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The humble Port-A-Band

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Joined
Jan 3, 2014
Messages
6,143
Location
Wisconsin
A couple of us on here love our milwaukee Portabands. I
I know Kevin and I do.

I've used these since my early apprentice days and have loved them ever since. The portability offers numerous advantages without sacrificing quality of work capacity.

I figured I'd post this for those looking for a bandsaw but lack room. Portabands are durable and blades are cheap. They run at a low RPM and cut serious metal......accurately once you get used to it.

I'm building a table, basically a replica of the one pictured below on my 1940's Sears bandsaw.
20161209_144736.jpg

The table is for my profile belt sander. I like the simplicity and rawness of my old bandsaw table, so that's my project.

Below shows how nice it is to use a portaband. Look carefully, the portaband is cutting a miter at 45° 1/8" think steel. With a steady hand it cuts it flat and straight.
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Because it's portable you can cut on clamped parts anywhere.
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If you look closely above the saw is cutting a nice miter on that 1/8" steel.

And it's accurate in my welding jig. You can see the cut-offs, all this from a stout portable saw.
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Here in the jig mitered, clamped and ready for welding.
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When it comes to homebuilding airplanes and equipping a shop with tools, I wouldn't even do it unless I have one. My standard bandsaw really doesn't get used much.

Scrap
 
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