What will give the most bang for my buck? Disc grinder or metal band saw?

Sean Jones

Sean Jones

Well-Known Member
I'm at a point in my process where I feel like I'm spending an excessive amount of time on two things; cutting out profiles and sanding a tapered tang flat.
For blade blanks I'm currently drilling holes around the profile and then cutting it out with a hacksaw and then finishing up the profile on my 2X72. I'm thinking a metal band saw, most likely a portable one with a table, is the answer for that.

Now for flattening a tapered tang I'm currently using my flat granite plate to get them flat. I don't seem to be able to get them completely flat with just the 2X72.
So that means a disc grinder presumably.

I can't afford both right now. I know getting the band saw would be less money, but hand sanding the tangs flat is really time consuming.

So what say you guys? Disc grinder or metal band saw?
 
band saw for sure. You won't hate cutting the profile as much as you do now. The cheap 4x6 from Harbor Freight is a good deal but you will need to replace the sheet metal table to something more substantial.

If you are working on fixed blades you won't use a disk that much but on folders you will use a couple dozen times or more for deburring or getting parts flat. I should change that a bit. If you do scandi grinds on fixed blades, a disc grinder is significantly better than a flat platen on a belt grinder. Still, I'd get the band saw first.
 
I vote for the bandsaw also. I look at it this way, every single knife I make takes a ride thru it at some point, but my disc only really see's liners for folders, and that one runs at a slow speed.
That's speaking for metal work though, for wood I have a separate 6" disc sander for flattening scales, and that's about all that disc see's.

I remember the days of cutting blades out with a drill and hacksaw and I would never want to go back to doing it that way.
 
OK...unless someone else says something significant otherwise band saw it is. I found a used Milwaukee portaband saw the other day for a $100.00 with some extra blades. I'll have to give him a call before it goes by-by
 
Sean Jones said:
OK...unless someone else says something significant otherwise band saw it is. I found a used Milwaukee portaband saw the other day for a $100.00 with some extra blades. I'll have to give him a call before it goes by-by
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I think you'll be very happy with that decision. I have a Dewalt and a SWAG table. Makes life so much easier.
 
Nothing has made a bigger impact on my time to complete a knife than going from a cutoff wheel to a HF porta band and a Chris Made vertical holder...
 
Bandsaw for sure. Cutting scales on a metal saw is no fun, but it’s definitely possible. In that regard the machine is a two-fer because it offers you redundancy if your wood saw goes down.

I need to use my disc more often. To be honest I’ve gone months at a time without turning it on.
 
bladegrinder said:
On top of that, I use my worn metal cutting blades for micarta and G10, you'd never want to cut that stuff with a wood blade, it'd ruin it in short order......at least I don't.
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My wood band saw has a bi metal 10 tpi blade that I do all my micarta cutting on along with all handle material in bone or horn. I do have 4 tpi blades in carbon for when I need to do larger wood work though.
 
I agree with Dennis.
The portaband mated up with a SWAG table is a metal eating monster.
I used mine for several years but upgraded to a Jet 14" mainly because of the 5" throat depth on the Milwaukee saw.
For a minimal investment you won't regret it.

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I picked up the Milwaukee band saw today. It's an older model but in good shape. I'll have to check the model number in the A.M. to match up a SWAG table and post some pics.
 
bladegrinder said:
On top of that, I use my worn metal cutting blades for micarta and G10, you'd never want to cut that stuff with a wood blade, it'd ruin it in short order......at least I don't.
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Hmm... I'll keep that in mind. I cut some G10 on my Craftsman wood saw and it seems like the blade has worn prematurely. I was able to cut some Red Oak afterwards but I basically burned through the wood.
 
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