fabricators chime in
 

which would you prefer if you could only have one?
a 14" abrasive chop saw
or a portable bandsaw

Portable bandsaw. oh wait, I haz one.

the bandsaws are nice as long as both of these tools cut the same size material.

A thread with a point. No? Chop saw then, as long as it rotated.

the point is i need one, but don't want to buy both. they will both accomplish pretty much the same thing.

chop saw worked great so far for me

i realize a chop saw works well, i've read that a bandsaw will make cleaner cuts with less noise and less mess. also will cost less in the long run due to blades lasting much longer than the abrasive discs. on the other hand, the chop saws tend to be faster and some say more portable somehow. anyone have experience with both?

i used an industrial band saw saw back in the day when i worked at a machine shop. you'd setup your material, turn it on, drop the blade down and come back later, but we were cutting much larger stock than i'd be doing

When you say portable band saw are you talking about a handlehd or a scissors type from HF or the like? I have the Grizzly scissors type and it is the most used tool in my shop. Never ever considered a remote need for a chop saw.

Here's what I have http://www.grizzly.com/products/4-x-...-Bandsaw/G0622 I was just in the home office showroom in Springfield today. Picked up a new bi-metal blade for it. Spend the money on the bi-metals. They last forever.

if you want to cut aluminum ever. the bandsaw.

this is what i meant by portable, plus i figured i could make a stand for both horizontal and vertical use.DEWALT Portable Bandsaw D28770 - eBay (item 280466141185 end time Mar-18-10 07:38:44 PDT)

i'm not familiar with a scissors type, got a link?

edit: nevermind i wasn't visualizing.....this was probably what i'd use more often

Link in post above. You can use it vertically like a stationary bandsaw as well. WAY more useful than a portable. They are good for contractors that have to lop lengths of pipe off, that is all. Truly worthless for fab work. If you are leaning that way, go chop if you can't/won't go scissors.

i'm sure i'd be cutting aluminum at some point. do you say this because of the dust or just cleanliness of the cut?

Abrasing cutting of AL sucks. That said, I do it all the time with 3" cutoff wheels in my air die grinder.

this is very likely what i'll be doing, thanks! i've read about the guys making rigs for the portables to be used that way or vertical, but the more i think about it, what will i ever be doing out there that i couldn't make due with my angle grinder?

True. I never use my angle grinder any more, though. I use the cutoff wheel in the air die grinder for everything-grinding and cutting. The little 4" angles don't do what the air one will. If I need more I break out the 7" for heavy metal removal. If you have a decent compressor, get a die grinder and some cutoff wheels.

I had a $300 Sioux die grinder and killed it. I replaced it with a $30 AmPro from Advance Auto and it has lasted longer than the Sioux so far.

no compressor yet, that's in the works too. it's funny you say that about the little cutoff wheels though. reason being is i work at a dealership and the techs use these extensively, yet when i watch them i'm constantly thinking my 4.5" angle grinder would be so much quieter and faster.

Quieter? Likely. Faster? I doubt it. Especially cutting. You have to plow through 1/4" with the grinder, whereas only 1/16" with the cutoff wheel.

plow eh? :naughty: tis my specialty, are the cutoff discs for an angle grinder that much thicker than a mini one? didn't seem so to me

No I think he is imagining a grinding wheel. You can get cutoff wheels for 4.5" grinders down to 1/32".

yeah for real, you gotta try one of these. here's what i use