Some of you have heard me say in the past, that I DO NOT like Milwaukee power tools. I've had many less than favorable experiences with various Milwaukee tools, but what soured me forever was the portaband......
Just in case you have a Milwaukee portaband, I am posting this, along with the images to help you IF the same thing happens to you.....that happened to me.
The biggest issue with the Milwaukee Portaband is the system used to hold/adjust the idler wheel. It flexes in a way that, when ANY AMOUNT of pressure is placed on the blade when cutting, the idler wheel will tilt in a way that allows it to make contact with the internals mechanism...... and as you can see from the pics, if you don't catch it and repair it, you will destroy/loose the idler wheel. So here you go.....
Hopefully nobody that owns one of these saws has this problem, nor needs this information......but if you own a Milwaukee Portaband, and you EVER see aluminum shaving when using the saw......here's a solution.....as long as you catch it BEFORE it cuts all the way through the idler wheel.