4x6 Horizontal/vertical Metal Cutting Bandsaw?

[partagas]

Just went today and bought 1Hp bandsaw http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=93762

Does anybody else have one and how are they?

[iWeasel410]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/4x6bandsaw/

Enjoy :)

[1911Man]

I have one of those red saws and I'm happy with it- after putting a decent blade on it and building a proper stand for it. The motor is much better than the older green version. It will probably require some adjusting and tweaking to get good true cuts but for the money you can't beat 'em. WARNING: Do not move the saw with the bow vertical! It will tip over in a N.Y. minute- just trust me on this one....

[Snakeoil]

1911 is correct, have to get a good bi metal blade for it and I put as much tention as I can. Mine cuts pretty true, love it.

[cjdavis618]

Ditto. I replaced the stand just the other day on mine. I put a 18tpi bimetal on it and man does it cut straight. :)

I think for the money it is great. (Don't tell HF but I cut a 8" x 3 x 3/16 channel on it (To make it's own base stand, :laugh: ) by flipping the metal over after it was to the limit of cut. The other half of the channel I cut is on the Drill press behind it.

I haven't painted it yet. (In reality, I might not. lol) But I can tell you it is sturdy and will outlive me.

My floor to my shop is not quite level so I had redneck adjust it. :laugh:


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[steve45]

A better blade is a must!

Better yet, look at this: http://www.weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=11176

[partagas]

Glad to hear this. After in store sale, 20% discount and 25.00 gift card. I got it for 105.00

So I figured for my first it was a good price.

iWeasel410 thanks for the link.

[MUDBUG]

I've been using my HF saw alot lately...and on Friday the original blade broke, at the weld. It could have been due to me cutting 4 ea 5/8" thick 3" wide bar stock pieces at the same time. Maybe not, but I ordered a bi-metal blade from Grizzly. I can't wait to get that!

[gtaw081]

Has anybody else broken the black plastic knob used to adjust the blade tension? If so, any creative solutions to making a better knob/turning device?

[Jim Stabe]

Has anybody else broken the black plastic knob used to adjust the blade tension? If so, any creative solutions to making a better knob/turning device?

Look on the McMaster web site and search on knobs. I got a real nice steel one for about five bucks.

Jim

[disepyon]

i was looking at getting a saw like this and came across this thread, and saw that hf makes one, but my concern is, does it use a liquid cooling system?

[MUDBUG]

The red one does not...in fact, I was using cutting oil and stopped it after everything got all buggered up. It cuts fine dry. Of course, I cut on the slowest speed with a quality blade.

[xccelagator]

I have been real happy with mine, replace the blade though with a bi-metal. The stand sucks for me being 6'2" so I built this for it. A little overkill with 10 inch tires!!!

<a href="http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2414674250050322362pnIJez"><img src="http://thumb2.webshots.net/t/14/14/6/74/25/2414674250050322362pnIJez_th.jpg" alt="Bandsaw Stand"></a>

Dan

[runchman]

count me as another very satisfied HF bandsaw owner, given that:

1. You have to get a real blade
2. You also really need to make a new stand. The existing one sucks; getting the saw up a bit higher makes all the difference.
3. Welding up some bolts with integral handles for the vice and clamp bolts, so you can tighten w/o using wrenches, is very handy.

I love my saw, years ago would have never thought I'd be saying that about something made in China. *sigh*, if you can't beat em, join em, I guess.

- John

Here's my stand:

http://www.weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=7328&highlight=bandsaw+stand
http://www.weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=7373&highlight=bandsaw+stand
http://www.weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=7671&highlight=bandsaw+stand

[aametalmaster]

I am on my 2nd one. I cut hundreds of thousands of parts on the two of them and wouldn't use anything else. I get my blades from here http://www.countrysaw.com and did nothing else to the saw except throw the cheap stand away and made taller ones. I can cut 1,000 pcs of 3/8" sq tube in about 4 or 5 hours. I have done time studies on the best way to cut that many parts. Here is a link of some other oddball cuts i have made. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sawking/ ...Bob

[edl]

AA - I am a huge fan of HFT - really glad to read a post like this and the one at sawking - thanks, ed

[umahunter]

i have the red saw join the yahoo group there is an awesome article on how to get it cutting great ive got mine cutting straight as an arrow remember its a bandsaw kit if it cuts strait outta the box consider yourself real lucky if ya haven't joined yahoo pm me and i can get you the article:cool2:

[jwilson]

Well, You guys convinced me...I just went out yesterday and bought one. Regarding the blade, does anyone happen to have a model number of a good blade you could recommend? Thanks!

[BD1]

hi, here is the one that everyone recommended and I bought this one too. Very happy with it.

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg/itemDetailsRender.shtml?ItemId=1613548618:blush:

[jwilson]

Thank you BD1...just in time too. I was cutting 2x6 tube over the weekend and the HF blade snapped (as you guys predicted). Fortunately, I picked up a Delta blade a couple of days ago so I could finish. Looks like I'll be heading to Grainger...just happen to have one about 3 mile from where I work. Thanks again!

[Washman]

I can see what some of you are talking about .... The stand is a little short .

I took a different approach however. I cut the hinges off the original legs and stitch welded them together at the fold (corner).

As you can see I have done a lot of things to mine to make it a more useful machine... But the end result is for the money you can't beat it .. Chinese or not!

The cutoff switch/circuit was added because on ocassion the saw would hit the switch and stop but when raised it would start again all by itself. The original switch would move enough to shut off the saw but not enough to actually click the switch to the full off position. So when the blade was raised the saw would start on it's own.

Not wanting to loose any fingers I thought it would be a better idea to use a latching relay type circuit so that when it hits the limit and goes off it can not be made to start again without pushing the green button again.

I wont go into all the details .... I don't want to bore you all to death.


Washman

[iWeasel410]

I picked up one of these a week and a half ago and finished putting it together yesterday. Much to my surprise, the blade tracks very well and my golly, it's straight too! Now I just need to find a bimetal blade to replace it with!

[Me!]

Get a few more blades, it WILL start to track at an angle as the blade wares down on one side.

I have the same saw but it says Delta on it, I sliced a 1/64" off a 2x2" tube once I got it dialed in!

[edl]

to be clear is this the 200 or 700 dollar model? - thanks, ed

[Jim Stabe]

The cutoff switch/circuit was added because on ocassion the saw would hit the switch and stop but when raised it would start again all by itself. The original switch would move enough to shut off the saw but not enough to actually click the switch to the full off position. So when the blade was raised the saw would start on it's own.

Not wanting to loose any fingers I thought it would be a better idea to use a latching relay type circuit so that when it hits the limit and goes off it can not be made to start again without pushing the green button again.

I wont go into all the details .... I don't want to bore you all to death.


Washman

Washman, please bore me because I fight the same issue with the switch. Could you provide the details of your solution with maybe a wiring diagram and parts list.

Thanks

Jim

[Jim Stabe]

to be clear is this the 200 or 700 dollar model? - thanks, ed
It is the $200 model (on sale for $159 often). They almost have a cult following if you Google "4x6 bandsaw".

Jim

[tommyj3]

After reading alot of horror stories about the HF bandsaws, plus alot of really happy stories from owners. Well I bite the bullet and bought one last week. The first thing I did was build a new stand with the help of Runchman's post, except I put casters on all four corners. My saw cut square right out of the box even with the HF blade, coundn't be happier.

I did order some bi-metal blades from Enco to be safe.

[ecrouse]

So, I used my HF 4x6 'lil red' bandsaw for the first time today. I must say I am overall, very pleased.

I bought it about a week ago for $159 after reading all the positive reports on the internet. I will agree with Jim Stabe, these little saws do have a cult following. One guy on Yahoo has a mod that makes margaritas while cutting 6" solid bar stock. Ok, not really.

Some have said the stand is a little short. These people must be 5'4" or less. The stand is a LOT short ( I am 6'1"). Ok, everyone that has one or has seen one, sorry to even be including this but for anyone that is considering ordering one (cause you aren't lucky enough to have a HF close to you), the work table height on the provided stand is 24 inches. That is exactly kneecap height on me.

Other than that, the saw worked as mentioned by so many others here, adequately. I put in metal (C-Channel) and it cut the metal. It has a few quirks but every one of them has been addressed in a mod so now I can have fun tinkering with my saw.

I was fabricating a bracket to mount my HF 50' self retracting hose reel that I have had on the floor unused for almost a year so I didn't mind that it wasn't cutting exactly straight. Actually, that was my fault anyway. I had a 20' piece of c-channel and I was holding the far end up on a jack stand :rolleyes: so all my cuts were at a slight angle top to bottom.

One question, the cutoff tab seems to kill the saw before the last 1/16 of an inch of the material is cut. I adjusted it all the way up but I have to actually set the stop bolt to just under 1/8" and use light pressure to get the last 16th and the saw dies RIGHT as the work breaks loose. Any one else had this problem?

I considered adding a 16th" piece under the work but I figure someone has seen this so....


Thanks,

Erin Crouse