Milwaukee portable band saw

TamJeff · Tue Sep 03, 2013 11:03 pm

Got myself a portable (Milw 6230 deep cut var spd) band saw. I had never used one with a sharp blade so I had all but discounted them for my line of work because of the slow speed. I had borrowed them from the fire sprinkler guys and never thought much a need for it. As it turns out, contrary to popular belief, aluminum cuts better for the most part with wood working equipment. So I happen across WT&T on youtube and his video of putting a stand on one and I just had to have it. The cutting aspect (I have a full set of gas torches and a full blown stick welding machine) has been what has kept me procrastinating with doing much steel work this last decade or so.

Any of you guys have, or use them? I am looking at Lenox(always had good luck with Lenox) blades that will also cut stainless. Figure to make the stand and table for mine out of aluminum instead of steel since that's mostly what I have around.

Fat Bob · Wed Sep 04, 2013 12:07 am

You didn't mention how thick of material but if it's </= 1/2" you should look into Banshee friction blades. They're pretty good blades.

I get blades for my horizontal band saw from http://bandsawbladesonline.com/index.php. They custom make any size you want, quick to ship and cost less than anyplace I've found.

Lenox blades are a pretty good too but not a favorite of mine. Don't seem to last for me but I'm usually in a bit of a hurry and probably feeding to fast.

TamJeff · Wed Sep 04, 2013 1:26 am

I use their flex back, 6tpi, wood cutting blades for cutting aluminum all day, every day and one blade can last me up to 6 months. All I put on the blade is bar soap. What I liked about them was the amount of set in the teeth which is great for cutting tight curves and such.

Admittedly, I have not used a lot of blades that I knew what brand they were because we used to get all of our bulk band saw blades from a saw shop that used to sharpen our carbide blades and I never asked. Other than that, I had been stuck using home center blades and those suck even when brand new, so once I found ones that worked well and were affordable, I just stuck with them. Same with their hacksaw blades. I use their 18tpi hacksaw blades in my air saw and they cut better than off brand blades for sure.

Most stuff I cut will likely be around 1/4" or less and any tool type steel would likely be annealed. Stainless would likely be 7/8" tubing or up to 1" sched 40 and no more than 1/4" flat stock at most. I will look into those banshee blades though, so thank you for the tip.

delraydella · Wed Sep 04, 2013 8:46 pm

I used to own a Rockwell portaband that I bought at a pawn shop. It was a piece of crap. No matter how hard I tried it would never cut on a straight line. Thankfully it got stolen, so I used the insurance money to buy a Dewalt.....much, much better saw! It actually cuts what and where I want.

We use Morse blades on all of our bandsaws, they work really well for us.

http://www.mkmorse.com/

TamJeff · Thu Sep 05, 2013 9:35 pm

I built the stand for it out of aluminum. I didn't attach the table up into the vent like some do. It would have had the table jacked up off of the bolt surfaces. I didn't like the idea of blocking a motor (I used to repair electric motors in a previous life) vent anyhow. If there is an issue with debris, I will make a shroud to protect that area.

I stayed late at work to build it out of junk that was laying around outside the shop. The 1-1/2" column in the back has some weird clear coating on it but I didn't care. Only reason I used it was because it was already the exact length I needed. The little retainer with the curve cut out of it was an eyeball affair. I can tune it up later if I remember to or if I still care after the novelty of this jig wears off. Blade comes on and off as it stands, regardless.

I am going to buy one of those little gooseneck LED sewing machine lights and attach it to it somehow. I will also add some clamp pads to the legs.

Oddjob83 · Thu Sep 05, 2013 10:03 pm

The one i got at work is constantly slipping and the tires aren't worn at all. and if you use it for a whole day it will pop off like 12-15 times. But when it works it works, no lack of power from the motor at all. Was thinking i should make a stand for mine as well. Just need to have a weekend when i'm either not working or baby-sitting my own kid lol.

TamJeff · Thu Sep 05, 2013 10:09 pm

This one has a bent pulley but I have another on order but the blade stays on. A plumber friend told me that when not in use, the blade tension should be released like a regular band saw, otherwise the tires get hills in them and it will make the sliding head oscillate and throw the blades. Apparently, the tires on these types of saws get rather warm, and they will get distorted if left tightened. Made sense to me at any rate and it's a cinch to release the tension.

Oddjob83 · Fri Sep 06, 2013 6:24 pm

that does make sense, I'm startled no one at my shop has thought of that either. I am its primary use atm cause I am the only one with the patience to use it.

delraydella · Fri Sep 06, 2013 9:10 pm

That's a nice stand! I should do something like that. Our smaller horizontal bandsaw will convert to an upright, but it's a huge pain to do it. This would take care of that very easily.

Oddjob83 · Fri Sep 06, 2013 9:47 pm

It occurred to me that everyone makes one of these as a stand. I'd like to see some one make it into a chop style saw.

TamJeff · Fri Sep 06, 2013 9:52 pm

I first saw it in one of Jody's videos. For aluminum work, I have an old (believe it or not) 12" Craftsman that I have tuned to work really well with cutting copes and such on sched 40 pipe and all kinds of other things. It's the most used tool in the shop next to the welder. My boss has a Delta two speed 14" but nobody ever uses it. They like the modified Craftsman better, which makes other pros in the know, cringe. I have the same Craftsman saw here at home modified the same way that I bought used nearly 20 years ago. No, it won't resaw hardwood and such like the fancier mills, but will shave the shoulders off of a 60 degree cope on aluminum, in one piece, like nobody's business. The one at our shop has been used hard every day for over 14 years and it had to be older than that when I drug it out of the junk room and put it to work.

Granted, these portable saws only have one size blade, wouldn't be very good for tight curves but as a nipper and trimmer, it should be perfect.

TamJeff · Fri Sep 06, 2013 9:54 pm

Oddjob83 wrote:It occurred to me that everyone makes one of these as a stand. I'd like to see some one make it into a chop style saw.

I have seen some set up like that. There is a youtube video of a guy who did make one like that. Some outfit that I saw on Amazon makes one but they want as much for it as the saw costs.

welderboy · Tue May 10, 2016 10:51 am

I want one. I saw MILWAUKEE and DEWALT, but someone has used MAKITA? I read about them http://toolsforwelding.com/hand-held-band-saw/.

Poland308 · Tue May 10, 2016 4:37 pm

We use the Milwaukee saws at work. But I bought the Dewalt for my personal one because it has just a little more clearance to cut with.

Antorcha · Wed May 11, 2016 5:28 pm

welderboy wrote:I want one. I saw MILWAUKEE and DEWALT, but someone has used MAKITA? I read about them http://toolsforwelding.com/hand-held-band-saw/.

The Makita mounts exactly like the Harbin Fart. Google image for one and build away. It the simplest of them all.

Wed May 11, 2016 9:14 pm

I couldn't tell you what brand it was to save my life, but I did field work in a facility, working on LOADED liquid hydrogen trailers, where electric tools were strictly verboten. I used a pneumatic portable bandsaw that was the best I've ever handled, despite the fact it was 40 years old and the tires were shot.

If I ever see one in a pawn shop, I promise you, it's mine!

Steve S

AKmud · Thu May 12, 2016 1:04 pm

I just ordered the SWAG Offroad table for my Milwaukee yesterday. Looking forward to having a vertical bandsaw for small stuff.

http://www.swagoffroad.com/SWAG-V40-Por ... _p_63.html

thatoneguy · Thu May 12, 2016 1:32 pm

I have a Milwaukee Portaband and I frekin LOVE it. Clean cuts, hardly any metal wasted, and if you just have some patience and cut a little slower the blades can last for a long time. I was going to make a stand for it but I think I am just going to buy the SWAG Offroad one.

Douglas · Sat May 28, 2016 10:59 am

Oddjob83 wrote:It occurred to me that everyone makes one of these as a stand. I'd like to see some one make it into a chop style saw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKdkAs482Po

Bsmith · Thu Jun 02, 2016 10:47 pm

Antorcha wrote:
welderboy wrote:I want one. I saw MILWAUKEE and DEWALT, but someone has used MAKITA? I read about them http://toolsforwelding.com/hand-held-band-saw/.
The Makita mounts exactly like the Harbin Fart. Google image for one and build away. It the simplest of them all.

Miwaukee is stronger with 11amps. Makita is 7 or so.

I love all my Makita tools, they are the best on my opinion.

cornmuse · Sat Jun 04, 2016 9:59 am

I have a Milwaukee 'deep throat' I leave on my base most of the time. I have a 'regular throated' (?) one I dont use as much anymore.
A small piece if cutoff metal jammed in between the blade & base, broke the blade. (<- a new, sharp one, can you weld them back together? I have TA 185 tig welder)
-c-

DLewis0289 · Sat Jun 04, 2016 12:10 pm

Well, actually you can, but I wouldn't unless it is an emergency of some sort, just when you are done heat to a dull red and let cool, then pray. Silver solder/braze is the accepted method.

Sat Jun 04, 2016 7:57 pm

Many large commercial/industrial band-saws actually have a built in blade welder. This allows you to patch a broken blade, or buy blade in bulk, cut to length, and weld to fit.

This is a resistance-weld device, and I doubt you'll find a practical one for port-a-band type saws, but it's proof that this is done, and often.

Steve S

Coldman · Sat Jun 04, 2016 8:06 pm

One of our European members posted a link a while back to one of the large machine manufacturers explaining how this welding process worked. If I can find it I will repost it. Certainly was fascinating.

LtBadd · Sat Jun 04, 2016 8:43 pm

Coldman wrote:One of our European members posted a link a while back to one of the large machine manufacturers explaining how this welding process worked. If I can find it I will repost it. Certainly was fascinating.

Check out this Canadian guy on YouTube, I enjoy seeing his machinist and shop video's, here's one on bandsaw welding