tool question

I'm going buy a saw to cut steel and pipe, what would be the best a chop saw or a horizontal band saw? Also whats a decent brand, are clark and jet cheap junk? I want one that will cut angles like 45's . If i buy a chop saw i'll prob.buy a millwaukee, but i'm leaning towards the band saw, thanks.

 

I haven't tried a band saw, but do have a chop saw and the downside is that is EXTREMELY noisy in an incredibly irritating way....not good unless you live alone with no neighbors and even then wear ear protection

 

Have both and have not used the chop saw since I got the band saw. Mine is a Jet and seems to be much better than the HF stuff. Besides being noisey chop saws throw sparks and **** everywhere.

 

Band saw, hands down.

Frank

 

Thanks ive been looking at the jet, looks like it would do what i want just was wondering about the quality.

 

I have a Jet band saw and t's pretty nice. Better than HF stuff I think.

 

Band saw for sure. We use the Grizzly industrial. No smoke and stinky *** residue plus you don't have to grind every cut to remove the burnt edge>>>>.

 

The Jet is great. I have a HF one and as soon as I put a good blade in it it ran like a champ. I'm actually quite happy with it. Check out this thread on weldingweb-

http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=19172

 

One thing to add is that machine shops don't like to work on metal that you cut off with a chop saw as it heats the metal so hot it hardens that section and it is rough on tool bits.

I have a good chop saw but wish I had a decent band saw instead.

 

Thanks everyone for the good info. Yea i think i'm going to get the bandsaw, now to decide on what brand.

 

The Harbor Freight 4x6 band saw has a HUGE following--do a google search, and you'll find thousands of postings on these saws. The biggest downfall of them is the ****py stand they come on. A little after-engineering of the guides, tensioners, etc. doesn't hurt, but these are pretty good units.
I've got a cheap horizontal band saw (probably HF) I picked up at a swap meet for $100, and love it.
I've also got a Craftsman chop saw. It also has it's place. I did a ton of shopping around, and chose the Craftsman over all the others. I chose it for the following reasons: Better motor (I don't remember the specifics...I remember taking a lot of notes, and it came out on top)
The solid steel base won't dent like the sheetmetal bases
The offset arbor lets you cut with a smaller diameter wheel. You'll wear down the abrasive wheel, and it gets smaller. If the arbor simply runs through the body of the motor, the motor will actually contact the work piece, effectively bottoming out your wheel before it cuts through.
It has a sliding lever to lock the top half of the machine in place during transport and storage. I hate the cheap little chain all the others come with.
The whole head is on a raised block, so you can get a bigger piece of material on the machine.
Adjusting the miter gauge and changing the wheel requires an allen wrench, which is included, and has a storage area on the machine so it's always there. No hunting for the right sized wrench. That may be a little thing, but I really appreciate it.

Chop saws are loud, very messy, they throw sparks (that WILL catch your lawn on fire! Ask me how I know), but they're also very fast. A band saw is much, much slower. If you're cutting rebar or want to blast through some 1x1 tubing for mock-up or quick braces, a chop saw is the way to go.

Cutting tubing for a ch***is, or something that needs a degree of precision, then a horizontal band saw is hard to beat, and the HF unit is a great bargain.

-Brad

 

I had a small HF saw, and it worked fine, gave it to a friend about a year ago; he is still using it. Replaced the HF saw with a used Jet, with 3/4" blade. I had to do some repairs to the saw when I bought it, but it is a good saw.

 

That about says it for me, except that brad is right, if you're going for quick and dirty the chop saw is perfect.

 

Band saws are nice. I have a Clark. You really have to watch cutting light tubing and thin stuff with mine because the blade will catch easy. I find for a quick cut the chop saw is better, but the band saw makes a nicer cut. Heating the edge with a chop saw is'nt an issue with cold or hot rolled steel. Tool steel I can see it.

The band saw is quiter and cleaner..... If I had to choose, I'd go with the chop saw because of the speed....
Jeff

 

I love my chop saw, it is a Makita

 

Having used a chop saw for 20 years in my muffler shop, my biggest complaint it the dirt that it generates. If you want a clean shop, you don't want a chop saw. Great for fast production but the dirt from the eroding blade goes everywhere in the shop and of course your lungs too unless you use a respirator.

 

Friend has a welding shop. He uses a cold saw. It's a chop saw with a toothed blade. Cuts are as good as a band saw. Blades last pretty good and can be resharpened. Not as noisey and doesn't throw the sparks a regular chop saw does. My 2 cents.

 

The next saw I get will be a Morse Metal Devil I use the blades in my regular circular saw and they are awesome, they are what a chop saw should be....

 

do they make a Metal Devil blade to replace the abrasive blade in a chop saw? I thought i read or saw some where there're expensive as hell but do made a very nice cut and keeps the heat down.

 

Consider a cut off saw - uses a blade with carbide teeth. No sparks. Like this example.
http://www.medfordtools.com/evolution/evo355.html

 

I have a Milwaukee Portable Band saw. Its great for keeping the noise down late at night. The only drawback to it is that it is hard to make a straight cut with it. I'm looking for a stand for it.

 

Chop saw turns too fast for the Metal Devil (Carbide) blade. It works but the blade only lasts half as long as it should.

 

Mitering Band Saw hands down. Its worth the money, Most commercial brands will cut up to 7 inch round stock no problem. Band saws do not heat up the stock material like a chop saw.
Have used chop saws and powered hack saws.

 

I would love one too. Too much $$$. I looked at a Dake, it was like 5000$

 

Prime question is pretty much, what are you willing to invest.

Dreddy, recently got a dake johnson vert-band saw with hyd table for 4800. Took some wheeling and dealing, but hell of a lot better than the old delta 20 we had.

Recently procured a Hyd-Mech semi-auto for our machine shop. Cost about 14k.

 

I have a used HF that I paid $75.00 for. Put braces between the front and rear legs to stop shakes and put a good blade on it. I use it for everything incl wood, and love it.

 

Thanks all, really good info here.