Portable Bandsaw Horizontal/Vertical Stand

[kquiggle]

I've been mulling over whether to buy a Harbor Freight portable bandsaw for some time. Based on comments by other people on this item (and with a 20% coupon in hand) I finally decided to buy one.

It was also my intention to build a stand for the bandsaw to convert it to a benchtop cutoff saw, as well as a vertical cut saw. I found a number of plans for this on the web, but none of them met my requirements, so I designed and built my own. Of course I also had to replace the provided bandsaw blade with a metal cutting blade.

Pictures of the completed project below. I'm able to cut a 2-1/4" steel bar in under two minutes. I don't have room (or budget) for a fullsize metal cutting bandsaw, and this unit meets my modest needs nicely.

More info and plans here:

https://sites.google.com/site/lagad...thes-mills-etc/tools---portable-bandsaw-stand

 

[gus]

Hi Feyman,
The horizontal bandsaw with vise looks great and would give a straight/square cut basis aligned true.
I am very short of shop space in the very small balcony machineshop. Bought a Makita Portable Bandsaw and made a housing/support stand. Cutting of bars are hand guided. Some improvements required.
See foto. Prior to having the bandsaw,manual hacksawing was a pain on the side and would leave a "70" young man wheezing away:wall:.
The bandsaw has removed all the procrastination on starting any new jobs that require manual hacksaw.

 

[kquiggle]

Nice looking shop Gus. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who mixes wood and metal (whatever works is my motto).

Would you mind posting a closeup of the cutting table you built for your bandsaw (looks like aluminum plate?). I haven't built a table yet for cutting in the vertical position, and I'm still shopping for ideas.

- kaje

 

[gus]

Nice looking shop Gus. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who mixes wood and metal (whatever works is my motto).

Would you mind posting a closeup of the cutting table you built for your bandsaw (looks like aluminum plate?). I haven't built a table yet for cutting in the vertical position, and I'm still shopping for ideas.

- kaje

Hi Richard,
Fotos attached. The cutting table was suppose to be temporary but It worked
so well and I have after-thoughts and made it permanent. the angle iron is a
stop piece that came with the band saw. The aluminium table slit was cut with the bandsaw. Call it the first cut. The cut line was a wee bitty snaky.
The cutting table worked very well for me cutting short length bar stocks
to build engines made from bar stocks. Been avoiding projects that require
too many manual hacksaw cuts.Was suppose to put in a cutting guide but my
hand guiding puts saw on marked line with good results with minimal to skim off to final size/length/width.

Happy BandSaw cutting.But please put in an angle iron guard on the returning
side of the saw blade.

 

[kquiggle]

Gus -

Thanks for the photos - much appreciated; you've given me some good ideas.

About the blade guard: You can't see it that well from my photos, but I made extended faceplates for the vise to act as a guard.

I don't know about your Makita, but the HF bandsaw is "stepped" in the area where a table needs to go. I will need to add some supportpacer under part of the table to make sure it is firmly supported. I also want to be able to put it on and take it off quickly so I can switch between horizontal and vertical modes.

 

[gus]

Gus -

Thanks for the photos - much appreciated; you've given me some good ideas.

About the blade guard: You can't see it that well from my photos, but I made extended faceplates for the vise to act as a guard.

I don't know about your Makita, but the HF bandsaw is "stepped" in the area where a table needs to go. I will need to add some supportpacer under part of the table to make sure it is firmly supported. I also want to be able to put it on and take it off quickly so I can switch between horizontal and vertical modes.

Hi Richard,
One fine day as I was happily cutting a wider piece, the other side of the bandsaw brushed against my left hand.Was fortunate that I don't use contain gloves. It could have grabbed my gloved hand .
As a prevention, I put in a brass angle bar. See foto. The 6mm Alum Bar and Allen key point at guard.
To cut metal,you will need a dob of lubricant. I use Tapmatic Tapping Fluid.

 

[old-and-broken]

...
To cut metal,you will need a dob of lubricant. I use Tapmatic Tapping Fluid.

I've always used a candle stick. I find the wax is less of 'a mess' when it comes to cleaning up later. I just present the side of the candle to the blade and let the blade lightly cut it long enough to coat the entire length of blade. I do this every couple of minutes with a long cut, and just once when making a small cut.
A scotch brite pad and a drop of turpentine will clean the wax up when you begin to get any build up.

For some reason the smell of turps is much more enjoyable to me than kerosene or naptha.

Glad the blade encounter was not a problem for you Gus. I do enjoy your postings here.

 

[gmac]

Kaje / Gus - thanks fellows!

I bought a Canadian version of the HF shown and have been planning to build a base for it. Appreciate the two of you taking the time to document how you did it.

Having been there done that; would you say the vertical or horizontal position is more useful? I'm debating whether to hinge it or fix it in one position.

I haven't used it on steel (original blade) half expecting the blade to melt! Anyone have experience with the Bi-Metal blades, preferred brands?

Cheers Garry

 

[kquiggle]

Garry -

The blade that comes with HF bandsaw is of limited use for cutting metal - I replaced it with 24tpi blades bought locally (not bimetal, but they seem to work OK. There seems to be general agreement that bimetal is best, but also more expensive. I got three blades for $24, so at that price worth a try.)

Vertical versus horizontal:

Horizontal: Easier to cut straight bar. Because the vise is holding the pieces to be cut, cuts are cleaner and straighter. Easier to cut several pieces from the same bar by quickly repositioning in the vise (even quicker if you rig up a depth stop). Safer because the work is held in a vse and hands are away from the cutting action.

Vertical: Easier to cut large flat pieces. Easier to "trim" flat pieces (for example, trimming a flat square piece to an octagon prior to turning on a lathe). Easier to cut angles. Possibility of making curved cuts (although the wide blade makes for pretty wide curves).

The vertical position probably offers more versatility if you have to choose. It's probably also easier to make a vertical only stand, although it only took a few days for me to make my vertical/horizontal stand (I estimate around 4 hours work total), and that includes some trial and error work on my part (explained in more detail in the link I posted earlier). The vertical only is also cheaper to make as you don't need the horizontal mode parts.

If you do make a stand please post some pictures for us.

- kaje

 

[gus]

Makita has a choice of saw blades. Bought the one for cutting steel. Its not bimetal.

In my case ,I use hand feed/guide material and quite good at cutting on marked lines When you have difficulty cutting on the marked line,its time to replace saw blade.

 

[gmac]

Thanks for the input fellows, I'll post anything I cobble up!

Cheers Garry

 

[kquiggle]

The Makita looks like a quality bandsaw. Unfortunately for my budget, it's 3 times the cost of a HF bandsaw.

On the other hand, it remains to be seen how well the HF bandsaw will hold up over time. I'm optimistic based on the reviews I have read on the HF website and elsewhere, but time will tell.

 

[Wizard69]

The Makita looks like a quality bandsaw. Unfortunately for my budget, it's 3 times the cost of a HF bandsaw. On the other hand, it remains to be seen how well the HF bandsaw will hold up over time. I'm optimistic based on the reviews I have read on the HF website and elsewhere, but time will tell.

HF does sell some passable tools, it is probably best to look someplace other than HF web site for reviews though. For example one of their inverter welders had a good reputation even though the rest of the line up was junk. At least that was feed back on one of the welding forums.

By the way it isn't HF that is the problem with their review listings but rather their customer base. Some guys tend to think of HF as a church of sorts and just can't see any wrong in anything HF sells.

 

[kquiggle]

Here's a quick update on my original post on making bandsaw stand. I finally got around to adding a table for use in vertical mode (see pictures below showing both vertical and horizontal mode).

I also updated the plans I posted to include the table; see here:

https://sites.google.com/site/lagad...thes-mills-etc/tools---portable-bandsaw-stand

Now that I have been using this for a while, I feel this was a worthwhile purchase. Yesterday I used it to cut 1 inch square steel bar - faster and easier than a hacksaw..

 

[SilverSanJuan]

That's awesome! Thanks for sharing this. I'll be looking to do this in the next couple months. My arm is getting tired, and it's hard to make straight cuts.

Todd

 

[kquiggle]

Thanks - I still use the hacksaw for little stuff, but for the bigger jobs or for multiple repetitive cuts, it's great to have a bandsaw.

When you do get a bandsaw, be sure to get some hearing protection also if you don't already have it. I don't know about other models, but the HF bandsaw is pretty noisy and it is much more comfortable (and safe) to muffle the noise.

 

[gus]

That's awesome! Thanks for sharing this. I'll be looking to do this in the next couple months. My arm is getting tired, and it's hard to make straight cuts.

Todd

Hi Todd,
Like to share the sawing pains and fotos.
Had to hacksaw 1 1/2" square M.S bars and 1" x 1 1/2'' to make a QCTP.
Prior to this I had been procrastinating. But the work had to go on because I need a QCTP.My darling boss offered good advice----buy a power saw!!!
She offered to pay for bandsaw.Not a bad deal for her as I paid for all our Japan Trips.

Took foto while taking a break. To make it worse,Gus cannot saw straight and square like my masters.
Saw a better looking QCTP months later. No way I am going back to manual
sawing. Bought a Makita Portable Bandsaw. Built a housing and from here went to make the new QCTP and other projects with minimal amount to trim off. No more procrastinations.

 

[SilverSanJuan]

Thanks for the note on the hearing protection. Good advice to be sure.

Gus, that's a good looking setup you have there for that bandsaw.

Now I have another tool to put on the Christmas list.

Todd

 

[gus]

Thanks for the note on the hearing protection. Good advice to be sure.

Gus, that's a good looking setup you have there for that bandsaw.

Now I have another tool to put on the Christmas list.

Todd

Hi Todd,

It was really a need for a "70 young man". After manual hack-sawing a 1 1/2" M.S. Square Bar,Gus was wheezing away. There is got to be a better way to cut M.S. Bars w/o having Gus to die for.
Sketched out a quick housing cum support and went to the timber supplier for tailor cut size plywood. Was a cordless drill/screw driver job.

Go for the Bimetal Saw,its worth every $$$ spent. The normal steel cutting blades is much cheaper but just won't retain sharpness too long and soon saw blade wanders off.Gus did stinged on the Bimetal and ended up buying 6 regular saw blades which worked out to square one.:wall::hDe:

 

[SilverSanJuan]

LOL's Gus. I hear ya. Thanks for the words of wisdom.

Todd