Handheld bandsaw

[bigegg]

I'm thinking of buying myself a "woodstar PB06" handheld bandsaw to use in place of
the 115mm angle grinder with 1mm cutting disks I use now.

Mainly for cutting mild steel - box section steel up to 100mm square and 4mm thick, but mainly 25mm square x 2mm and 50mmx50mmx5mm angle.
I do quite a lot of coping, of both the box and angle, so not always "straight-through" cuts.

I'm a bit worried that a "handheld" bandsaw is a bit of a gimmick, rather than a serious tool.

so has anyone used one? owned one?
are they any good? Would I be better off getting a 12" abrasive chopsaw/evo rage 355mm/4x6" horizontal bandsaw?

 

[KemppiFrog]

Don't know it, but the clue might be in the name. Woodyard I frequented used one to shape the ends of beams. Easier to twiddle the hand held than swing a 6mtr beam in a fixed band saw. You might use a woodsaw for non-ferrous, but not steel.

Ooops! Just googled it. MM no longer sell it, wonder why?

 

[cumbriasteve]

Have been using a Clarke bandsaw for over 2 years now and would not be without it, the beauty is you can set it off and get on with something else while it does the cut.

I have a jar of good cutting fluid and always brush a bit along the cut line, my blades seem to last well beyond what I would expect.

Have never used a hand held, can imagine them being handy for site work but not sure how it or the blade would react to difference in pressure and slight movement whilst sawing..can just imagine snagging..but may be wrong about that.

 

[astro_al]

Hand held metal bandsaws seem much more popular in the states than here (where I've never seen one). Google portaband and do some reading, they seem very handy and well liked.

Al

 

[brightspark]

hand held bandsaw

if u spend a few hundred quid on a new good quality one there ok. heating engineers use them on site for cutting out steel pipes in situ ect thats about all they are good for

 

[shenion]

I had a Portaband (Milwaulkee) that worked flawlessly. The only reason I sold it was i needed the $$$.

I made a stand for it and used it as a chop saw

 

[Tin Can]

Shenion

Do you have any photos / drawings of the stand you built for the portable band saw. I puchased the model in the original opening post about 3 years ago and due to circumstances have only just been able to clear out my garage to get it to a 'small DIY hobbyist workshop so i have only just regained access to it. When i brought it the first thought i had was that it needed a stand as when i had a 'play' with it you needed quite s steady hand. Bigegg, Pennys (or Dollars in the case of Shenion) wouldnt stretch to a conventional band saw and i saw this a duel/portable/fixed device for my money (if i made up a stand)

 

[shenion]

Here's the stand i made:

Real simple, just some 1.5" angle iron. The piece of angle used as a guide has a bolt welded to it then ground off (shiny spot just right of the cut.) A flat piece welded on the back of the guide allows a C-clamp to be used to hold the guide at the angle.

Saw is mounted by two holes it had in the the saddle (I may have drilled and tapped one.)

I think it took me 20 minutes to make.

 

[Tin Can]

Thanks Shenion - much appreciated -Mark