The other tool besides Chainsaw On a Stick that must have taken some persuasion to get on the market. Is Wile E. Coyote in cahoots with hardware stores these days?

Now, chainsaw on a stick I can almost understand... but isn't the point of a band saw to be stationary, and to be immobile while objects are pushed into, and cut by, the blade? I can only see this product being used for do-it-yourself amputations. They should give out Darwin Award applications with each saw.

A portable band saw is a tool used for cutting long metal objects in the field. It is commonly used by electricians, pipefitters, and sprinkler fitters for cutting conduit, all-thread and unistrut.

While a floor mounted band saw is clearly preferable, they are very large and heavy. I can carry a bandsaw onto a job site in one hand. A journeyman prefers regularly used tools be kept close at hand. It is also quite possible to use a porta-band (a trade term for the saw) safely provided you pay attention. The best way to use one safely is to use both hands and secure the object to be cut to a pipe stand. If one is unavailable there are many field expedients available, down to using your foot to secure the pipe to a bucket. Porta-bands arel used primarily by skilled workmen, who are well aware of what they are doing and trained to use common tools during their apprenticeship.

The construction environment is not an ideal world. Consider my options for cutting electrical metal conduit (EMT). I can use a pipe cutter which will produce a very square cut, but works slowly and produces a significant ledge of metal at the end of the pipe, which could damage wire during the wire pulling process. I could use a hacksaw, but they are slow and prone to less-than-square cuts. Thick metal pieces can prove very slow to cut. I could use a sawzall, but they vibrate like mad and like to bounce around until the cut is well started. Band saws are smooth, quiet and don't damage threading, making threaded objects still threadable after the cut. The combination of speed and smoothness makes band saws quite prized in the field.

Commercial tools are heavy objects quite capable of hurting people if misused. I know what a band saw can do. I also wish I had one on my truck.

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