Portable band saws, corded and cordless, are built to cut metal on site: pipe, conduit, threaded rod, unistrut and angle. They take a short blade that runs round two wheels inside the saw’s body, and their blade lengths are among the most standardised in our catalogue. They are not all the same, though, and the difference between two common lengths is several centimetres.
The lengths you will meet.
- 44-7/8 in (1140 mm). The length for full-size, deep-cut saws. Metric documents round it differently: most say 1140 mm, Milwaukee gives 1139.8 mm and a few brands 1141 mm. DEWALT’s DCS374 manual, for example, asks for “44-7/8" (1140 mm) long blades”.
- 35-3/8 in (898.5 mm). A shorter blade for compact cordless saws, such as DEWALT’s DCS378 and Milwaukee’s M18 FBS85.
- 32-7/8 in (835 mm). The other common compact length, used by several Makita, DEWALT, RIDGID and RYOBI saws.
- Shorter blades. The smallest one-handed saws take blades from about 27 in (around 690 mm) to 30-9/16 in (776 mm), and each family uses its own length.
A 35-3/8 in blade is 63.5 mm longer than a 32-7/8 in one, far more than any tensioner can take up. Check the length documented for your exact saw rather than its size class.
Width and thickness.
Most portable band saw blades are about 1/2 in (12.7 mm) wide and 0.020 in (0.5 mm) thick; DEWALT’s manual for the DCS374 gives exactly those figures. Smaller saws can take narrower blades, so check the width as well as the length. The blade has to suit the guide bearings, which are set for one width.
Choosing the teeth.
Portable band saws cut metal, and the three-teeth rule decides the pitch: keep at least three teeth in the wall of whatever you are cutting.
- Thin-wall tube, conduit and sheet need a fine pitch, such as 18 or 24 TPI, because the wall is thin even when the tube is large.
- Solid bar, threaded rod and thick sections cut faster with a coarser pitch, such as 10 or 14 TPI.
- Mixed work suits a variable-pitch blade, sold as for example 10/14 or 14/18 TPI.
Portable band saw blades are almost always bi-metal: a flexible steel back with hardened high-speed steel teeth. For stainless steel or hard materials, blade makers sell blades made for it; follow their charts.
Fitting the blade.
The blade runs one way only. Most saws mark the direction of travel on the housing; the teeth must point the same way. The general steps are in changing a bandsaw blade, but portable saws differ in how the tension lever and guides work, so follow your manual.
Lengths documented for portable band saws.
These are the blade lengths in our catalogue for portable and cordless band saws, with the number of saws documented for each. Open a size to see every machine that takes it.
| Size | Machines of this kind | For example |
|---|---|---|
| 44-7/8 in1139.83 mm | 17 machines | Bauer 1678E-B, Bosch GCB18V-5N, DEWALT DCS374 |
| 1140 mm44.88 in | 14 machines | DEWALT DCS374, Güde MBS 1100, HiKOKI CB3612DA |
| 835 mm32-7/8 in | 8 machines | DEWALT DCS371, Makita DPB181, Makita DPB182 |
| 35-3/8 in898.53 mm | 5 machines | DEWALT DCS378, DEWALT DCS379, Milwaukee 2629-20 |
| 1141 mm44.92 in | 4 machines | Einhell TE-MB 18/127 Li, Einhell TE-MB 18/127 U Li, Ozito PXPBS-127 |
| 1139.8 mm44-7/8 in | 3 machines | Milwaukee BS 125, Milwaukee M18 FBS127, Milwaukee M18 FBS127DO |
| 32-7/8 in835.03 mm | 3 machines | Hercules HCB790B, RIDGID R8604, RYOBI P590 |
| 730 mm28.74 in | 2 machines | Makita DPB184, Makita XBP05 |
| 27-1/4 in692.15 mm | 2 machines | DEWALT DCS375, DEWALT DCS377 |
| 30-9/16 in776.29 mm | 2 machines | Milwaukee 2529-20, RIDGID R87040 |
Counts are the machines of this kind documented for each exact size today. A size page also lists other kinds of machine that take the same size.
Find your saw’s blade length ↗︎