We just received word that Ryobi has come out with a new 18V One+ cordless band saw.
You know that a brand has been listening to user requests when the press release announcement starts off with the wait is over!
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The new Ryobi cordless band saw, model P590, is said to be lightweight and portable. It features a 2-1/2″ cut capacity and is designed for cutting wood, metal, and plastic materials.
It features adjustable blade tracking and an LED work light.
- 575 SFPM (surface feet per minute) cutting speed
- 2.5″ cut capacity
- Integrated pommel handle
- 32-7/8″ blade size
- Comes with (2) 18 TPI blades
Price: $129 for the bare tool
ETA: November 2019
Discussion
The new Ryobi band saw seems straightforward – it’s a compact cordless band saw with 2.5″ cutting capacity and what looks to be a standard blade size.
What’s not to like?
Raise your hand if this be on your wishlist.
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Before anyone says it, I know what the number one question will be – “when will Ridgid come out with a cordless band saw?” The announcement of this new Ryobi saw should give you some hope that the answer is “soon” rather than “eventually,” although that’s not a guarantee.
ChrisP
Not sure who this is for. Isn’t anyone who really needs a portable band saw on a trade grade platform already?
Jim Felt
Maybe Ryobi has made vendor commitments in some markets (worldwide to introduce new (to them) tools as part of their brand support?
Okay. It makes little sense to me as well.
Toolfreak
There’s gotta be more than a few workers and businesses that have the Ryobi ONE+ as their platform, even though it’s closer to DIY/homeowner stuff, just because of the breadth of the tools they offer and the low, low price.
Mopar4wd
There are quite a few hobbyists out there that will want one. They are very useful for fabrication. If your someone who likes to make things out of steel and aluminum they are very useful for cutting small angle iron etc.
And there are some pro’s that are Ryobi guys. I know a marina that had racks of Ryobi 18V stuff also know a guy who runs a property management place that is also all Ryobi.
Dale Ianni
I agree with you Mopar4wd
aerodawg
this. I’ve had dozens of projects where a portaband would have been a lot easier than a sawzall….
CountyCork
I’m a diy’er\farmsteader and have the bosch 18v version and used extensively for replacing our leaking boiler booster storage tank. Made cutting all the copper pieces to size really easy. Also was great for cutting many tractor three point implements drive shafts down to the correct size. Maybe not for everyone but it definitely has it’s place in my garage and doesn’t just sit there collecting dust. I’m guessing I saved around $500 to $1000 on the booster pump replacement alone. It pays to be able to do some of the house repairs yourself.
Tim
Almost every Ryobi post on Facebook has at least 10 different people asking for a portable band saw.
I’ll buy one just to have handy even though I have another cordless and corded.
Mark
I own a fence company with around 35 employees. We use dewalt bandsaws. Everything else we use is ryobi. Stuff is pretty good and I do not mind replacing most stuff. Ill be getting a couple of these for sure since we have so many batteries.
robert brownell
I see this comment a lot about Ryobi not being for the Pro and I know that many say that, but in reality I’ve come across many contractors that have no problem breaking out the green/blue of Ryobi. When I’ve asked them it’s usually the same response “Why do I need to give brand X my money, I don’t work for a contractor that requires we only use one brand” or “I have kids headed to college, I don’t see the point in wasting that money on tools.” I’ll note this was not new contractors or hire off the street type guys-they were professional contractors building multi-million dollar customer homes…
Will
I know I’m late to comment but I see this sentiment towards Ryobi all the time.
The truth is if you’re in any type of residential trades Ryobi is more than capable of doing what you need. People poke fun at them all the time yet I frequently see home owners with the original blue/yellow Ryobi tools still in use after years of homeowner use…with the same battery connection as their 2020 tools.
I work with a residential electrician who swears by Ryobi and he’s not wrong. His tools hold up and do the job just as well as yellow, red, teal, and orange counterparts.
If you’re worried they will not hold up, Ryobi tools are normally priced such that you can buy two of whatever it is and usually come out cheaper than the others.
A-A-Ron
I’m even later to comment but I work in NYC large scale construction (commercial, heavy civil) and while it’s extremely rare to see Ryobi on-site it’s not unheard of. At least 1 glazing outfit and 1 elevator contractor (installer, not just modernization) I’ve worked with use Ryobi. When I ask them why it’s always the same answer: less likely to be stolen, does the job just fine, and backups/replacements are cheap.
Robear
Don’t you need like a stand so when you cut metal it’s square? I don’t really understand the purpose of a handheld baby sized bandsaw. What application would this be used for?
Aaron
For cutting Conduit
Koko The Talking Ape
I believe these guys are typically used to cut bar or pipe stock, such as rebar, conduit, angle iron, Unistrut, etc. For that kind of work, the cut doesn’t have to be perfectly square. And this saw should be faster and smoother than a recip saw, but requires more clearance around the workpiece.
MichaelHammer
Cutting threaded rod. Engineered beam systems often include a scheduled through=bolt system. Often it’s cheaper and easier to buy threaded rod. Threaded rod is also often used in code mandated deck connections to the superstructure.
Corey Moore
3 seconds with a speed square and a marker solves the free hand cutting squared issue. You can take it one further, for round stock like EMT/tube/sched, by using said square to mark a perfect 90° off the blade to reference on the saw shoe. You’ll mostly be fine getting by with a good feel for the tool after awhile, but these are never bad practices that help with consistent results, and I encourage everyone I’ve ever taught to try them out. I’m a big believer in the portaband as a most useful tools one can own lol
Mark
Fence posts
Diane
Very often it’s easier to cut something in the air. Maybe a conduit needs to be removed or changed in some way, it’s much easier to cut it out of the way. Plus it saves time. A small bandsaw is convenient for a construction hand because power outlets are often far between and requires long extension cord runs. A smaller bandsaw personally owned is a guarantee that you have access to one when you need it instead of having to wait for someone else to finish with the jobsite bandsaw. Most personal gang boxes are already full of tools so it’s easier to make room for a smaller tool.
Nate B
And like other micro-Portabands, it’s got just enough capacity for a standard chunk of Unistrut. As it should be!
Phucku
I’m an electrician, this would be a convenient cutting tool when running pipe or any other type of cunduit system.
Corey Moore
Everything 2″rigid/sched80 and below, super fast and clean! Lol One has to pay a little attention not to let tek90 pinch the blade, but it’s definitely an essential for every electrician. I’ll never advise anyone to not own a recip, but the portaband is definitely the better option for us in 95% of situations.
Tim E.
One thing I think I saw that I’m less fond of on this model is it’s single speed, the trigger is on or off and that’s it. I like the variable speed on the others for more delicate materials and starting/finishing cuts sometimes. Though for more typical materials like black iron, unistrut, or conduit, maybe variable speed is less of a concern.
Corey Moore
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a compact (32⅞ or whatever weird size Milwaukees is) that isn’t single speed, on/off. Full size/deepcut’s always have variable speed triggers and a manual speed limiter, in my experience, but no compacts.
Tjb
M12 portaband is variable speed.
Corey Moore
That’s interesting, seeing as the compact isn’t. Seems that there’s a Bosch compact that is, but other than that I can’t find one. DeWalt, Makita, Milwaukee (aside from that subcompact), Hilti, metabo, all come single speed. I wonder what the thought process is there.
Chris
Don’t buy it ! It’s a Bosch /Hilti rip-off. The tool is great but the blades are shit!!!
Mike
Blades are cheap and easy to replace
Perry
Love this! This is made for Guys like my dad (farmers/ranchers) that dont really need contractor grade tools, but use a wide variety of them. My wife and I were going to buy him a bosch 18v band saw for his birthday next month, but he’s already invested heavily in ryobi.
We’ve been building pipe fencing for cattle chutes on the property, and now he wont have to pull his welding/generator trailer out to power the portaband for cutting the posts to height.
CountyCork
What’s the diameter of the post? These only allow 2 to 3 inches at max. Recip Saw could work good for cutting the top of post also.
Perry
The. Biggest is 2-3/8 oilfield pipe, but mostly smaller stuff like sucker rod. For an older guy like dad (he’s 70) a light portaband beats using a recip saw.
CountyCork
That works!
Garth
Ryobi has lots of great tools for the do-it-yourselfers but if they break down they are a throwaway because they don’t have repair/replacement parts for their tools. This is the case with 2 Ryobi sweeper/blower’s I purchased.
TrueTexan
Maybe some parts they don’t have, but they have a whole parts department for replacements. I’ve actually yet to have a single 18v tool from them fail anyways, and I have some real beaters lol
Tim D.
TrueTexan’s right about their parts department. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I could buy some oddball screws and parts for a Ryobi miter saw stand. I don’t own any of their 18v stuff, so I haven’t tried parts for that equipment.
mattd
I doubt ridgid will ever make one. I am 100% sure that ridgid limits their US released tools to minimize the LSA. If you look at AEG there are a lot of tools that are on that platform (especially their OPE tools) and yet are not in the US.
Tom
If Home Depot isn’t going to stock it, they have no reason to release it in the US. I believe that’s the bigger issue.
Toolfreak
Seems ok for the price, although yeah, I would like to see some kind of attachable stand to make square cuts with this thing and would much rather the trigger be variable speed for starting cuts when holding it.
Flotsam
I agree with the comments about it being nice if there were an associated jig to mount this band saw fixed for horizontal or vertical cutting. But almost by definition if that were to be done its going to be fixed to a work bench or something else. To me that implies it could be powered not by batteries but by a cord.
Milwaukee makes a nice fixture for their portable band saw but it ain’t cheap.
Todd Barry
“Milwaukee makes a nice fixture for their portable band saw but it ain’t cheap.”
Never seen a “fixture” made by Milwaukee for a band saw, I think you meant to say SWAG off road makes a nice fixture (stand)…?
Stuart
I believe he was referring to:
https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/Power-Tools/Metalworking/Band-Saws/48-08-0260
Steve Everett
If you mount it on a stand, it’s no longer a portable band saw, now is it?
Todd Barry
It literally takes 5 seconds to unscrew the ONE thumb screw that holds it secure, FYI.
Steve Everett says
Oct 19, 2019 at 11:47 pm
If you mount it on a stand, it’s no longer a portable band saw, now is it?
Clark Leyva
I saw this on wranglerstar’s YouTube channel a few years back. A portable bandsaw stand that was easy to assemble and really sturdy and is selling now for less than 70 bucks:
https://www.swagoffroad.com/SWAG-V40-Portaband-Table_p_63.html
Bob
The only battery mini portaband that came from the factory with a stand that I know of was Stout tools. Its a really nice saw and the stand had on/off buttons integrated into the stand to control the saw. I was told they were the OEM for the dewalt 18v band saw. They must have patented that cus no one else does it. A dewalt 5ah 20v battery can be adapted to that saw pretty easily 😉
The swag jigs are very nice for the full size portabands little pricey but nice. I have not tried the ones for mini bandsaws.
Nate
I modded mine for makita batteries because the stock batteries were junk. Just cut the battery holder off an old makita drill, cut the battery holder off the stout tool and hot glued it on.
The What?
That is one of the drawbacks of a handheld portable bandsaw. Even with the mountable stand it really wouldn’t be much more useful. The portaband pro looks awful if that is supposed to be some kind of conversion from portable to bench top. These are lightweight plastic contraptions that aren’t very useful for much more than cutting small diameter tubing and small bundles of rebar. And even then, they are very limited at what they can cut. Especially with a small throat and the fact that they don’t come with a step pulley to adjust the speed when cutting different materials. They don’t come with a vise to hold stock in place while the weight of the saw bears down on it to make the cut. This is how a 4×6 bandsaw operates which is why it is optimal for cutting metal and anything else. All you do is place the stock in the vise, turn it on and watch it cut. The saw does all the work for you. It even turns itself off when it’s done. Unfortunately they are not portable and they will never be made to operate on a battery either so don’t get your hopes up. A chop saw can also do the same thing. They are portable. In fact you can turn your miter saw into a chop saw with the any metal cutting circular saw blade. I’ve done it and it works as well. I still have a hard time finding a use for one of these portable bandsaws in my line of work considering my angle grinder and recip saw can do the same thing as one of these and they aren’t limited on cutting depth and diameter. Maybe if I were cutting rebar or black iron pipe every day I could see myself getting one of these. But even then there are other options for accomplishing the same task in a timely manner. Both Lenox and Diablo make thick metal cutting blades that are excellent for easily cutting rebar in a matter of seconds and can easily cut angle, plate and large metal stock. And a recip saw with a normal metal cutting blade does a fine job of cutting conduit and other plastic tubing very quickly.
Mopar4wd
The fabrication and welding dept where I work uses a Milwaukee porta band like crazy. The have plenty of recip saws, cut off wheels chop saw etc, even a 16″ vertical band saw and a horizontal cut off band saw. But for doing quick fit ups on angle iron they prefer to just grab the portaband and cut the material on the table then carry it to one of the stationary machines.
TJ Cornish
+1. Real metal cutting is done with band saws. You can cut with a reciprocating blade and get through it eventually, but most users destroy their blades very quickly by going too fast and it vibrates everything to death. Hot saws have their place, but every metal fab shop uses bandsaws of some type 95% of the time, as do plumbers. Electricians may get away cutting thin wall conduit with a sawzall, but for any amount of metal cutting, a bandsaw – portable or fixed, is better.
fred
There are lots of choices these days – and options are always good. I have a Milwaukee corded mounted in their old stand that sports a chain vise. Swag Industries also makes a rig to mount your portable bandsaw upright. It’s not up to what the Do-All saw (that we had in the shop) can do – but its a lot cheaper and more transportable. We also had a big Marvel vertical plate saw in the shop – but no one would think it to be transportable. Today – many might buy plasma or water-jet cutting equipment instead of a plate saw
When the cordless saws were first introduced – the plumbers bought into them for cutting strut and threaded rod. There are dedicated strut and threaded rod cutters that do a cleaner job – but you probably need to cut a lot of it to justify spending over $5000 for something like the Greenlee 30T.
Mario Lira
Como para cuando la sacarán a la venta me gustaría probarla
Stuart
November 2019.
Jon
Wait, $129? Workshop Addict and Tool Review Zone both said $99 when they reviewed it. I think Ryobi is holding off on releasing it and testing the waters to see how bad people want one of these. For $99 I was going to get one the day it comes out, but at $129 I might just keep using my corded portaband. After all, it’s only a 2-1/2″ saw, and it’s a Ryobi. The M12 is currently $149 with a battery!
Luke
I just snagged this for $159 with a 4AH battery and charger at the worst place on earth(Home Depot).
And I can’t even believe how good this thing is for the price. Its every bit as capable as the Dewalt compact band saw, and with just as many problems. I do speak from experience, having owned the Dewalt for 2 years.
Pros:
Lightweight .
Cuts copper tube, plastic pipe, all-thread with ease.
Adjustable cutting guide.
Uses the same blades as other compact band saws.
Good battery life.
Cheaper than Dewalt.
Cuts smoother than Dewalt (in my experience).
No Dewalt batteries for someone to steal!
Cons
Rafter hook is kinda flimsy, not very useful, but that’s my feeling about the Dewalt too.
No adjustable speed, but that’s how all compact band saws are.
Sometimes gets bogged down cutting thicker steel objects like pipe or plate, but again, that’s the same as the dewalt, Bosch, or hilti equivalents.
So, there you have it. The same mediocre-to-good performance as competing band saws at a fraction of the price. Is it built to last for many years? Probably not, but if you look at how these little saws are built, you’ll understand that maybe none of them are.