David wants to know who makes this prototype portable band saw wall mount that’s featured in a lot of Blondihack’s videos.
I don’t know, but I’ve been looking to learn the same!
She made the cutting table, but the mount is separate – it’s a prototype that’s been shrouded in secrecy.
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There’s a new clue I didn’t see before – a stylized “R” on one of the mounting brackets, which David points out looks different – and perhaps somewhat logo-like – rather than being a “right” designation.
Who is Blondihacks? She’s a hobby machinist that produces wonderful educational and project videos.
Even if you aren’t interested in the educational aspect, Quinn’s project content is very entertaining.
Travis wrote: Check the picture in the description… AI strikes again! Nothing says “I love woodworking” like using a lathe shirtless.
I don’t know what to say here. Is this AI-generated, or just strange?
That’s one way to ensure long sleeves or drawstrings can’t get caught up in the machine.
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Warren wrote: I saw on a Diablo 10″ 24-tooth ripping blade that it has high alternate top bevel teeth. Shouldn’t they be flat-top-grind?
Is this the one, model D1024X? I wouldn’t call that a high-ATB blade, but couldn’t easily find any other 24T rip blade.
Flat tooth angles are good for chiseling out material and leaving a flat and square edge. ATB are common for both ripping and crosscutting blades.
High ATB blades, with a higher tooth grind angle, are supposed to be better suited for reducing tearout, and according to the internet they can be better for cutting plywood and similar materials.
From what I read after refreshing my memory on saw blade tooth profiles, FTG rip blades are suited for faster rip cuts.
I recently ordered a Woodpeckers “ATBF” glue-line rip blade, which I’m thinking might have a combination of alternating and flat-top-ground teeth (similar to ATBR?), as well as an ATB combination blade. Neither arrived yet.
Woodcraft has a good article on saw blade selection (PDF).
A lot of rip saw blades are flat-top ground, but I’ve seen ATB blades as well. I think the main differences will be in cutting performance and surface finish.
With table saw blades, there are a lot of nuances, and I’m not yet experienced enough to be able to know from memory how different grind angles translates to different applications and surface finish expectations.
As bad as it might sound, I tend to go by brand designations. If a circular saw blade is sold for ripping applications, I tend to trust that, unless I have specific preferences otherwise.
I don’t think I’ve ever used a flat-ground blade. Most of my ripping tasks have been of thin plywood or softwood boards, and so I mainly used combination blades. I upgraded to a cabinet saw recently, and now I’m getting into ripping-dedicated blades for an upcoming project that will involve a lot of thicker hardwood.
Jared
I like that bandsaw mount, though I might prefer a tabletop design instead of one that must be mounted on a wall. It looks easy to pop the saw out for portable use though.
Nick
Here ya go Jared…
https://www.swagoffroad.com/products/swag-portaband-pro-table
Jared
Thanks. In my case though, I DIY’d a tabletop mount for my cordless bandsaw.
The Swag Offroad table is very nice, but the two things I didn’t like was that the saw is bolted to the table and it didn’t seem safe to use with a cordless saw since there was no way to turn it off rapidly.
Looking at the site, it seems like they’ve solved the second issue with their “choke out kit”, which might have persuaded me to try it if I was doing it over again.
This is what I came up with if anyone is curious:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/data/attachments/1677/1677455-1c1ace24cfa5ed2f006138a0a6499fbf.jpg
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/data/attachments/1677/1677459-2bb8d843e820aab7215b52859c4aa64d.jpg
You can turn the saw off by pushing the trigger lock like a button and when the trigger lock isn’t engaged the saw just lifts out.
Roscoe Farabee
Is this the same saw mount…
https://readysaw.com/
Stuart
Thank you!
Victor R
Below is a YouTube link of the ReadySaw being mounted and used from the barz summer bash for those interested.
https://youtu.be/gY4tWfHN_ew?si=Sw-xKhC3qAWRdlnb
Drew M
It’s ReadySaw.
https://www.instagram.com/readysaw/
Drew M
Seems he finally has a website and they’re available for sale.
https://readysaw.com/collections/all
Stuart
Thanks!!
MM
In my opinion that saw mount looks very handy–it looks like you can set up your portable band saw and use it like a stationary. However, I question its safety. A normal stationary bandsaw, vertical or horizontal, has guards that enclose the majority of the blade, exposing only a little bit right at the cut. This is important because when a blade breaks it is contained within the machine and cannot go whipping around where it might hit someone. Portable bandsaws do not have anything to contain a broken blade. That is not much of a concern the way they are normally used: with both hands on the tool and the blade pointing away from the operator, if there is a blade failure the hazard points away from the operator’s body. However, when you use a portable bandsaw like this the blade is pointing straight at the operator and there is nothing to protect the operator’s hands or body from a broken blade or a blade which pops off the wheels. Additional guards are needed.
Drew M
Your comment tells me that you’ve never had a blade break on a wood OR metal cutting bandsaw.
MM
I’ve never broken blades on a portaband, but I’ve broken plenty on vertical and horizontal bandsaws, all metal-cutting. I’ve broken blades on everything from harbor-freight knockoffs to a $30k Hyd-Mech. I’m very curious what makes you think otherwise.
James
While I highly doubt that, given the credibility of MM’s frequent knowledgeable comments, I do agree that with the blade being friction driven, a broken blade goes slack pretty much immediately.
I’ve had my hand nicked on a fixed band saw when the blade broke. I have broken easily 10 times more portaband blades and even though I am typically holding strut in one hand and cutting with the other I don’t remember ever having a minor nick or cut.
MM
Blades don’t instantly go slack if a piece of material gets wedged between the housing and the wheel. Ask me how I know. And even if there is zero whipping around of a blade–which is the norm–there’s still the chance that a springy, sharp, metal strip could pop out and hit you.
Bandsaws are dangerous, there is no excuse for not using the proper guards.
James
Fair enough. There’s often an unseen perspective when it comes to safety. Thankfully never had the wedging happen but it’s definitely something I can imagine.
Nate
I’m with MM on this one, guards are worthwhile. Depending on where the break occurs, you can get some whipsaw action.
Seeing folks (there’s a ton of people on Youtube doing this) running a stationary bandsaw with the guards and guides cranked way up always makes me pucker.
John
Portable bandsaw blades even at full speed are quite slow compared to floor standing wood bandsaws. When a blade on a portaband breaks, there is nothing major that happens other than it snaps, slips and no longer spins on the wheels. Most metal cutting blades are garbage (even from reputable brands) and I’ve had more than my fair share break over the years. I’ve actually never worn out a metal blade, they all break first.
Jared
I’ve had them pop out. I haven’t had them continue spinning, but MM’s suggestion that something could wedge between the blade and power wheel seems plausible to me.
There actually are some portable bandsaws that have blade covers – at least as options. Seems like that probably exists because of the possibility of injury.
Peter Fox
While I agree that additional guarding around the unused portion of the blade on a porta-band to protect against accidental contact would be much safer in this type of setup.
The risks posed by a broken blade are minimal in this case. The combination of low blade speed and blade mass mean that there is not much available energy once the blade is no longer being driven by wheel. I have a similar home made stand for my M18 band saw and have broken several blades They just snap and quit cutting with without much excitement. While I am sure it may be possible for it to cause a minor cut I don’t see any major hazard. In the case of larger and higher speed band saws I agree but not in this case.
Albert
Thanks! I did not know ReadySaw existed. I own one from Swag Offroad (it is decent) and have been considering getting the Hercules horizontal/vertical stand from Harbor Freight.
Andy
The woodpeckers blade sounds interesting – definitely curious to know your thoughts once you have a chance to use it.
Andy
Sorry, didn’t mean this as a reply. Mobile format got me.
Stuart
If/when this happens, make a new comment and I can move it. Adding something like “oops I meant to put it here,” saves me from having to figure out your placement intent.
John
That wall mount is a great design. With respect to price alone, the SWAG table does the same at much less cost. I’ve had a SWAG table for about 8 years and it’s been truly instrumental for almost every project in my metal shop.
Lyle
I have the SWAG connected to a Dewalt corded deep cut portable bandsaw. I had the cordless one before, but I sold it and got the cheaper corded model so I could use a foot pedal switch for this setup. I’ve only used it like 5 times in 3-4 years but it’s done the job. The SWAG still seemed pretty expensive to me for basically some pieces of metal bent and with pre-tapped holes drilled all over the table (to accommodate many different portable bandsaws).
Randy
If I have to make just one crosscut after 100 rip cuts, I would still take a single ATB blade over an FTG blade or swapping between one of each. FTG has been worthless since we stopped using plain steel blades without carbide teeth. Then again I’m not a “real” carpenter.
Norm
I don’t know why I looked for the mount before reading the comments. I like the “hunt”. I don’t even have a portaband. haha
JoeM
To be entirely honest, I’m shocked that tool companies don’t just make their own Bandsaw tables, the way they make Rolling and Stationary Mitre Saw and Table Saw stands.
Throwing this back to Adam Savage’s Tested, he replaced an original Corded portable Bandsaw with a Cordless or two for his shop. Instead of wasting the Corded, he built it a stand to make it a table-top Bandsaw. Turns out, the only thing keeping the material from being slammed into the side of the tool is a small landing plate/surface, attached by two screws.
If that’s the case, then why not build an entire tabletop frame that attaches with those same two screws? It would be an accessory add on, no different than the Portable Saw tables they make already. Or those new “Impact Attached” (or whatever) devices that use an Impact Driver to run a shortened version of a tool? I believe they have a Pipe Cutter, a set of Metal Shears (I own this one.), and I think it’s some sort of Pipe pincher/crimper. I expect that lineup should grow in coming years, so why stop there? Why not Bandsaw tables? This wall mount looks like it’s exactly what these companies need as an option for this tool!
Why? Same reason for right angle and flexshaft attachments for a drill. It adds fuctionality to a ubiquitous tool!
Steve
I always lathe with my shirt off. I also grind and weld that way too so my sweetie doesn’t complain about the melt and burn holes in my shirts. I thought all real men did.
Karl Thoennes
And frying bacon shirtless too of course. Builds character.
JR Ramos
Plywood is never ripped…it is always a crosscut. A good dedicated ripping blade is great if that’s your primary use or you don’t mind swapping blades for jobs. The flat teeth do great and work fine on most lumber species…the ATBR is the next best bet although I’d consider an old school heavyweight blade if you’re doing longer rips, dense wood, deeper cuts, as long as the saw will be happy with it (Freud rather than Diablo…Makita has some good ones as does CMT…just not the thin kerf stuff that most things are now since the heat can do a number on those).
Shirt off…that could only have been better with a photo of Putin on a sawhorse.
Stuart
To me, if plywood is riding along the fence, that’s a rip cut. If a narrow piece is pushed with a miter gauge, it’s a cross cut.
For solid wood I consider grain direction. For plywood I consider cut orientation with respect to the blade.
JR Ramos
I know…but if choosing a blade for material, “rip” and “plywood” will never ever go together, but of course it’ll cut. Teeth for ripping were designed based on solid wood/grain, right, and that’s where it still stands. New definitions will not change the physical functionality, as long as plywood is the product it is. Same is true of OSB. 🙂
Stuart
Semantically, yes. Practically, with respect to cutting operations, it’s a matter of whether the wood rises the fence or not.
It’s dangerous to make cross cut with the fence; the fence should be moved away for such cuts.
Rip = parallel to fence and blade, cross = perpendicular to the blade and aided by miter saw, sled, or similar.
Plywood rip = parallel cut to the blade.
Plywood cross cut = narrow workpiece cut perpendicular to blade.
Mike
The wall mount looks cool! I went with the SWAG table and love it.
https://www.swagoffroad.com/products/swag-portaband-pro-table
Mike
Jim
This post on Instagram gives a very good look at the ReadySaw fixture.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1x2QtZgHf4/?igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==