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Portaband question, why do so many people use these Vs a dedicated bandsaw?

I've been really very happy with my black line jet bandsaw at work. Thought it would be similar to the jet cream colored standard stuff, but it is actually decent. Shifting high to low is a bear, only complaint.

Hate using a porta and. I'm not always convinced it is better than abravise discs. Or a torch.

A combo sander would be more handy in the garage than a bandsaw though
 
GLTHFJ60 said:
Are you talking about the more expensive model that Hf produces or something else? I've been eyeballing this for a while.

www.harborfreight.com

1 HP 7 In. x 12 In. Hydraulic Feed Metal Cutting Band Saw

Amazing deals on this 1Hp 7In X 12In Metal Cutting Band Saw at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com www.harborfreight.com
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Now that’s a nice looking machine.

Good features and the price wouldn’t be bad if it qualifies under one of their coupons.
 
jamscal said:
There used to be a company called Enco that sold the import band saws of slightly higher quality than HF. They were made in Taiwan.

I did the journey from a 4x6, to a 7x12, to a Turn-Pro 7x12 swivel head before moving on up to US and Japanese stuff. No complaints and those saws helped my business at each level.

Enco was so cheap I did well on resale, and probably sold the swivel head for more than I paid for it, as prices rose.

All the saws are very similar or the same from "maker" to "maker". Sometimes the 7x12 is called a 7x10 1/2 but the blade size will be the same. Baileigh, Grizzly make them and other random brands will pop up from time to time. Enco became absorbed into MSC and they have Vectrax branded stuff. Same thing but too expensive.
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Enco had some really good stuff back in the day.

It was all looked down on at the time, but the fact that they got bought out should tell you something.
 
Byro said:
One of the belt/disc boys? Another piece I’ve been considering.
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IMO the disc is near worthless.

35 years in the trades and I can count on one hand the anoint of times I’ve seen them used.

My list of shop tools for someone starting out would be Drillpress, a good Bandsaw, and next would be a Belt sander.
 
I have a delta 12 inch disc 6x48 belt combo. I use the belt most of the time because swaping them out is easy and the discs don't last long and swapping them out is a pita. In these combo units the discs and belts are driven off the same shaft and rotate at the same speed. The belt would be much more effective if it spun twice as fast but that much speed would be too much for the disc. In a perfect world they would be separate units
 
easier to just keep different grits on the disc vs belt rather than swapping the belt often.

i dunno, i use the belt more than the disc, but certainly use the disc often enough to be happy to have it.
 
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