Makita has come out with a new 18V brushless sub-compact cordless band saw, model XBP05.
The new Makita brushless band saw features a 2″ x 2″ cutting capacity, die-cast aluminum gear and blade housing, LED worklight, and is designed for one-handed operation in tight spaces and for use overhead.
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Although some adjustments require the use of a hex wrech (for which there’s on-board storage), Makita says that a tool-less blade change lever helps to provide for fast blade installations and removal. The guard also looks to have tool-free latches.
Cutting capacity is 2″ x 2″, for cutting a wide range of jobsite materials.
As mentioned, Makita designed their new sub-compact band saw for use in tight spaces as well as overhead cutting applications.
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Its small size means there’s no auxiliary handle.
A folding hanging hook allows for easy storing of the band saw between cuts.
The new Makita SubCompact band saw will be available as a bare tool (XBP05ZB) or in a kit (XBP05R1B) bundled with a charger, compact 2.0Ah battery, and carrying case.
Makita XBP05 Features and Specifications
- Brushless motor
- Max cutting capacity: 2″ round workpiece, 2″ x 2″ rectangular
- 28-3/4″ x 1/2″ band saw blade size
- 0-630 ft/min
- Variable speed trigger
- Trigger switch with lock-off feature
- Catch bar to prevent follow-through during repetitive cutting
- Can make up to 160 cuts in 3/4″ EMT w/ 2.0Ah battery
- Weighs 7.3 lbs with battery (2.0Ah)
- 14-3/4″ length
- LED worklight
- Blade tracking dial
- Die-cast aluminum gear and blade housing
- Retractable tool hook
- Replacement blade: E-04139 ($13 via Tool Nut)
Price: $279 for the bare tool, $339 for the kit
Buy Now: Bare Tool via Amazon
Buy Now: Bare Tool via Acme Tools
Buy Now: Bare Tool via Tool Nut
Buy Now: Kit via Amazon
Buy Now: Kit via Acme Tools – best pricing at time of posting
Discussion
Tool-free blade change, one-handed operation, metal guard and housing, compact design, 2″ x 2″ cutting capacity, brushless motor… seems like a solid new addition to Makita’s 18V SubCompact cordless power tool lineup.
Also See…
If you want a Makita 18V cordless band saw with auxiliary handle, check out the Makita XBP03, which also has larger cutting capacity:
A lot of other cordless power tool brands have also introduced new compact brushless band saws recently:
JoeM
Can’t even say any of these are “Jumping on the Bandwagon”… The release dates for all of these sub-compact bandsaws are practically simultaneous… Did we miss a memo or something? Did someone mind-control everyone’s Marketing departments to release these simultaneously?
I find the fact that they’re all being released so close to eachother to be far more eerie and interesting than the tools themselves.
They’re all from good names, they’re all using established main lines from each brand, THEY’RE ALL BANDSAWS! I can’t see a single downside to any of them, unless you nitpick that you “can’t like all of these, because (Brand X) is what I use, and theirs is the one I will buy.” That’s really the only downside. All the brands released one, so not everyone is going to buy them all.
But, seriously… Did I miss a memo here? Was the field they grow Bandsaws in, suddenly stricken with a mutation that shrunk everything down like this? Has some law been passed somewhere that suddenly allowed smaller crawlspaces to be allowed to be worked in by the plumbers’ unions, where normally it would be considered cruel, or inhumane? What’s with everything coming at once here?
Stuart
Good question…
Tom D
Usually when a number of companies do the same thing at the same time there’s one of two causes – someone figures out how to fix a problem preventing it (battery size or blade curvature or something) or a patent just expired.
Toolfreak
Yeah, it’s most likely that some patent/patent application concerning the compact/cordless bandsaw market either expired or possibly was legally invalidated.
Could be anything from an old patent with language mentioning the idea of a cordless/handheld bandsaw to a blade manufacturer’s patent on the process to produce thin/short/compact blades.
Might also be related to the cordless market finally getting higher amp-hour Li-ion batteries at a reasonable price and lots of other cordless tools getting even more compact motors.
JoeM
For Tom D, and Toolfreak… Do you happen to know WHICH patent situation caused all this? I wouldn’t know where to start looking here. Blade length? Material Weight? Crossroads Deal with the wrong Demon?
‘Cause you gotta admit, that’s a lot of major brands with a fully fleshed out ultra compact bandsaw there. Anybody know who had the earliest, and what patent they had that would have allowed this to happen?
I’m genuinely confused as to the sheer number of these all at once.
Don M.
Milwaukee released their M12 2429 Subcompact bandsaw back in 2012. Possibly a patent of theirs that just expired?
Stuart
No, there have been other compact band saws since then.
I think it’s about brushless motors getting smaller and also brands aiming to remain competitive.
Toolfreak
It’s just speculation that a patent expired or something similar, it could be a lot of things, including tool manufacturers just hopping on the bandwagon once one company came out with one. That seems to happen pretty often too.
You can do some online searching and sometimes find related patents or their applications and documentation, or even contact a company directly and see if you can speak to someone who will give you a straight answer or put you in touch with the right people who can. Tool companies don’t do too much of that though, they tend not to disclose their tactics and inner workings lest their competitors try to find out how they do things by posing as a curious customer.
Toolfreak
Sure would be nice if all these cordless bandsaws had an optional hinged base available and a optional bolt-on hinge mount for the saw.
Given how critical getting a square cut can be, it also seems weird to me that I’ve seen none of these with some way of directly attaching it to the object/pipe/tubing to clamp it and be sure the blade is cutting it straight.
Seems to miss the point a bit if you get a tool that costs hundreds of dollars but can’t make a straight cut and has no way to do it. Might as well just use a reciprocating saw if the cut is going to be off or if it being square isn’t critical.
fred
I’m even surprised that none of the cordless tool manufacturers seem to offer a chain-clamp guide for use with their reciprocating saws.
I’ve seen such for pneumatic tools like the Cengar CS75 pneumatic reciprocating saw:
https://www.csunitec.com/saws/portable-reciprocating-saws/piston-pneumatic-reciprocating-saws/cs75-atex
And CS Unitec sells the clamps separately
https://www.csunitec.com/saws/portable-power-hacksaws/hacksaw-blades-clamps-accessories/manual-hacksaw-clamps-pipes-profiles
Corey Moore
Speed square to two lines on square materials, and I’ve drawn squared lines on my bandsaw plates for reference to blade 90 with round stuff. I’ve taught it to all my crew guys for awhile and it helps with easy, repeatable cuts. If you’ve got a steady hand and make a fancy (crooked/slanted) cut the first time, at most just one more offhand cut to take off the angle isn’t an unreasonable amount of time for correction, either. Of course it would be ideal to have some attachment or equipment to ensure dead cuts on everything all the time, but from my experience I don’t think a lot of us in the field see this as a big enough issue to seek further investment into solving.
JoeM
If all else fails… All Portabands have this bolt-on “Table” by many different names. In the case of THIS Makita it’s called a “Stopper Plate”, and you can see the two big bolts holding it on in the diagram picture.
It wouldn’t take much doing to attach a couple hooks or clamps to a flat table, with a hinge, and an arm that gets bolted in place of that “Stopper Plate” where suddenly it becomes a matter of just swinging the table up under whatever you’re cutting, locking it in place, then the hinge forces the Portaband to cut a straight line that stops at the plate.
I’m all for the Right-To-Repair movement, personally. If that bolt on table isn’t available to you, I say work with what you got, and make what you need for the job. Don’t wait for the company to release what YOU, PERSONALLY want. There’s a lot of these companies that are vastly out of touch with the niche-needs of their users.
With this glut of SUB-COMPACT Portabands? I don’t think anyone should expect them to be used in a full table setup. At best, an alignment accessory, like you would get for your other Saws as Circle or Straight-Edge guides. I think an alignment plate design that replaces the Portaband’s “Table” for straight edges would probably be your best bet. And if you watch enough Adam Savage’s Tested, you can see how rewarding it is to just solve the problem yourself, instead of waiting to buy a new one from the company.
Bob
I agree with Toolfreak. A stand or hinge action would be great.
Bosch in europ has an oem hinged attachment.
For aftermarket there is SWAG. Not bad but not perfect. There are some aftermarket swing mechanism attachments but I think those are only for full size saws.
Stout tools x-band must still have a patent on their compact bandsaw stand. Best one I have seen. Integrated control buttons. Sturdy table. They were the OEM for the gen one DeWalt compact bandsaw. I bet they could make a fortune licensing that patent.
fred
The pneumatic recip saw that comes with a swing-clamp attachment is pricey:
https://www.emisupply.com/catalog/unitec-560050060-reciprocating-wpipe-clamp-case-p-51821.html#.X4HCx9VKiHs
Maybe they think its too limited a market – or that folks want quick – rather than precise cuts
Corey Moore
This looks really good. Dewalts 2.5″ has long been my favorite for it’s handle to blade position, and this matches it, with variable speed, brushless motor, biggest sub compact cut capacity, and the under-guard. I see no reason this shouldn’t quickly become the best option for this size portaband.
JoeM
As I first stated, the only thing to dislike is the nitpicky argument that a person already has plenty of tools in another brand’s ecosystem, with batteries to match. Meaning they’d likely buy that brand’s version.
Beyond that, they’re all practically identical. There’s a small handful of differences, but as a whole, they’ve all been released at once (According to a theory I’d love to know more about for this case: Because some sort of Patent expired, or Some Technology was released that enabled them all to function like this. I would like to know what that is in this case.) and they’re all within the same handful of specs to eachother, literally coming down to the Brand’s Battery being the difference among them all.
I’m a Team DeWALT guy, and on these Sub-Compact Portabands, I’m ENTIRELY going with “Get the one from your usual brand. You can’t go wrong.” I’m not even going to TRY and argue the merrits of one over another. They’re ALL from good brands. TOP Brands, I might add. So, I don’t see any other deciding factor than the brand you have the batteries for with your other tools.