[Donut]

Originally Posted by DaveL

Hi
I looked at each image and they look to be nearly the same except for the doors. The PowerTec lists the saw at a 1/2 hp, but both HF and Skil say their saw is 2.5 amps.

Using this online calculator for 110v and 90% eff, I get .3 hp.
So I would not buy the PowerTec just because it claims a 1/2 hp motor.

For the last 5 years we have been using a similar band saw made by Ryobi.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-2-5...S904/100593258

Home Depot was nice enough to donate it to us. So if they all cost the same, I would say buy it at HD. They also stock wood and metal cutting blades.

Our band saw cuts sheet aluminum and wood just fine. You can even make a cut with a moderate curve. It comes with a miter gage, but the saw doesn't track well enough to make its use worthwhile. Cutting 1" square aluminum tube is slow going thru the wall at the beginning and end of the cut.

A small band saw can cut a long piece of stock, but if the material is longer than 9" you will have to angle the stock to miss the throat. Just remember to mount the band saw in a location where the material will fit.

We also have a metal cutting chop saw, with a 2 hp motor and a big blade. Infrequent mentors much prefer the slower and less powerful band saw.

If you overpower the cut, the blade will stop and the motor will stall. Quickly turn off the machine, remove the piece and start over.

Dave
Build Mentor

We have this same Ryobi bandsaw, and found many of the same limitations. It cuts wood fine, works on thin sheet aluminum and lexan but is annoying for cutting box tubing and L brackets when you hit the side wall. We brought it to the week 0 scrimmage in AZ last year and went through a new blade in one day when it served as the community band saw. Since almost all our cuts were on long tubing pieces we are looking at alternatives as the low power and throat limitation lowered our productivity (we didn't have a chop saw so it frequently meant hacksaw and a freshman).

Originally Posted by BJT

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51EWtnOcqZL.jpg

I have one of these, Makes crooked cuts in aluminum just as good as any other cheap bandsaw.

I'd like to get some feedback on how well these handheld bandsaws work. We borrowed one at a scrimmage and the Regional last year from my old team and I felt it was much more effective than the ~$100 tabletop saw above. I'm strongly considering getting one before build season this year and then only using the table top saw for cuts in large sheets.