Which band saw?

bret · #1 11-22-2012, 10:31 PM

Tooling up for the fuse-finish kits and wondering what band saw folks went with. And what blade, I heard a wood blade for aluminum ?

ColoRv · #2 11-22-2012, 10:46 PM

I have a harbor freight bench top cheapie and it works just fine with the blade it came with on any aluminum that I've attempted.

donoltman · #3 11-23-2012, 04:13 AM

I bought the SKIL from Home Depot with a metal blade. I think is was just over a hundred dollars. But the feature that I love on it is the laser light that projects a line in front of your cut.
Don

rleffler · #4 11-23-2012, 04:46 AM

There isn't much difference with the inexpensive saws found at the local retailers. I bought a ryobi which worked well, but blades were hard to find. Fortunately, there are places on the net to get custom blades made that are inexpensive.

Most of these also have 9" clearance between the blade and the body of the saw. This created a few situations were I had to get creative to make the cuts. With that said, while a larger bandsaw would nice, I'm not sure it's worth the expense.

Wingnut · #5 11-23-2012, 05:11 AM

I was fortunate to find the 14" Rigid bandsaw at a Home a depot that was selling them off as they were no longer going to carry them at that location. I got it for 1/2 price (about $180 IIRC). Unfortunately, they no longer stock the 93.5" blades there. I'm hoping that Lowes has them in store. The wood blade works well for aluminum. I was able to pick up the Rigid drill press in the same manner. Both have worked extremely well (wish my 30 gal Kobalt air compressor had lasted more than two years!).

larrynew · #6 11-23-2012, 07:02 AM

My 10" Craftsman with the blade DanH recommended has worked great.

http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...4&postcount=14

woodmanrog · #7 11-23-2012, 07:06 AM

Check on Ebay for a good 14" bandsaw. I have been in woodworking for 50 years and found this is the best value for the buck. Whether it be a Delta or off brand will not make much difference but you will find this size is suitable for most woodworking or metal cutting that you need to do. Look for at least a 1/2 HP motor or larger so that you can change blades from anywhere from 1/8" to 1/2" with no slowdown. Use a metal cutting blade for metal and a wood blade for wood. Extra blades can be ordered to size from my favorite shop in Miami called Smith Hamilton Shop. Ask for Valerie and tell her Roger sent you.

aarvig · #8 11-23-2012, 07:43 AM

I bought the biggest bench mounted Craftsman and went with a custom made 18TPI blade that was 1/4 inch wide. Works great for me. The custom blades I had to have made through a local saw shop...9 bucks a piece (Twin Cities Saw). You need a higher TPI to work with aluminum and you need the blade thin enough so you make make corners relatively easily.
Good Luck...

DonFromTX · #9 11-23-2012, 07:46 AM

Although a lover of fine tools, I bought the El Cheapo Harbor Freight bandsaw, and it has served me well in my build, no complaints.

NYTOM · #10 11-23-2012, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by larrynew

My 10" Craftsman with the blade DanH recommended has worked great.

http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...4&postcount=14

I second this recommendation!

I bought a 10" Sears Craftsman over a decade ago and it has worked on 99% of the cuts and I'm just about done with all the aluminum work. I agree with the blade recommendations too. A metal cutting blade with 14 teeth per inch cuts aluminum like butter and I think I used maybe four blades to date and I screwed up a couple of those trying to cut stainless or something else I shouldn't have been trying to cut with it.

It's a portable table model so it doesn't tend to get in the way like a larger stand alone saw and the blades are only as far away as the nearest Sear's tool department or a Internet connection.