

And honestly if I was putting a small shop together I would go cheap on the saw and spend my money on a good deal for an ironworker.