A portable band saw cuts pipe, conduit, threaded rod, strut and angle cleanly and quietly, without the sparks of an angle grinder and with a straighter cut than a hacksaw. Most of the skill is in holding the work still and letting the saw do the cutting. Your saw’s manual has its specific instructions and comes first.
Wear eye protection and gloves when handling cut metal, but keep gloves and sleeves well away from the blade while cutting. Remove the battery or unplug the saw before changing the blade.
Before the cut.
- The right blade. Fine teeth for thin-wall tube and conduit, coarser teeth for solid bar; at least three teeth should be in the wall at once. See blades for portable band saws.
- Clamp the work. Hold it in a vice, a pipe vice or with clamps, with the cut line close to the support so the piece doesn’t vibrate. Support the offcut too, so it doesn’t drop and pinch the blade at the end of the cut.
- Mark the line all the way round tube, so you can see it from where you stand.
- Check the blade direction against the arrow on the housing, and the tension, if you have just changed it.
Making the cut.
- Rest the saw’s bumper or stop against the work, so the work is pressed against it and can’t chatter.
- Start the saw before the blade touches the work and let it reach full speed.
- Let the weight do it. Lower the blade into the work and let the saw’s own weight provide most of the feed pressure. Pushing hard slows the blade, heats the teeth and bends the cut.
- Keep the saw square to the work so the cut stays straight; a twisting saw twists the blade.
- Ease off at the end, as the blade breaks through, so the saw doesn’t drop.
- Let the blade stop before you lift the saw out of the cut or set it down.
Finishing.
Cut ends are sharp. Deburr them with a file or a deburring tool, especially on tube and conduit that cables or hands will touch. Threaded rod cuts more cleanly if you run a nut onto it before cutting and unscrew it afterwards to clean up the thread.
Making the blade last.
- Don’t force it. Too much pressure is the main reason blades wear out quickly.
- Use the right pitch. Teeth that straddle a thin wall snag and break.
- Use a stand if your saw has one for repeated cuts on small stock; it keeps the cut square and the pressure even.