Curious why people need a small bandsaw for DIY?

[C-Bag]

Before retiring, I was in the machine shop trade. As an apprentice, I became quite familiar with an old Dayton 4x6, along with larger and much more expensive saws. When I decided to get back into metalworking after retiring, my very first acquisitions were a Lincoln AC stick welder, a bench-top drill press and an HF 4x6 saw. I now have a Kalamazoo 8CW (8x16). The 4x6 gets used all the time, the Kalamazoo maybe 2-3 times per year. A 4x6 saw is one of the basic, must-have tools for metalworking. I use mine to cut wood too.

+1. I almost never get over the capacity of my 4x6. One of my only exceptions is a future project cutting some 10"w channel for a heavy duty machine bench. I'll use the plasma for that. Everything else I do the 4x6 is perfect for and I use my 14" converted verticle bandsaw for small and odd stuff as it much better suited.

 

[MontanaLon]

Because a saw is cheaper than the out of pocket expenses for our medical care.

There is quite literally nothing I have cut on the saw that I could not have done with a hacksaw. But cutting 1"x3" tool steel bar stock with a hacksaw is not for the faint of arm. Nor is it for people who have less time than money. I made tool holders for my lathe before I had my band saw. It took me the better part of 2 days of work and rest to get through those 4 cuts to make 5 pieces and while that was happening I couldn't do anything else.

After I got the saw I made another set of them. In the course of 1 evening I was able to make the 4 cuts plus after that first cut I could work on the mill to drill and tap the holes for the set screws and finish the cut edge to make it look nice. About the time I finished those operations, clunk, the next piece was ready to go through the final steps. One evening and they were all finished.

To have it done in a shop would have required a drive to find a shop locally. Then a wait for them to be finished and another drive to pick them up. Plus a per hour rate to have the cuts made.

It is kind of different here than in most of Asia. 1/2 of our population lives outside of the cities where these services are not right around the corner. I'd be willing to bet that the number of hobby tools is inversely proportional to the population density of the area.

 

[nnam]

Another thing I didn't mention is that sometimes I don't know all pieces in advance , and add mistake to it, going back and forth to a shop would burn the day versus getting things done.

 

[Mitch Alsup]

Almost everything I machine starts out as raw stock--and for this a vertical band saw is just about perfect.
On the other hand, if I have a cut that will take several minutes, a horizontal band saw is better still.
Sooner or later I will have both.

 

[homebrewed]

I own a 4x6 HF bandsaw as well. In addition to the above comments, I like to use it -- when I can -- to rough cut things like notches and so on as part of the "roughing out" step. I could (usually) do it with my mill, but since it's a small one it can take quite awhile to remove significant amounts of material. If I can cut off a 1" section with the bandsaw and leave just a few tenths (of an inch) for the mill, I'm saving a lot of time and may end up with a chunk of metal I can use for something else. I hate turning perfectly good metal into swarf if I really don't need to.

The other advantage is that I can operate the saw in its vertical position and freehand curves when I need to. I don't have a CNC machine and not particularly interested in that right now so low-tech alternatives are good.

 

[Bi11Hudson]

Way back in the day (for me anyway) I did electrical conduit work. Rigid conduit is essentially the same as water pipe, sch 40 galvanized steel. I do water piping (for myself, illegally) as well as electrical work.

For thickwall pipe, a (Milwaukee) PortaBand works better than a pipe cutter. Less clean-up. With a blade change, it does wood as well. A pipe stand, PortaBand, and power threader were acquired over the years for side work as well as for myself.

When you have the machines, why pay someone else for a cut? As time went on, I did more and more work for myself than professionally. And I have a personal philosophy that once I buy a tool, professional or personal, I never dispose of that tool.

Working in the field, doing fiber work, the job paid for the tool. It was figured into the original bid. Once the job was done, the tool was my company property. And as the company work tapered down, what was company property eventually became personal property. Blame the IRS and their depreciation tables if you want to throw mud at someone.

Eventually, I acquired a vertical machine for wood working. The PortaBand still gets used for metal work. I would like a horizontal metal cutting machine, but the PortaBand serves well and takes little room.

.

 

[NICOLAS LIN]

Before retiring, I was in the machine shop trade. As an apprentice, I became quite familiar with an old Dayton 4x6, along with larger and much more expensive saws. When I decided to get back into metalworking after retiring, my very first acquisitions were a Lincoln AC stick welder, a bench-top drill press and an HF 4x6 saw. I now have a Kalamazoo 8CW (8x16). The 4x6 gets used all the time, the Kalamazoo maybe 2-3 times per year. A 4x6 saw is one of the basic, must-have tools for metalworking. I use mine to cut wood too.

so, you decided to get back into metalworking, is this means you're working at this region? or it's just your hobby?

 

[NICOLAS LIN]

Because a saw is cheaper than the out of pocket expenses for our medical care.

There is quite literally nothing I have cut on the saw that I could not have done with a hacksaw. But cutting 1"x3" tool steel bar stock with a hacksaw is not for the faint of arm. Nor is it for people who have less time than money. I made tool holders for my lathe before I had my band saw. It took me the better part of 2 days of work and rest to get through those 4 cuts to make 5 pieces and while that was happening I couldn't do anything else.

After I got the saw I made another set of them. In the course of 1 evening I was able to make the 4 cuts plus after that first cut I could work on the mill to drill and tap the holes for the set screws and finish the cut edge to make it look nice. About the time I finished those operations, clunk, the next piece was ready to go through the final steps. One evening and they were all finished.

To have it done in a shop would have required a drive to find a shop locally. Then a wait for them to be finished and another drive to pick them up. Plus a per hour rate to have the cuts made.

It is kind of different here than in most of Asia. 1/2 of our population lives outside of the cities where these services are not right around the corner. I'd be willing to bet that the number of hobby tools is inversely proportional to the population density of the area.

well, time is money, so having a machine tools to make something is way better than just wait someone and pay to them. tks for your feedback.

 

[NICOLAS LIN]

You have to look at your cost per cut and what you are cutting. If it is small diameter stock, any kind of saw will do, even a hand saw. Cut it a little long and then machine to the correct dimension. As stock gets larger, it gets much harder to cut and you have to purchase material as close to the right size as possible if you can not easily cut it.

I spent a month in Taiwan a few years ago, it is a beautiful country.

Haha, I am glad to hear this, cheers!! Hope the virus problem go away soon!

 

[NICOLAS LIN]

Every time I've had something cut at a welding shop it's been $5 a cut when I was needing new stock. The two local welding shops that supply metal are both 45 minutes away.

well, it is not a good idea to drive 45 mins just for few cuts, besides, you have to pay for it...i think i get your point.