Has anyone here purchased a portable bandsaw and table such as the one made by SWAG shown in picture. I have a 14" wood bandsaw I use for aluminum and thin steel sheet metal but have been relying on angle grinder and cut off wheels or hack saw for thicker steel. Steel bandsaws are quite expensive and take up quite a bit of room although I'd certainly like to own one. Anyone have a portable and table if so what brand names.
Yes I have had one for a couple years, and I use it more than just about anything else in the shop. It makes a very handy tool
I have a milwaukee portable saw. I made a stand out of wood and a small table out of a piece of 2 x 4 x 1/8 rectangular tube, it gives me a table about 4x4. The only downside is your limited to about 5" depth of cut but with pre-planning you can go bigger but it really good for smaller parts. Phil
With your band saw you already have do what I did with my craftman bandsaw. Put a dc motor and controller with a bigger pulley, now I can speed up or slow it down with a twist of a knob
I have the SWAG stand that has four legs. It does not require the vice to hold it. Well built, works great. Doesn’t take up a lot of space.
i have one exactly like HRP's only about 40 years older. i have seen many different brand names on that same machine, all from Asia, but they work good. mine had two threaded holes on the front roller so you can mount a small table and use it vertical if you wish. common as hell, i see them at auctions cheap quite often. i think mine was around 50 bucks when i bought it
I've got an older craftsman upright with the optional 2 speed box on the bottom. It does ok but sometimes I think one like HRP shows would be better but then I have a chop saw too so I guess it's kind of a draw....
I had one of those cheap Asian band saws like Hotrodprimmer has, but mine wasn't so pretty, it didn't work near as well as his apparently does either. Mine could be used as a band saw like his was, or it could be stood up and used like a table saw if you added the little table that came with it. The 1st one worked pretty good, but I used it in a shop that didn't have heat. That was really hard on the electric motor and after about a year, that little motor burned up. I probably should have just replaced the motor, and that thought did cross my mind, but the entire saw was covered under a 2 year warranty. Unfortunately, that warranty was for a full replacement, not just the motor. The "new" saw was a pile of crap. It was hard on saw blades, and there wasn't enough adjustments to get the blade to track correctly. The new blades would make about 4 or 5 straight cuts (in either cutting position) before it would start to cut crooked. With the saw in the vertical position, you could turn the metal enough to get a somewhat straight cut for another 15 or so cuts before the blade died. Not surprising, the warranty would only cover a non-functioning saw, and it didn't cover blade life. I tried several different sources of blades, but the issue was with the saw, not the blades. I dealt with it a few years and used it less and less before it just took up space. One day, some guy came by my shop and just had o have that saw, even though I told him about the blade life issue and the non-adjust ability of the blade angles. He insisted I take $100 for that saw, so I did. In hindsight, maybe I would have been much more happy if I would have put the new motor on that 1st saw, but I can't go back and change things I did in the past. Those cheap Asian saws are now going for around $200, maybe you will get a good one, maybe not. Gene
The original Grizzlys (like HRP's) and other odd names came from Taiwan and were really quite good quality. I have one that is about 30 years old and it works a treat. The new ones available now invariably Chinese and the quality just isn't there. If you can get your hands on a Taiwanese one grab it.
I have an early SWAG off road bench top stand with Milwaukee bandsaw. I was going to add the later model miter push bar but have to twist object to get perfectly straight cut after neighbor borrowed saw. I suspect he crowded it and warped blade. I'll change the blade out one of these days. I zip tied the trigger and added a HF pedal on-off switch so I can feed with two hands.
Use an old bicycle to make a cheap conversion like this one. (not mine) You can find the saws on Craigslist for $100/$150...........
I have the SWAG table with harbor freight portaband. By far my go to method for cutting up to 1/4" thick straight cuts as long as I can work with the 5" throat depth. What I love is the mess is very confined when you're done ... whisk off the table and bench below and that's it. Compare that to cutting disks, plasma cutters etc ( which I have , but use much less since I purchased the bandsaw)
I also have one of the Taiwan drop saw like Hotrodprimer, bought it in the mid 80’s, and it has worked fine. Went thru and adjusted all of the guides and it’ll cut nice and straight. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I have a jet upright wood bandsaw that I installed a gear reduction motor on...most used tool in shop and have cut 2" bar stock many times easily...I have the HSS blades made up by our local Johnson Industrial
Huh........I thought SWAG was an acronym for "Silly Wild Ass Guess". I thought that was how engineers design things !
I've got an off brand off shore band saw that tries to imitate what the one HRP showed is that I use a lot. Far less mess than my chop saw too. I bought mine used and had to place all the bearings/rollers but it does a reasonably decent job. One of those Swag stands and porta band saw would sure be something that got used a lot though. I see all kinds of possibilities there.
I have one of the early SWAG units you put in the vice with a Millwaukie portaband , and I use one of those spring loaded clamps to hold the trigger down. It works awesome and is one of the handiest tools in the shop for doing clean cuts on brackets, etc. easy clean up, not real noisy, no dust, no smoke, just a great tool from a great company. I would love to have a big metal cutting band saw in the shop, but the reality is my little SWAG unit works fantastic. My best friend went to collage with the owner/engineer of SWAG, and I have known him since I was in my early 20's. great guy to do business with. He always has a booth at the Portland Swap Meet (inside at the EXPO), and usually has some swap meet specials.
I have the swag stand, mounted a Milwaukee saw and am quite happy with the combination. I sprung for the foot control switch which I like a lot. It is great for making exhaust pipe cuts. B
I through this together the day I bought the saw so I could start cutting right away. The stand swag sells is a lot nicer but I've been happy using it the way it is. Before spending any more time or money on this I'd want to upgrade to a full size band saw. Phil
Been using my homemade portable bandsaw for years. Built the entire roadster using it and still use it all the time! Here's a write-up on how I made it...... https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143508
I have two semi portable band saws. I had the horizontal one first and made the table for it. The up rite saw I made very adjustable as far as speed with 2 different belts and being able to lock to one pulley from turning. Gary
The Jalopy Journal
