which bandsaw do you guys find easier to make collectors on and cutting straight pipe, tubing etc for building manifolds, chargepipes etc etc.

 

If you are going to be cutting a lot of straight pipe I would go with a horizontal saw.

 

you can get one that will do both, I prefer a vertical because you can cut different things and hold them by hand rather than having to make a jig to cut anything not round or square on a horizantal. If its round or square I just use a chop saw so Ive never needed a band saw for anything but weird shaped things.

just my opinion.

 

I your only going to buy one then go with the vertical. It is a do it all saw. Odd cuts like collectors and such are much easier on the vertical then a horizontal. The vertical (doall) gets used about 30 times to every one of the horizontal or even the cold saw I have.

 

Just keep this in mind, if you go with a vertical band saw, its going to be a bitch if you can even hold a piece of sch10 elbow and cut it with out the bandsaw grabing it from you.

 

thanks for the inputs. I think im gonna go with a hf bandsaw. I know their not the best, but I dont think I can justify buying a 1k-2k bandsaw and using it sparsly through the year.

 

you would be surprised how often you will use a good band saw compared to a crappy one from harbor freight. i hated using the 160$ one we had until i bought a turn pro water cooled saw, then i used it 10x as much. but ended up having a employee screw it up so now im back to my cheapy and a chop saw.

i would be using a vertical saw even more. Im trying to talk the machine shop next door into selling me the one he has that has a hydraulic feed table..

cutting 90deg weld l's on a vertical woulnt be to bad just make a fixture to hold them when cutting them. something as easy as a old piece of scrap straight that you can tack the 90 to.

 

My vertical bandsaw is by far one of the most used pieces of equipment in the shop.

 

i will check out some more options. HOT FUKIN DAMN...9.27@167.68...i want my 200 lbs back tony holy ****.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tony1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My vertical bandsaw is by far one of the most used pieces of equipment in the shop. </TD></TR></TABLE>

How often do you cut sch10 or sch40 el's on it ?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RCautoworks &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just keep this in mind, if you go with a vertical band saw, its going to be a bitch if you can even hold a piece of sch10 elbow and cut it with out the bandsaw grabing it from you. </TD></TR></TABLE>

that is what clamps are for.

vertical is the way to go. far more versatile. i have a roll in type vertical, so i can put something on it and walk away if it is going to be a while. it shuts off automatically once it is finished. any vertical roll in type will have an adjustable angle plate and a clamp come with it so you can hold round stock to cut and you can easily remove the adjustable angle plate for cutting larger pieces with just taking one bolt out. something you can't do on a horizontal...

mine looks very similar to this one:

 

Clamping an el in a c clamp is not easy either.

 

usually i just put a vise grip on each side of the elbow and hold them by hand. works fine, no jumping if you hold it firm. i haven't had a problem so far with anything i've needed to cut. i just find the vertical a lot more useful for cutting up akward stuff. the horizontal is meant more for cutting long bar stock/ round/ tube etc.

 

So its just as easy to cut the short tubing that we deal with when building manifolds on a vertical bandsaw as the horizontal bandsaw.

 

Unless your cutting down lots of pieces 5ft and longer the vertical is more useful. really though get both.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RCautoworks &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

How often do you cut sch10 or sch40 el's on it ? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Never, i don't cut any SS on my bandsaw and for the 1-2 times a year i work with plumbing pipe i use a chop saw or cutoff wheel. lol