Thread: Cut off saw or Bandsaw

Horizontal bandsaw

Bandsaw for sure.
Cutoff saws are noisy, throw sparks everywhere and you have to be there for the whole cut. The bandsaws are quiet (you can use them at night) and for large cuts you can set them up and leave them to do their thing. They will also cut larger sections then the cutoff saw and most come with a dicky little vertical table which can come in hand from time to time.
Like most of these bottom end machines the typical 6x4" bandsaw needs some tweaking (mine sure did!) to make it more user friendly but there is plenty of info out there about mods, there is even a yahoo group.

Cheers,
Ew

As said prior the bandsaw would be 1st choice in most instances, if it is a friction cut off saw you are referring to.

If it was a cold cut saw it may be a little more decision making.

The friction saw would be suitable for material up to 1" or 25mm dia, any thing larger than this in solid will take a reasonable amount of time to cut and put undue load on the machine.If you went for the cheaper end of market friction saw you may find that its life cycle would be drastically reduced if cutting larger section.

Depending where you purchase cut off blades cost would not be much less than carbon blades for a small bandsaw.

If it was a cold cut saw then they would accommodate larger diameter solid pieces and perform much better.

Weight wise the friction saw would be easiest to move around and store,cold cut would probably be the heaviest and needs to be normally secured to a heavy frame which can be moveable and could also have a similar foot print to the bandsaw.

The smaller bandsaw generally have at least one pair of wheels for mobility,but you could add another for ease.

If you were going to be leaving a machine outside under cover the friction saw may be the least prone to the elements,the friction saw and bandsaw will have machined surfaces that may be prone to surface rust depending on the type of protection you can provide to their surfaces.

Just to add a little to pipeclays comments.
There are now two "cold saws" on the market.
The old "brobo" type saw, slow speed with a HSS blade(which is the one pipe clay is talking about)
and a new "cold saw" which appears to be a friction saw with a TCT blade.(and while they are good for thin stuff, they arent quiet, arent cold and arent cheap).

One more time for those that havent heard it . My bandsaw is some of the best money I've spent in my shed.

Stuart

It's looking like its a bandsaw.

I'm over in Canberra for a few days. Does anyone know if anyone sells them over here and would it fit in a SUV with the back seat down?

I've had one of those noisy sparks cutoff saws for about 10 years and now have a reasonable sized BS. I find myself using the BS in preference to the other most times. While I still cant bring myself to walk off while it's cutting, it's quieter, cost less to run and all the swarf is contained, can cut larger pieces and cuts without me hanging off it. For multiple cuts of same dimension, it's a pleasure to set up and use.

As a bonus, I can also use it on a day of total fire ban with the shed door open!

Simon

Originally Posted by simonl

. . . . it's quieter, cost less to run and all the swarf is contained, . . . .

The other thing that's not generated by a bandsaw is wheel grit and that grey gooey dust that makes an awful mess all over the shed contents. The smoked resins and grit generated by a cutting wheel is not that good for you either.

A couple of years ago I visited a trailer maker who operated out of a large home workshop. His main workshop was a 4+ car garage with a double width roller doors on the front and a single width one at the back, but because he was worried about noise and his neighbors his two friction wheel saws were located on opposite walls of a small (2m cubed) insulated garden shed inside his workshop. Either side of the garden shed was a long set of rollers at bench height that led to two small hatches on the opposite walls of the small shed so he could feed long stock through to the cut off saws. The floor of the garden shed was ankle deep in grit and swarf - I'd hate to think of what he was exposing himself to in there. He had a band saw which said was too slow for what he did and sold it to me for $100.

Have to agree with everything Ueee said (now that's different); however, have you considered a second hand power hacksaw. These days they are as cheap as chips and if you aren't in a hurry... Bandsaws and power hacksaws do take up a lot of room though, still I would never touch a friction saw again: horrible, dirty, inaccurate, noisy things.

My 2 cents worth. I have used my friction saw for cutting large pieces of tubular stuff by clamping it to the tube where it is, so the saw is only held up by the clamp. You need to have the tubing well supported. As you are not intending to build trailers etc this is probably unimportant to you. I like to look at all options where possible.

My choice would be a bandsaw tho. I have both and nearly always use the bandsaw. One other point that has not been mentioned is the difference in burrs from the 2 machines. A bandsaw will produce a tiny burr which can usually be knocked off pretty quickly with a file. It is also more accurate, causes less waste and does not get hot enough to burn.

I have not seen one in retail packaging, but if unboxed it should fit into just about any car. It is quite a bit heavier than a friction saw tho. You will probably need 2 people to maneuver it in unless you are strong.

Dean

Have a small Garrick bandsaw that is easy for me to pickup and put in the back of the ute. Great compact unit, but would take a while to cut thru large solid pieces, so no good if you are doing this kind of work all day long. Then there is no facility for coolant.

Despite its shortcomings I would still take it over the cuttoff saw thats rusting away in the corner.

Got a new toy now, a small battery powered portaband. Great for cutting 12 mm rod without sparks in the field.

Another vote for horizontal bandsaw. I'd love to be able to afford a brobo though !
Definitely don't get a friction cutoff saw unless you are just going to use it outside and don't care about accuracy.

Mate I swapped a mate a big machine vice for his worn out bandsaw 10 years ago I put new bearings in it and have feed it diet of cheap blades Despite this neglect it will be the last tool I ever sell / get rid of / fail to own the true one piece of machinery you can never live with out I love love Luuuuuuv my bandsaw

Went to M&G Engineering in Fyshwick this morning (thanks Ueee) boy oh boy are you guys spoilt with that place. I couldn't believe what they had. It was an Aladdin's Cave of toys......and one hell of an expensive visit for me!!!!

They only had the more expensive bandsaw the BS-5S so I got that in the back of the car and then went back inside and couldn't help myself. Geez I wish there was such a great bloody shop like this closer than 3 hours to me.

Anyway home now, the sons are coming around early in the morning to lift the bandsaw out of the car for me and carry it to it's new home.

Hope I didn't make a mistake buying the BS-5S, the blokes at M&G reckon it's a better saw, but when I was researching them, all I read about where the cheaper ones like the BS-4 & BS-5, anyway for better or worse I own it now.


Thanks heaps everyone for the input, much appreciated.


Nice little break over in Canberra, but it's nice to be home!

I think you will find that a 5S is a better saw - we have one at work and although not up to Heska standards it does a reasonable job.
Now all you have to think about are all those bandsaw improvement projects that litter the forum

Michael