Searching for a small quiet metal saw

CarlosA said:
How noisy are these? The older ones I've used have been screaming noisy like a circular saw.
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I have a newer model Portaband, bought it a year ago, it's a joy to use. Portaband bandsaws are great bandsaws,powerful & versatile but they are noisy, I would describe the noise as 2 to 3 times noisier than a sewing machine.
 
CarlosA said:
Anyone have any experiences or suggestions? I currently have a 4x6 bandsaw inside my (apartment) spare room machine shop - i`m looking to reclaim the floor space and get something that would be better suited to the top of a bench for making cuts. I primarily use it for cut off purposes - like a 2" round aluminum rod for turning, etc. Whatever I find needs to be bench size and as quiet as the 4x6 - preferably even quieter with less vibration to please the neighbors. Otherwise maybe I can kick this thing out on the porch and make that work somehow, I just don`t really want it to rust away.

I also have a hand-i-hack saw in storage that didn`t really solve the problem.

I almost think a small vertical metal cutting bandsaw might do the job, but not sure about cutting off larger diameters?

Please tell me what has worked for you, or of anything you might have seen that was impressive. I don`t have much of a budget for this - sky is the limit to solve this annoying problem.
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I've seen a couple of you tube videos of adapting a portable band saw (Milwaukee or equivalent) to hold vertical on a bench. Check out OUTSIDE SCREWBALL for his example. As stated above, others have adapted the movable section of a 4 X 6 unit like yours to a vertical configuration.

Edit: Being curious I searched Outside Screwball's videos & came up with QUICKIE 3 Milwaukee Portable Bandsaw Stand posted 3 years ago. His holding fixture lets him set up the portable bandsaw in a vertical orientation very quickly and is quite simple.

Several other similar videos also surfaced which might be worth viewing consideration.
 
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Handi-hack-saw? Never heard of that one. Not to seem foolish but is a hand powered hacksaw out of the question?
Dave
 
If you don't mind working off the floor, I took my 4x6 and threw away the stand. Mounted it on a couple of pieces of 4x4 wood, and slide it under the bench when not working with it.
 
Littlemachineshop.com has a nice little benchtop bandsaw. Sort of a miniature of the 4 x 6 floor bandsaws. I bought one and have been generally happy with it. It's quite. And takes up very little desktop space. My main complaint is I always try to cut larger stock and end up ruining the blades. It has a two speed switch: low for cutting metal and high for softer materials, like plastic and wood.

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Cutting 2" aluminium, this little saw would be ideal.

Glenn
 
Glenn Brooks said:
Littlemachineshop.com has a nice little benchtop bandsaw. Sort of a miniature of the 4 x 6 floor bandsaws. I bought one and have been generally happy with it. It's quite. And takes up very little desktop space. My main complaint is I always try to cut larger stock and end up ruining the blades. It has a two speed switch: low for cutting metal and high for softer materials, like plastic and wood.

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Cutting 2" aluminium, this little saw would be ideal.

Glenn
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I was interested in this one. All of the knockoffs ive seen on youtube have been very noisy.

The port-a-band method seems like a good one, maybe I can adapt a quiet variable speed DC motor to take the edge off of it.
 
ELHEAD said:
Handi-hack-saw? Never heard of that one. Not to seem foolish but is a hand powered hacksaw out of the question?
Dave
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Here is a google images photo of it. It is very quiet, but also kind of limited and much slower than the 4x6 bandsaw. Uses a standard power tool motor 1725 RPM, with a rubber bushing between the motor and the worm drive. I also do use the vertical mode of the 4x6 from time to time, and its easier to rig up a way to cut pieces much larger than it was designed. I have a big pile of thick aluminum plate (1/2" to 2") that I sometimes need to cut off a piece for whatever i`m doing.

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I agree. I don't have any quieter metal saw than my band saw. Even a torch or a mill makes more noise.
 
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