Need help installing metal band saw blade.

Mark Barone

Mark Barone

Well-Known Member
I bought a Bauer portal band today. I am a little confused on how to put the blade on. I hope I can explain my dilemma. It appears the blade needs to twist to fit in between the guides. Am I looking at this wrong. 9A302679-8239-432B-9BD5-CF317DCA8EE7.jpeg
 
Jason Volkert said:
Nope. You have to get in between those 2 rollers. You almost need 3 hands to do it.
Click to expand...
Oh ok thanks. I didn’t want to force it. Excited to use it. I am kind of done with the angle grinder, it just to hard to see and I want to get closer to the scribe lines so less sanding.
 
I way that I've discovered, that is easiest for me...... put the blade between the rollers/bearings FIRST......then keeping a bit of tension on the blade...to keep it between the rollers/bearings......get the blade onto the wheels/tires.

If this is your first go round with a porta-band, a couple of tips.....
1. Don't try to "horse" it when cutting.....let the blade do the work.
2. Blades: I'd recommend staying away for skip or combo tooth blades....examples: 10-14, 14-18, etc. Stick with a single size tooth blade....otherwise, at some point (usually when a blade is new and not "broken in" yet) YOU WILL break off the larger teeth.....even a couple torn off makes cutting a nightmare.....and once you break off one tooth.....others follow quickly. Personally, 18 TPI (teeth per inch) blades are the coarsest I will use..... I also keep 24 TPI blade around for cutting thinner Titanium.

If you haven't done so yet....either buy or build yourself a stand, and a "table" for it.....makes all the difference in the world......

IMG-0771.jpg

In the above image, you can see the plug going to a switched plug in..... I zip tied the trigger down, so that switch on the silver box is what turns it on/off. Soon, that is going to be replaced with a foot switch..... Harbor Freight has them for $14...... at that price, if it burns out, no worries....provided it doesn't take the saw with it! :)

IMG-0770.jpg

Aluminum table that I built for the saw.


Here you can see most of the stand I built. Being lazy, at first I actually purchased one of the SWAG Offroad stands, and was VERY dissapointed in it.....way too light gauge, and way too flimsy.......so I sucked it up and built one you could drive a truck over. :)

IMG-0768.jpg

Here's the other side.....you can seen how I removed the handle on the saw, and used those holes to mount it to the stand. You can also see the zip tie holding down the trigger/switch.

Although I love these little saws, they have what I consider a MAJOR drawback.....that being the "throat". Mine is 4 1/2" from the back of the blade to the body of the saw....... it's very difficult to make any cut longer then 4" EFFICIENTLY..... any cut longer means you either have to flip the work piece over (and hope you remembered to mark your pattern on both sides!) :)......or make a bunch of relief cuts.

ONE FINAL NOTE ON BLADES! THEY ARE THE HEART AND SOUL OF THESE SAWS.....BUY/USE GOOD QUALITY BLADES! Personally, I found an outfit on Ebay, I believe out of Florida, who sells, 8% cobalt blades.....and they are AWESOME! His prices are great too. I usually buy in quantities of 25 or 50......and it works out to less then $3 per blade.......versus going to Home Depot or Lowes....which are the bottom of the barrel blades as far as quality goes, and they sell you a 3 pak for $16-$17........ $5.50 or more PER BLADE. So do yourself a favor and look around on ebay, for 44 7/8" 8% cobalt blades".
 
Last edited:
Ed has some great advise as usual, especially about a table. I have my saw mounted on the bench in a Swag Off Road table. They may have improved them since Ed first bought his. Mine seems very sturdy and doesn't flex. I started off like a lot of people using a disk grinder to cut blanks. The saw and table make a HUGE difference.

Swag.jpg
 
That stand is WAY different then the one they sent me....and yep, it's been a number of years ago. The one I got was made of the same metal/thickness as the sides of that stand.....it was all one piece, just bent at 90s from the "legs" to table.....and after mounting the saw to it, the entire thing flexed with just the weight of the saw.

Does that one have any flex on the sides/legs? If not, and a person doesn't want to build one....that might be the answer.
 
The trick is to pinch it in the middle and make it look like Mr. Peanut. Put the back side on first around the big wheels and in the channel guard. Hold the Mr. peanut shape in the front and it will fall into place.
 
EdCaffreyMS said:
I way that I've discovered, that is easiest for me...... put the blade between the rollers/bearings FIRST......then keeping a bit of tension on the blade...to keep it between the rollers/bearings......get the blade onto the wheels/tires.

If this is your first go round with a porta-band, a couple of tips.....
1. Don't try to "horse" it when cutting.....let the blade do the work.
2. Blades: I'd recommend staying away for skip or combo tooth blades....examples: 10-14, 14-18, etc. Stick with a single size tooth blade....otherwise, at some point (usually when a blade is new and not "broken in" yet) YOU WILL break off the larger teeth.....even a couple torn off makes cutting a nightmare.....and once you break off one tooth.....others follow quickly. Personally, 18 TPI (teeth per inch) blades are the coarsest I will use..... I also keep 24 TPI blade around for cutting thinner Titanium.

If you haven't done so yet....either buy or build yourself a stand, and a "table" for it.....makes all the difference in the world......

IMG-0771.jpg

In the above image, you can see the plug going to a switched plug in..... I zip tied the trigger down, so that switch on the silver box is what turns it on/off. Soon, that is going to be replaced with a foot switch..... Harbor Freight has them for $14...... at that price, if it burns out, no worries....provided it doesn't take the saw with it! :)

IMG-0770.jpg

Aluminum table that I built for the saw.


Here you can see most of the stand I built. Being lazy, at first I actually purchased one of the SWAG Offroad stands, and was VERY dissapointed in it.....way too light gauge, and way too flimsy.......so I sucked it up and built one you could drive a truck over. :)

IMG-0768.jpg

Here's the other side.....you can seen how I removed the handle on the saw, and used those holes to mount it to the stand. You can also see the zip tie holding down the trigger/switch.

Although I love these little saws, they have what I consider a MAJOR drawback.....that being the "throat". Mine is 4 1/2" from the back of the blade to the body of the saw....... it's very difficult to make any cut longer then 4" EFFICIENTLY..... any cut longer means you either have to flip the work piece over (and hope you remembered to mark your pattern on both sides!) :)......or make a bunch of relief cuts.

ONE FINAL NOTE ON BLADES! THEY ARE THE HEART AND SOUL OF THESE SAWS.....BUY/USE GOOD QUALITY BLADES! Personally, I found an outfit on Ebay, I believe out of Florida, who sells, 8% cobalt blades.....and they are AWESOME! His prices are great too. I usually buy in quantities of 25 or 50......and it works out to less then $3 per blade.......versus going to Home Depot or Lowes....which are the bottom of the barrel blades as far as quality goes, and they sell you a 3 pak for $16-$17........ $5.50 or more PER BLADE. So do yourself a favor and look around on ebay, for 44 7/8" 8% cobalt blades".
Click to expand...
Ed, would you mind sharing your source for your bandsaw blades? I got a Milwaukie portaband for $50 in good shape. A friend helped me build a stand for it, which didn't cost anything barely. I love it. I would really like to get a foot pedal on it though.
 
Ember Knives said:
Ed, would you mind sharing your source for your bandsaw blades? I got a Milwaukie portaband for $50 in good shape. A friend helped me build a stand for it, which didn't cost anything barely. I love it. I would really like to get a foot pedal on it though.
Click to expand...
The foot pedal from Harbor Freight works quite well. If I remember right it's like $13
 
Ed, would you mind sharing your source for your bandsaw blades?
Click to expand...

Just go to Ebay and search for "44 7/8 8% cobalt" and you should find it..... look for a shipper in Florida. The guy changes his Ebay name/account every few months....for what reason I don't know......but typing in what I put in quotation marks should root him out.
 
I have the harbor freight bandsaw and the swag table. Just change the blade yesterday took about 30 seconds once you get the hang of it. Some posters earlier mentioned put the blade into both sets of rollers first. Then hold that in place wrap the bottom around the bottom wheel and then the top and then lock in place
 
Thanks for the advice, I will grab a foot pedal and clamp. Tomorrow I will cut out the KITH Bowie. I will start a thread once I get to a certain point. Probably after the bevel. I am still a beginner so that is typically where I may need to start over. ☺️
But there is nothing worse to me than starting over and having to use an angle grinder . I am looking forward to the saw.
 
Retroguy said:
Thanks for the advice, I will grab a foot pedal and clamp. Tomorrow I will cut out the KITH Bowie. I will start a thread once I get to a certain point. Probably after the bevel. I am still a beginner so that is typically where I may need to start over. ☺
But there is nothing worse to me than starting over and having to use an angle grinder . I am looking forward to the saw.
Click to expand...
Before I got my saw I was drilling holes with my drill press and then using a hacksaw to finish the job. I used my angle grinder a few times but it was so hard to be even reasonably precise I went back to drilling holes and hacksaw method.

Then I got my saw. It's a world of difference. I now find it a pleasure to cut out a blade profile. Whereas before it was a genuine pain.
Have fun.
 
Sean Jones said:
Before I got my saw I was drilling holes with my drill press and then using a hacksaw to finish the job. I used my angle grinder a few times but it was so hard to be even reasonably precise I went back to drilling holes and hacksaw method.

Then I got my saw. It's a world of difference. I now find it a pleasure to cut out a blade profile. Whereas before it was a genuine pain.
Have fun.
Click to expand...
Thanks Sean, the few knives I have made I enjoyed the whole process, even the redos, except the grinder.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top