What are the limits of a 4x6 HF bandsaw?

randyjaco

randyjaco

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I am frequently amazed at the capabilities of the ubiquitous Harbor Freight band saw. It is not well made, but on the basis of the machine per dollar, it is hard to beat. I ran into a situation where I needed to cut off a disk from a short 7.5" dia. bar of 304 Stainless. I sold my old large cutoff saw because I never used it. Now I ran into this situation and I was stumped. I was going to spend all day trying to cut it on my vertical band saw and it was going to be a ***** to hold. I went over to the HF saw. I noticed that I had @ 8" between the bearings and no ability to hold it in the stock vise. A "V" block on the side opposite the arm might work? So I made a bracket out of a piece angle and a square of 1/4"CR. I screwed it to the casting and tapped an adjustment screw too insure that the Bar was perpendicular to the blade. To hold the bar I screwed together a couple of hose clamps to secure the bar to the V block.

I was amazed, it actually worked! It did take several hours and 3 blades. Not exactly a recommended procedure but it worked 8^)

Randy

Bracket 1.jpg Saw 1.jpg Bracket 2.jpg Saw 2.jpg
 
I've been known to remove the vice jaws on mine to get right to the limits of the blade capacity. I typically will use clamps and blocks to hold the piece. I've cut some pretty long mitres that way.:))
 
Those saws are so poorly made it is amazing that they cut. Mine has cut ourstandingly well since I got it. As soon as I got it home and assembled I changed to a quality 14-18 tooth variable blade, did the alignment procedure from the 4X6 group, changed the gear box sludge for real "clean" lube and set all the tensions to spec It cuts straight as an arrow and pretty darn quick. hasn't let me down or dissappointed me yet For the amount invested it has done an amazing amount of work and paid for itself many times over just in saved labor time and broken hacksaw blades, not to mention losing my temper from being too slow when I do it by hand. A couple of folks have gotten really poorly assembled units, but in general once you get them tuned in they settle down and do a great job. Just sayin...
Bob
 
I have used my saw passed the limits and it worked fine too. I cut a piece of 2x4 wood so thin you could almost see thru it just for a test once I did all the fixes to make it cut straight and that was with the blade that came with it. I did put a new Irwin blade on it a couple of days after I got it back in April and it cuts better now in all metals. I do hate the stand, but it does not do anything that takes away from the saw it's just too weak and short, but that can be fixed. I did cut a 1/2"x12" sq. alum plate in it and it cut straight even when the blade was at 12" high. Under $200 with tax is a good deal for the unit.
Paul
 
Mine cuts really true also. I had one breakage: where the vise screw shaft goes through the end of the casting I broke out the casting about 1" diameter (probably using too much pressure tightening the vice down on the part). Considered welding/brazing but that can be problematic with poor castings and imposing stress from the heat. Milled a plate to bolt on the end of the base to support the end of the vise screw, working so far, I won't crank it down so tight anymore.
 
Randy,

You're not the only one that has done that. I've even taken the vise jaw off and c-clamped the material to the saw to cut.

You can't beat this little saw! I prefer to run 10-14 variable tooth blade on mine, but have had luck with 14-18 tooth blades too.
 
I hope that I didn't imply that I thought I was the only one to do this. I was just marveling in the capabilities of this amazing saw. I am also curious as to other outrageous applications and cuts made with this saw.

Randy
 
I agree these little saws are a great value, I think I paid $149 with a coupon for mine a few years back. Once you get it all tuned up they do perform very well, however on mine, after several to many hours of use with no problems, it all of the sudden it started to break blades. I discovered what appeared to be some sort of powder coating on the blade wheels that was worn off in places that caused it to put uneven pulses of tension on the blade. Took the wheels off, chucked them up in the 9 x 20 and had to turn about 0.065" off of one and about 0.030" off of the other to get them to true up. No blade breakage since!

Does anyone have any experience with Harbor Freights larger horizontal bandsaw?
 
With the "bang for the buck" factor in mind...I am happy with mine so far. I spent some time on tuning it up and as others have recommended, the blade that came with it was promptly removed and replaced with variable TPI blade. I have not had it long enough to be the leader in the HF bandsaw parade but from what I have experienced with it....I am OK with being a marcher in the parade.

FastPauly
 
xalky said:
I've been known to remove the vice jaws on mine to get right to the limits of the blade capacity. I typically will use clamps and blocks to hold the piece. I've cut some pretty long mitres that way.:))
Click to expand...

Yes, the 'T' nuts in my step block set fit the slots on the vise table perfectly.

Just right for clamping odd shaped things that you want to cut a thin slice from.


M
 
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