Anyone have any experience with the benchtop band saws like the one from Northern tool?
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200660083
Need to add a small semi portable saw to my shop.
I have a portable benchtop band saw. Very similar but not the same. And af course to motor voltage is different too.
It's made in China and had me worried. At the time I was considering this saw, the next model up which is not portable but made in Taiwan and therefore better build quality with vertical cutting capability, and a cold saw.
I chose this one for the portability and hopefully repeatable angle of cut repeatability.
Had it for over a year now and use it often. Rarely goes to site. It has a sturdy cast aluminium base, machined for build quality. The vise is strong and holds well. Using Starret blades it cuts well although much slower than a cold chop saw. Once the protractor was initially adjusted, cut angle is dead accurate in both directions and repeatable every time. I love the saw for this. I can cut 4" sched 40 pipe no problem. You can't lean on it, you have to let it do its thing or you will jam or break the blade. I can't really fault the build quality even though it's from China, and I'm really happy with it. Cut plenty of 1" barstock, big thick angles, channels and RHS (square tube), sched 40 pipes.
If I had the time over would I buy it again?
No, because I mostly do pipework on site and it hasn't replaced 5" angle grinder with wafer blade as I thought it might.
I would buy instead the next model up (Taiwanese) for faster cuts and vertical cutting capability and leave it in the shop.
If I was doing handrail work or other small scale site fabrication then it would be ideal for this.
Do I regret buying it?
Hell no, I love it. Great square and mitre cold cuts, no abrasive grit all over the shop, no smoke and black soot up my nose. No sparks flying everywhere.
Makes shop fabrication a joy.
- BS1.jpg (60.79 KiB) Viewed 1794 times
I chose this one for the portability and hopefully repeatable angle of cut repeatability.
Had it for over a year now and use it often. Rarely goes to site. It has a sturdy cast aluminium base, machined for build quality. The vise is strong and holds well. Using Starret blades it cuts well although much slower than a cold chop saw. Once the protractor was initially adjusted, cut angle is dead accurate in both directions and repeatable every time. I love the saw for this. I can cut 4" sched 40 pipe no problem. You can't lean on it, you have to let it do its thing or you will jam or break the blade. I can't really fault the build quality even though it's from China, and I'm really happy with it. Cut plenty of 1" barstock, big thick angles, channels and RHS (square tube), sched 40 pipes.
If I had the time over would I buy it again?
No, because I mostly do pipework on site and it hasn't replaced 5" angle grinder with wafer blade as I thought it might.
I would buy instead the next model up (Taiwanese) for faster cuts and vertical cutting capability and leave it in the shop.
If I was doing handrail work or other small scale site fabrication then it would be ideal for this.
Do I regret buying it?
Hell no, I love it. Great square and mitre cold cuts, no abrasive grit all over the shop, no smoke and black soot up my nose. No sparks flying everywhere.
Makes shop fabrication a joy.
Flat out like a lizard drinkin'
- MosquitoMoto
-
Weldmonger
-
Posts:
-
Joined:Sat Aug 01, 2015 8:38 am
-
Location:The Land Down Under
Gotta say this is most likely my next saw.
I am so sick of the sparks, abrasive, soot and crap covering everything in my shed.
Moz
I am so sick of the sparks, abrasive, soot and crap covering everything in my shed.
Moz
another one to consider if you need a little more capacity is the HF 4x6 horizontal band saw. I bought it with a coupon and it has turned out to be the best $200 I ever spent. Just be sure to upgrade the blade. cuts fast, square enough for my purposes, and it is very quiet. I will build a new stand for it however. the one it comes with is too tippy and the saw is too low to the ground for my roller stands. But honestly I have been impressed with it.
Multimatic 255
I bought this one last year, which looks exactly like what you're thinking as well. I love it, once I replaced the crappy stock blade with a bi-metal blade. It did take me a bit of time to setup to make sure it cut square and I had to adjust my cutting technique to make sure I didn't apply too much pressure and deflect the blade when cutting. But other than that, ten times better than my abrasive saw, clean, quiet etc.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GN ... UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GN ... UTF8&psc=1
I have considered one of the evolution saws. The cons i see to my situation are local blade availability. There is a local place that will make any band saw blade but probably could only find the 10" evolution blades maybe. Saw will also be pulling double duty cutting for my mill and lathe so I like the much thinner kerf of a band saw.