# HF 4x6 bandsaw working out well



## Bill Kahn (Dec 25, 2017)

I have learned that sometimes I just need to buy the good stuff.  Like carbide endmills.

Other times the cheap stuff seems to do just fine for me.

My cheap HF 4x6 bandsaw just did an impressive cut.  With a good blade (imachinist M42 Bi-Metal), and with no special adjustment of the saw, it cut off a uniform .02" from a 2x6" piece of titanium.  That stuff is way hard to cut--a normal HSS blade does not even scrape it.  Took two hours with extra pressure.  

There was ample opportunity to veer.  It just stayed straight on course.

I probably am just having a lucky run with it--there are many adjustments folks write about for the saw.  I have about 50 hours of cutting on it over the past year plus.  Have not adjusted a thing yet.

(I didn't need the .02--I needed the block it came off of to be .08 smaller.  With the .045 cut width I only had .015 more to do on the mill.  With a max rate of .001 per layer and needing 5 passes per layer, it was faster to just set and forget the saw.  (And those 15 layers took forever--the face mill cannot do Ti.))

-Bill


----------



## Ray C (Dec 25, 2017)

Bill...  I've been using that same HF saw almost every day for the last 6 years or so.  Gotta love it.   Quick suggestion if you haven't already heard about this...  change the oil in the gearbox.  The factory oil is barely one step above lard.   People who don't change the oil experience gear-box failures. 
BTW, as I recall, there's an Internet Forum dedicated to that bandsaw (go figure).

Also, most types of commercial TI work-hardens very quickly.   If you use a cool-mist (or similar) coolant, you'll mitigate that problem.

Regards

Ray C.


----------



## chips&more (Dec 25, 2017)

A +1 on changing the gear box oil. I was recommended to clean out and replace with STP. The gear box has been happily working for more than +35 years now!...Dave


----------



## Superburban (Dec 25, 2017)

When you change the oil, take a look at the seals. Mine has been sitting in hte back of my shop for a few years now, since I picked up a Carolina band saw. A few months ago, I noticed the floor under the HF saw, is a big oil/grease spot. Apparently the 100+ degree heat, and the grease did not get along with each other.


----------



## homebrewed (Dec 25, 2017)

I also have the HF 4x6 bandsaw.  I have done a few simple mods to it, most regarding the vise.  To facilitate cutting short stock I extended the jaws closer to the blade with two .25" thick steel plates, and put an adjustable jack rod on the far end so the vise grips shorter stuff better.    It uses a pinch-clamp approach to fix the rod in place.  I also drilled and tapped two holes on the bottom of the movable jaw, for two brass bolts that help keep the jaw from opening up when it is cranked down on stock.  I faced the ends of the bolts to maximize their contact area.

I also made a chute out of sheet metal to direct swarf into a waste container.  It doesn't catch all of the swarf but it's a lot better than no waste chute at all.

Mark


----------



## gman10259 (Dec 25, 2017)

Gearbox Oil recommendations for the HF Band saw?


----------



## Alittlerusty (Dec 25, 2017)

Any gear oil  will b fine gman. The problem is they don't clear out all the grit before filling them at the factory.


----------



## royesses (Dec 25, 2017)

Mobil SHC 634 is recommended. There is a bronze gear in the box and some gear oils will eat it.

Roy


----------



## rcaffin (Dec 25, 2017)

0.02" Ti 6Al4V?  (0.5 mm)
You can CUT that with heavy tin snips.
With care I can cut 0.8 mm (0.031") 6Al4V, with very heavy tin snips.

Cheers
Roger
PS: yes, I overhauled the bandsaw gearbox and replaced the oil too, when I bought it.


----------



## 3strucking (Dec 26, 2017)

i have the cummins brand of the same saw but its about 15 years old. I have given up trying to get it to cut straight. I am now looking for another saw. Glad yours is working out.


----------



## gman10259 (Dec 26, 2017)

Thanks for the oil advice. What about blade recommendations?


----------



## ddickey (Dec 26, 2017)

http://www.lenoxtools.com/pages/classic-bi-metal-band-saw-blades.aspx


----------



## Downwindtracker2 (Dec 26, 2017)

Differential gear oil is fine. The odd diff has some brass in it.  You'll likely won't get any industrial gear oil, the ones with EP in their numbers are the brass gear eaters, EP 220. I use Lucas 75-140 syn. in just about everything, including my truck.


----------



## Superburban (Dec 26, 2017)

Downwindtracker2 said:


> Differential gear oil is fine. The odd diff has some brass in it.  You'll likely won't get any industrial gear oil, the ones with EP in their numbers are the brass gear eaters, EP 220. I use Lucas 75-140 syn. in just about everything, including my truck.


I would be careful with that line of thinking. Most diff gear oils have EP modifiers, which is what is harmful to the brass products. Here is a good article. 

article on gear oils, and brass

With all the brass & bronze in many of my power tools, I have looked into this subject quite a bit over the years. I find it interesting that very few products will say they will not harm brass products. A search of Lucas's web site, only reveals the industrial line of gear oils as safe for brass. They imply it in some others, but will not state it. 

Here is a better over article on gear oils, which puts several through a bunch of standard tests.

Study of automotive gear lubes.

The more one researches, the more frustrating things get. I like your idea of one lube for just about everything, I used to worry about viscosity, but now I don't think it is as important as other factors.


----------



## royesses (Dec 26, 2017)

I use Lenox Bi-Metal blades from MSC when they have a good sale going on. The supercut blades from Harbor Freight are pretty good too(USA Made Mom and Pop business), but quite expensive. I use variable pitch 14-18 for general use.

Roy


----------



## gman10259 (Dec 27, 2017)

Thanks again for all the input. I'll be putting my HF 4x6 band saw together this week.


----------



## umahunter (Dec 28, 2017)

Another  good addition  is to drill and tap some holes so you can use your mill clamping  kit to hold odd or small parts you can't hold in the vise it works great  I used them recently  to cut a piece of 4 inch round  1 3/4 piece of aluminum  in half worked really well


----------



## Investigator (Jan 9, 2018)

Older thread, but I have a 4x6 HF saw.  I opened the gear box and the rubber(ish) seal inside the box was pretty well stuck on.  It was like a sheet of rubber, the cover came off, but the rubber seal stayed on.  I was afraid to scrape it off or force it for fear that it might not seal again.  Any hints on that issue?

Is there a replaceable seal?


----------



## Bob Korves (Jan 9, 2018)

The rubber seal is reusable if it is not damaged.  If it is damaged, a new gasket is needed.  It is not a critical application, there is no pressure in the cavity during use, so a piece of inner tube or corn flakes box would likely do the job.  I recently checked the oil level on mine and added a bit of oil.  I reused the gasket.  It is not leaking.  In fact, in the horizontal position, the gasket is above the oil level, so the oil would have to climb uphill to leak.


----------



## mikey (Jan 10, 2018)

Bob Korves said:


> ... so a piece of inner tube or *corn flakes box* would likely do the job



Bob, this cracked me up. It recalled an incident when I was young. I was helping a guy who raced a '64 Plymouth Fury with a 426 Wedge motor - remember those? Anyway, he had a leak at the upper radiator hose housing and we had a race in less than 2 hours so he used a Cheerios box to make a gasket. Maybe not as good as a corn flakes box but that thing never leaked and as far as I know, he never had to change it. This same guy used ice cubes jammed in a Folgers coffee can to cool his fuel inlet line and he swore that was why his car ran in the low 9-seconds at the track. So, corn flakes box? Yeah, I can get behind that!


----------



## FOMOGO (Jan 10, 2018)

I've made many a gasket with cardboard, and a ball-peen hammer. Should probably be in the "old school" Thread.  Mike


----------



## Bob Korves (Jan 10, 2018)

mikey said:


> Bob, this cracked me up. It recalled an incident when I was young. I was helping a guy who raced a '64 Plymouth Fury with a 426 Wedge motor - remember those? Anyway, he had a leak at the upper radiator hose housing and we had a race in less than 2 hours so he used a Cheerios box to make a gasket. Maybe not as good as a corn flakes box but that thing never leaked and as far as I know, he never had to change it. This same guy used ice cubes jammed in a Folgers coffee can to cool his fuel inlet line and he swore that was why his car ran in the low 9-seconds at the track. So, corn flakes box? Yeah, I can get behind that!


Well, I don't eat foods like corn flakes, and I probably do not have an inner tube around to cut up (and it probably would be old and rotten if I did) but would bet big money that I could find something in my shop (or kitchen or trash can) to seal that gearbox cover well enough without ordering something online or driving to a store to do the job.  Full disclosure:  I have a pretty good stash of gasket material and various sealants, but probably wouldn't use if for that job.  HF stuff doesn't deserve any repair that classy...


----------



## Robert LaLonde (Jan 10, 2018)

You know, I bought some Starrett blades for mine a while back on the reccomendation of one of the other groups and they broke rather quickly. While they may not be the best blades I went back to buying the SuperCut blades from Harbor Freight. HF has a couple blades for this saw.  The SuperCut blades are the more expensive ones and they definitely hold up better.   I doubt they would hold up to Ti cutting, but they cut a lot of 6061-T6 and lately a fair amount of 4140HT.  I've found that usually when I start having issues with getting moderately straight cuts its after I have used the saw to try to cut some small stuff in the upright position or when the blade has a bunch of hours on it.  With a fresh blade its about as good as I can adjust it.  I still rough dimension on the saw, and then true up on the mill.  

If I had a ready source I trusted for Lennox blades I might try them, but I do like being able to run to the local China store and buy a blade that works ok.  In another life I worked for a company called Tool & Supply and when it came to blades if it didn't say Lennox (any kind of blade) many of our customers would buy them.  They would buy a brand new saw and Lennox blades at the same time.  

I have heard that some of the high price low speed cold cut saw can be trusted to get much closer to dimension, but at 4-5 times the price and half the capacity I have a hard time going that way.


----------

