Harbor Freight Portaband

J

jleiwig

Well-Known Member
Currently the Harbor Freight portaband is on sale for $74.99. I have a 20% off coupon from one of my magazines which will make it ~$55. Is this a worthwhile purchase for knifemaking?

I intend to use it to make my NWGKMG clone hybrid doohickey once the plans get here (hopefully tomorrow!). Does anyone have any direct experience with it? Longevity?

I'm not expecting much since it's from HF, but a year or two would be really nice. Once I get the grinder set up I plan on making a stand and mounting it vertical.

Want to hear the kicker? I had an old 4x6 buffalo bandsaw and sold it a couple years ago to fund some woodturning tools. Got out of the wood turning and going back into steel. Hind sight is always a kick in the booty isn't it? :p
 
Get it, I just bought one using the same coupons and the same sale. Its well worth the cash, just get the 2 yr extended warranty with it, because of the coupon bringing it down to $55 it makes the 2 year warranty $10 its a no brainer, the extended warranty covers everything from accidental damage to wear and tear, I just used mine to build my Grinder using the same plans... still using the original blade too.

[EDIT] Oh yeah right now they also have an angle grinder on sale for like $17... my old man bought 2 lol...
 
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I agree. I bought one on sale, and I have it mounted vertically with a small table for it. Buy better blades (bimetal, name brands), and you'll be pleased. I also bought a cheap foot switch from Harbor Freight and clamped the trigger down on the saw, using the foot switch to control it.

-nathan
 
I saw the Thread on the 4x6 BS and was looking for the pic of the "stand" I made for the Portable one from HF. I musta deleted it.

Easy enough to make with some square tube stock, but definetly get the Bi-Metal Blades.
The blade that comes with the saw is only good for very mild steel, and not for long.
 
I've been using the HF portabands for 5 years now but I'm on my 3rd one. I will continue to buy them though, they do the job and when I wear one out I just buy another one.
 
Mine wrecked a lot of good bi-metal blades before I chucked the saw and got a DeWalt.
 
I picked it up yesterday. Came in handy for my water heater install. Now to start cutting for the grinder. Where locally can I pick up some decent blades. I'll order from Tracy in the future, but I was hoping to start cutting this weekend if I can make it to the recycling yard.
 
I've had mine for 2 - 3 years now. Definitely worth the price for starting out and it doesn't take up too much space. Here's a pic of how I mounted it to my bench.
 

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Paul Mathews said:
I've had mine for 2 - 3 years now. Definitely worth the price for starting out and it doesn't take up too much space. Here's a pic of how I mounted it to my bench.
Click to expand...

Looks good. How do you mount the table to it? I'm not sure I want to drill any holes in it.
 
jleiwig said:
Looks good. How do you mount the table to it? I'm not sure I want to drill any holes in it.
Click to expand...

The bottom of the saw is simply chocked in by a couple of wood blocks that are screwed down to the bench. I have to remove them to take the cover off when changing the blade or cleaning it out.

The metal brace is attached by way of a couple of bolts that screw into existing screw holes. If I get a chance I'll take a couple of other shots from different angles and post them for you.

I also had one of the kids at school weld a small table onto the guide.
 
Paul Mathews said:
The bottom of the saw is simply chocked in by a couple of wood blocks that are screwed down to the bench. I have to remove them to take the cover off when changing the blade or cleaning it out.

The metal brace is attached by way of a couple of bolts that screw into existing screw holes. If I get a chance I'll take a couple of other shots from different angles and post them for you.

I also had one of the kids at school weld a small table onto the guide.
Click to expand...

That's a lot nicer than how I do mine. The 1st thing I do when I get one is take the cover off and toss it, then I just clamp it in a vise and I'm ready to go. I abuse mine pretty bad, that's why they don't last very long, I treat them as disposable. Parts are sometimes available and I have done some repairs (I keep the old one's for parts) but if I can't get the part fast I'll just buy another one.

The reason I mention all of this is that unless your willing to take good care of it like Paul obviously has, you need to consider it a disposable tool with a limited life or buy a better one, they are not well made and in my opinion don't hold up well to heavy use.

I just figure on buying one every year and if one last longer (my current one is going over 2 years now) then it's a bonus. I actually should buy another one now if they're on sale, mine could give up any time now :)
 
Les Voorhies said:
That's a lot nicer than how I do mine. The 1st thing I do when I get one is take the cover off and toss it, then I just clamp it in a vise and I'm ready to go. I abuse mine pretty bad, that's why they don't last very long, I treat them as disposable. Parts are sometimes available and I have done some repairs (I keep the old one's for parts) but if I can't get the part fast I'll just buy another one.

The reason I mention all of this is that unless your willing to take good care of it like Paul obviously has, you need to consider it a disposable tool with a limited life or buy a better one, they are not well made and in my opinion don't hold up well to heavy use.

I just figure on buying one every year and if one last longer (my current one is going over 2 years now) then it's a bonus. I actually should buy another one now if they're on sale, mine could give up any time now :)
Click to expand...

I just don't want to modify it, since I purchased the 2 year warranty. I plan on taking it back right before the warranty expires and getting a new one, so I'm looking for bolt on options.
 
jleiwig said:
I just don't want to modify it, since I purchased the 2 year warranty. I plan on taking it back right before the warranty expires and getting a new one, so I'm looking for bolt on options.
Click to expand...

That would be one advantage of mounting it as I have. It is only bolted in existing holes. Unbolt it and replace the original screws and you can use it as a portable or carry it back to HF.

As for taking good care of it; Les cuts a hell of a lot more steel on his than I do on mine. If I were as productive as him it probably wouldn't have lasted this long.:)
 
Yeah Paul, now that you've mentioned how long it's lasted, it'll probably bite the dust, just because it heard you.:D

I drilled holes in mine(on the back) for mounting to a frame I made, and had no problems returning it when it died early.
 
For you guys worried about how to mount it, putting the handle in a vise works better than you might think.
 
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