Daswulf Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 Saw these about a year ago and wanted one bad. They were out of stock every time I went there. Finally went there looking for ratchet straps to help haul home some sliding boards for the kids and thought to look and they had them. They went up about $20. But still worth it vs. the alternative. I have a bauer corded hand held saw and the milwaukee. It will work for both and has brackets to fit hercules, bauer, milwaukee and dewalt. I set mine up for the table to cut for frederick crosses and other cuts. It is well built and heavy gauge. Not flimsy junk. Just sharing incase anyone might find use in it. You would have to remove the table to change a blade. In my limited testing so far it works great. It also has a trigger lock and release lever to build onto it. Cool tool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lary Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 Have you tried it as it's pictured in the ad.? Second picture. Just wondering if there is enough weight to use it as a stationary band saw. In other words, set it up to cut something and walk a way from it while it does the work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted February 21 Author Share Posted February 21 I haven't yet. I just got it setup and tried it as a stand up so far. The shock that is on it would make you manually lower it for the cut as it is strong and holds it in the open position. The shock is easily removable with a twist clip. I dont know if the free weight of the portaband would be too heavy on the blade for cutting proper or not messing the blade up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Is it a "shock" or a hydraulic cylinder you can let feed down by opening a needle valve? That's the setup on my Jet horizontal Vertical bandsaw. It's one of my favorite power tools. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 It is a shock like you see on some car hoods and hatch gates. (Working on cars that is the best example i can thing of. But it is a sealed shock as far as I saw. I would love to have a good bandsaw like a jet but it isnt in my budget. Was gifted the bauer corded portaband and bought the milwaukee cordless for field work. This can use both. For the price it is both vertical and horizontal for the same money. The base for horizontal has 3 set bolts and it is on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 I did a little searching and finally found something hopefully useful. The pic below is a kit I found using the search terms "horizontal bandsaw downfeed cylinder". There are lots of companies making replacements and conversion kits, "Practical Machinist" has discussions and directions for making them. Frosty The Lucky. Funny thing, Doc's Machine, the maker of the pictured cylinder is in Homer Alaska and is a major paint baller and cartoonist. I noticed after I selected this image. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 That is a cool cylinder Frosty. I don't know if this thing would have the room for something like that but someone clever could certainly make it fit somehow. I have an old hydraulic cylinder (ram?) i hooked up to air once to see if it worked and it did. Its a bit bigger but still haven't found a need for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Ahh, I forgot to send a pic of how they mount! <arghh> This is just one way, you can extend the bottom end horizontally along the bed though that mount needs a bolt flange on the cylinder rod. Heck, I think this one is home built. Ah HAH, it's from Mike's Workshop! He's an online maker of things. The second pic is labeled "Hot sale" feed cylinder but I didn't see who had them on sale so a pic is it. Anyway, there are lots of these things, they've been used since before the beginning of the last century. The plumbing on the second pic. is to give the hyd. fluid somewhere to go when you open the needle valve, it just moves from bottom to top when the saw head is going down and back to the bottom when you lift the head up. Closing the valve locks the head where it is. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lary Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 The 64 1/2 inch stationary Dayton bandsaw I use at work doesn't have a cylinder. I'm very careful about lowering slowly onto the workpiece. I'm guessing it was bought back in the 80's? It's a real common style I see at auctions. Took a close look at that red one at harbor freight and it is pretty much identical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 11 Author Share Posted March 11 Have a piece of steel 4"x3.5"x9.5" that has a hole in it 2.5". Want to make an early type stake anvil out of it. I tried my 4.5" grinder on it but was getting the cut crooked. Thought I would try out the portaband on it. Sure with the other part being a vertical cut might have gone faster but tried it in the horizontal. Cut just fine with little pressure on it. Ready to weld a shank on, then dress it. Debating welding on a small horn. Anyway I am finding this useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 I LOVE my Jet horizontal vertical bandsaw one of my more valuable tools. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Did it cut fairly square? Looks like it but you know.... Just curiosity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 11 Author Share Posted March 11 Not to bad for eyeballing it. Doesn't need to be perfect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yesteryearforge Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 I bought one of these I have an older milwaukee deep throat port a band but I cant seem to get it to cut anywhere near square when using tit horizontal. Any Tips ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 5 hours ago, yesteryearforge said: using tit horizontal !?!? Ahhhh, I LOVE a good typo. You've brightened my day, thank you kindly. Do you have the manual for the saw? Correct tension on the blade does NOT mean get it as tight as possible, that is a B A D thing. I assume the blade is square to the table and you have a guide so you push it straight. Yes, no maybe? The other main cause of bandsaws cutting crooked is a dull blade. Your #1 trouble shooting step is to put a new blade in it and NOT as fine as possible try for the "3 teeth on the work" rule. More teeth invites the cuttings to build up under the teeth causing it to wander or gall and jam. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yesteryearforge Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 was not asking about the saw was asking about the item that holds the saw thar Daswulf posted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 Sorry. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted May 16 Author Share Posted May 16 I honestly haven't used it horizontally yet. I would bed it has to do with how it is mounted. It comes with different brackets for some different brand saws. You probably used the milwaukee hardware. Is there any adjustment that might square it up for a straighter cut? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike BR Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 I’d check what Frosty said, too. If blade isn’t set up right, it will wander no matter how well you mount the saw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 On 3/10/2024 at 10:29 PM, Daswulf said: tried it in the horizontal I thought you meant you used it horizontally too, but were you talking about the material? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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