[sgthangman]

Hello people....I am slowly beginning to outfit our pole barn as a welding/fabrication shop. I am still awaiting an upgrade to the electrical part of the shop. I have already purchased a welding machine (Miller Multimatic 220) and a plasma cutter (Hypertherm 30xp) among the other less expensive tools needed for welding/fabricating.

My question is what would be a good next purchase for cutting metals such as steel or aluminum square/round tubing. A band saw, chop saw, or something else perhaps? I've been out of welding large fuel tanks for nearly a year and a half now after a serious accident that caused me to give up working a regular job.
I am starting to do work on the side and looking at what equipment I should purchase next for cutting. I am also looking to build or purchase a larger welding table.

[Spartan]

I've used abrasive chopsaws, cold saws, horizontal bandsaws, and vertical bandsaws to cut miles of metal. Here's how I rank all four of them in terms of ease of use, cutting efficency, and value.

#1: Horizontal bandsaw
#2: Horizontal bandsaw
#3: Horizontal bandsaw
#4: Vertical bandsaw

Chopsaws and cold saws do have a place in my routine, but only for "job site" work outside of my shop.

[Louie1961]

Band saws are quieter and don't fling shrapnel all over the place. Cold saws are faster and depending on the size of your band saw may be able to cut slightly larger stock. I prefer a band saw because I can cut multiple pieces at once, I prefer the lower noise and the cleanup of the cutting dust is easier. But that being said lots of people do quite well for themselves with a good cold saw. I guess it all depends on what you will cut, ad how often.

[Oscar]

Cold or dry? I dont see a lot of people posting about cold cut saws, as they're freaking expensive. But dry cut carbide saws those work great too.

[DavidR8]

I prefer a horizontal bandsaw for the small work I do. I don't like the mess of abrasive saws or the noise of cold saws.

[Oscar]

I prefer a horizontal bandsaw for the small work I do. I don't like the mess of abrasive saws or the noise of cold saws.

I love my 7x12 bandsaw, I just hate that I don't have the space to have it in one good spot, so I have to be moving it around whenever I want to use it.

[TraditionalToolworks]

Cold or dry? I dont see a lot of people posting about cold cut saws, as they're freaking expensive. But dry cut carbide saws those work great too.

I think what Louie refers to is a Carbide Toothed Blade chop saw, many people refer to those as cold saws and how they are advertised by some vendors as they don't use cutting fluid. Think of an Evolution or Fein CBT saw.

Traditionally a cold was was something like a Hammond or a Marvell with a big cast iron base on it.

I completely agree with what Louie said and would add, if someone had an Ellis that was able to do accurate miters they would have a band saw that could do it all. Unfortunately they are not cheap.

A band saw is quiet, but even a horizontal bandsaw is not entirely repeatable for miters and may require some cleanup with a grinder/sander. A CBT chop saw is noisy and makes slightly more mess, but many people who own them say they can take miters right off the saw and weld them up. So the miters are much more accurate as I understand it. I don't have one, but honestly I want to get one.

As for abrasive saw, not too bad for how cheap they are, you can buy them used on craigslist cheap and they will do if you don't have anything else. For that matter, an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel is not bad if you take your time. The abrasive saw is my least favorite and the most messy, but many people start with them, myself included. I bought a Milwaukee on craigslist for $60. These cut fairly slow are messy, but the blades are cheap. The blades wear really quick so the diameter of the cut continues to get smaller as they wear.

Portaband also has it's place and I bought a Swag Off Road stand for mine and have been disappointed in the accuracy using a miter on the table. However, these were not designed to be used as a small vertical saw, they are primarily used on job sites to quickly cut material quickly, and they work XLNT for that. The table is XLNT for small work, just like the small tables on horizontal band saws when you flip them up vertical, but with a larger table.

The bottom line is you need to have a variety of saws to do different tasks, so depending on the task at hand a specific saw may suite that need better. In the best world we all have 1 of each.

[Oscar]

The bottom line is you need to have a variety of saws to do different tasks, so depending on the task at hand a specific saw may suite that need better. In the best world we all have 1 of each.

Good thing I actually do have 1 of each, lol. Except for the "cold saw", by that I mean the ones that turn super slow RPM's and use coolant/cutting fluid.

1-cheap Porter Cable abrasive saw if material is either thin or it is solid stock
1-Evo Rage 14" dry cut carbide saw for most material that is at least 14 gauge-wall and thicker
1-Klutch 7x12 bandsaw with coolant
1-4.5" angle grinder with 045 3M Cubitron II cut-off disc.
1-55A plasma cutter
1-7" pneumatic angle grinder with 045 3M Cubitron II cut off disc.

I don't think I need any more than this....for now...

[noddybrian]

Unless HTP start making saws - right ? !!!!!!!!

[Oscar]

well they call it a plasma cutter, so it's a saw in a way, lol

[Spartan]

I think what Louie refers to is a Carbide Toothed Blade chop saw, many people refer to those as cold saws and how they are advertised by some vendors as they don't use cutting fluid. Think of an Evolution or Fein CBT saw.

Traditionally a cold was was something like a Hammond or a Marvell with a big cast iron base on it.

Oh... maybe I haven't used proper cold saws, then. What I was referring to in my post are just the carbide toothed chopsaws. I've just known people to call those "cold saws". I'll have to look up the difference.