Portable Horizontal Bandsaw

Herro everyone,

Its time for me to buy my bandsaw. I was looking into getting a Femi NG 120XL but was wondering if anyone else could recommend anything fairly equal. My requirements are mostly that it needs to be a horizontal/vertical that has a fairly small footprint. It will be stored on a shelf when not fabricating anything and then will be out on a bench when in use. Accuracy would also be a huge plus. It must be able to cut 3" round stock at a 45 as a minimum.
The harbor freight saw would sorta work if it wasn't so darn big. I have VERY limited space in my garage and it would just be too much in there.

I've been eyeballing a Dewalt portaband, and the possibly building or buying a stand for it to make it kinda like an upright bandsaw. I haven't (yet) seen any stands that can convert a portaband into a horizontal bandsaw, but it seems like it should be possible to fabricate one. Wouldn't be as nice as that Femi, but for me, the convertability (if that's a word?) would be a plus. I'm also limited on space, so I feel your pain. I'd love to have the space for a dedicated metal shop (and a wood shop, and a bike shop, etc etc), but alas, it is not to be.

Muttonhawq I think Swag Off Road has a vertical stand for the Dewalt.

Regards M J Mauer Andover, Ohio

That's exactly the one I was thinking of. :) I didn't want to mention them by name again, because after talking about their hydraulic press brake a few weeks ago, I don't want to appear as a shill. I have no affiliation with them - and I don't even own any of their products (yet) - but it seems like well-designed and well-made stuff.

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Originally Posted by zedron

Herro everyone,

Its time for me to buy my bandsaw. I was looking into getting a Femi NG 120XL but was wondering if anyone else could recommend anything fairly equal. My requirements are mostly that it needs to be a horizontal/vertical that has a fairly small footprint. It will be stored on a shelf when not fabricating anything and then will be out on a bench when in use. Accuracy would also be a huge plus. It must be able to cut 3" round stock at a 45 as a minimum.
The harbor freight saw would sorta work if it wasn't so darn big. I have VERY limited space in my garage and it would just be too much in there.

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Talk about over priced,,,$1300,00 is way too much for what you are getting,,,,Harbour freight can probably give you 4 of theirs for that money...accuracy in a bandsaw is achived by taking the time to properly adjust the saw,,,,something most people cannot be bothered with,,that Fermi will never stand up to the use my cheapo 4 x 6 has,,,cause the Fermi is variable speed which means it runs on brushes and unless you have a pocket full of brushes to replace them as they wear out, it won't stand up to continuious use...like cutting 3 inch round stock,,,the Fermi would be a good saw for someone cutting tube or pipe,,,it's portable easy to move,,but not for heavy day in day out use

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Originally Posted by m j mauer

Muttonhawq I think Swag Off Road has a vertical stand for the Dewalt.

Regards M J Mauer Andover, Ohio

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I was planning on getting their hydraulic tube bender adapter. They seem to make good stuff.

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Originally Posted by geezer

Talk about over priced,,,$1300,00 is way too much for what you are getting,,,,Harbour freight can probably give you 4 of theirs for that money...accuracy in a bandsaw is achived by taking the time to properly adjust the saw,,,,something most people cannot be bothered with,,that Fermi will never stand up to the use my cheapo 4 x 6 has,,,cause the Fermi is variable speed which means it runs on brushes and unless you have a pocket full of brushes to replace them as they wear out, it won't stand up to continuious use...like cutting 3 inch round stock,,,the Fermi would be a good saw for someone cutting tube or pipe,,,it's portable easy to move,,but not for heavy day in day out use

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I was also looking at their smaller version which is roughly $500. The thing with the HF 4x6 is that it is way to big for my garage. I have to have something that is as small as possible yet still cut what I need to cut. I will be cutting 3-4" tube and no larger than 2" pipe with it 95% of the time.

As others have said, a portable bandsaw with the table from SWAG is the way to go. Unless you have an awful lot of time or other things to do while a horizontal bandsaw eases its way through a cut, you probably won't be very happy.

It's hard to believe just how slowly these things cut compared to the traditional uprights.