The Best Portable Band Saws of 2023

At just 12 inches long and less than 6.75 pounds, the subcompact Milwaukee M12 portable band saw is the smallest tool we tested, yet its 1⅝-inch cut capacity is enough for many plumbers and electricians—and it's built to the same standards as all Milwaukee tools. It doesn't have quite the power of some of the bigger cordless band saws, but that's mainly the result of having a less powerful battery—a 12V lithium-ion battery—as opposed to the 18V and 20V batteries in the larger tools.

While the cutting capacity wasn't large enough to handle some of the bigger pipes we could cut with the other models, we were still able to test this little Milwaukee on smaller iron and steel objects, including rebar. It cuts at speeds up to 280 FPM, and it took the saw 12 seconds to cut through ⅝-inch rebar. While that's not as fast as the other models, the tool is ergonomically designed, comfortable to use, and well suited to restricted areas where a larger band saw won't fit.

A slight downside is the lack of a second handle for stability. We found ourselves holding on to the battery to stabilize the saw while cutting. This is designed as a one-hand saw, but most users will likely want to use their other hand to ensure the cut is smooth and clean.

Installing the band blade was a snap using the tool's built-in lever. While this subcompact tool doesn't feature a speed adjustment dial, it has a variable speed trigger that made it easy to select the best speed for the material we were cutting. We feel this small portable band saw is well suited to DIY pipe-cutting tasks but less suited to heavy-duty jobs, such as repeated rebar cuts.

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Get the Milwaukee M12 portable band saw at Amazon, The Home Depot, or New York Power Tools.