# HF 4x6 bandsaw - buyers beware



## PurpLev (Aug 13, 2012)

So after considering a stationary yet small bandsaw and not being impressed with a used model on CL I decided to just get a new one. since they are all the same (or so one would think) I decided to go with the least expensive alternative - HF. to be fair, I wasn't excited about this, but given that I knew the risk, I chose to take it for the savings factor. 

so picked up this bs at a local store, drove it home and managed to get it into the basement and all assembled. the user manual is pure crap - no way around it. I had to use grizzly's manual to be able to put this one together as the HF manual is clearly of a different model as the instructions call for threaded holes in the casting where there are clearly not, and also does not include any references to some of the parts (like the angled corner support brackets for the base). 

Using the grizzly manual I put this thing together. I like the grizzly manuals - very clear and informative. wish I could get the grizzly white version of this saw but it's 2x the cost (and for good reasons I guess). the base is actually surprisingly stable - up until you add the wheels - thats when it loses the stability all together, but still is decent for most small cuts. 

the motor started fine, no rubbing of the pulleys against the cover, and while feed spring has a "TING" moment as you lower the saw for a cut to it, all seemed well - or so I thought.

While trying to adjust the blade guide I discovered that the blade guide won't pull out as it should (floor model at the store pulled out smoothly). a bit more force and with some resistance, it eventually came out revealing this:



 it looks like it was even ground at the factory to make it 'fit' (which it still doesn't really) as the grinding marks are perpendicular to the pull direction of the part (in which case if it was "scratched" from pulling it according to it's normal operation, the scratch marks would be length wise and not width wise).

the bolt seems to be off center as well, which might suggest that this part was simply not made right:



this thing will NOT go in and out freely, and I do not like the idea of having a faulty part on a brand new machine, regardless of who's the supplier. really bums me to have to repack this, drive it to the store and have it replaced, rinse- and repeat the whole process. might have to open the next one at the store to make sure it's ok, but I can't really inspect it all at the store... ugh... buyers beware - Quality Control is definitely low here.


----------



## November X-ray (Aug 13, 2012)

Unfortunately that happens with the low end machines more often than not. I got lucky when I bought my HF saw, it was a pleasant surprise and basically I only had to install a decent blade and do a minor adjustment to the tracking and it has performed very well. Hopefully you'll have better luck with a replacement and I would not hesitate to unpack it at the store and check it out!

Good Luck!


----------



## 7HC (Aug 13, 2012)

I too recently bought one of these.  The first one arrived with heavy impact damage, so I called HF and they emailed me a FedEx label to return it.  
The second one arrived after a week with a non-working motor.  That turned out to be impact damage too; the motor housing was cracked and the field windings had dropped and shorted out.
Called HF and they sent out another motor, which again took a week to arrive.  

The time delay is annoying but I've never had any problem getting things replaced.  I ordered a digital caliper and a pair of 150w halogen bulbs turned up instead.  
When I called them they just said sorry,  we'll get a replacement out right away, which unsurprisingly took a week to arrive, but there was never any question about sorting it out.

You really do get what you pay for, and I certainly wouldn't consider using the lower end HF products for business or  commercial use, but this is a hobby for me and I enjoy fixing things.

I regard any HF machine I purchase as an unfinished kit that requires some work to complete it.  As long as HF continues to supply any parts under warranty that are beyond fixing I have no complaints.

M


----------



## 8ntsane (Aug 13, 2012)

Sharon

Bummer that your new saw has a few issues. Are these problems fixable at home with out too much trouble? I understand its new and all, but if you can fix the problems , it might be easyer, and save the trip, and gas money.

I have the 7x12, and it too had a few problems. All were easy to deal with at home so I did my own ajustments to it. I have come to know, that with many import products, They are not perfect. I usually wont bother packing a item up, and returning it unless I see no easy fix for it.

The import tools are some what of a kit, and need some tinkering as you start using them. I know it souldnt be that way, but have come to realize its life. My saw stopped making straight cuts a while back, and found the table casting was heaved up in the middle. Im not sur if it was from me over tightening the vise or from something else. I had to dissassemble the saw and re machine it flat, removing about .030 to do it.

I had no choice, as its out of warrenty yrs ago.
Anyway, good luck with it


----------



## 7HC (Aug 13, 2012)

PurpLev said:


> While trying to adjust the blade guide I discovered that the blade guide won't pull out as it should (floor model at the store pulled out smoothly). a bit more force and with some resistance, it eventually came out revealing this:
> View attachment 39495
> View attachment 39496
> 
> it looks like it was even ground at the factory to make it 'fit' (which it still doesn't really) as the grinding marks are perpendicular to the pull direction of the part (in which case if it was "scratched" from pulling it according to it's normal operation, the scratch marks would be length wise and not width wise)



I wouldn't bother breaking it down and repacking it to take back to the store.  Just have them send you out a new blade guide casting (you can always work on the bad one while you wait for it to arrive).

I fully agree with you on the Grizzly Manual, it even has a chip identification guide to help with setting the speeds and blade load.

M


----------



## PurpLev (Aug 13, 2012)

Thanks for the responses.

I agree, some imports should be bought with the understanding that there will be some work to do for get them fully functional - however, I find that this is more true with some companies than with others. as for Grizzlys manuals - I think they are good all around (had the same thing with my 9x20 enco lathe - ended up using the grizzly manual  ). 

As for the part - I did contact CS and requested for a replacement blade guide. am awaiting their response in email, if not by tomorrow I'll give them a call, and if that doesn't work out, I'll revert to getting the entire saw back to store :/


----------



## bedwards (Aug 13, 2012)

My HF saw came with impact damage that took out one of the plastic tension adjustment knobs. I made one at home instead of taking it back (i live 40miles away). You never really know if your getting something usable out of the box or like you said, a kit to tinker on.




bedwards


----------



## 7HC (Aug 13, 2012)

PurpLev said:


> As for the part - I did contact CS and requested for a replacement blade guide. am awaiting their response in email, if not by tomorrow I'll give them a call, and if that doesn't work out, I'll revert to getting the entire saw back to store :/



Don't hold your breath waiting for an email, I've never had a reply to any of  mine.  However, whenever I've spoken to anyone on the phone (sometimes they're here, sometimes they're in India), they've always been very helpful.
The key is to have your receipt handy when you get through, especially if you bought it from a store.

M


----------



## jumps4 (Aug 13, 2012)

my hf bandsaw locked up within an hour. when i opened the gear case the oil was disgusting and i could feel sand from the casting still in the housing. after new sealed bearings that were cheap and polishing the gears it has run for years now with a lot of heavy cutting. so now anwthing I purchase chinese gets taken apart and cleaned with new lube. I purchased a zx45 milling machine from wholesale tools last week it is in pieces now waiting for the cnc parts but there was no way i would run it without a good cleaning out first.
I dont care about voiding the warranty if I start out with a better unit because it is clean and good oil. after all the mods and conversion to belt drive the only original parts will be the castings anyway and they were square and true.
steve


----------



## swatson144 (Aug 13, 2012)

Sorry for the bummer Sharon. I recently bought one too, fortunately I was pleased to find nothing memorable wrong with it. Put a good blade on it and set it up and it has been cutting every since. I do keep an eye on motor temp for large pieces and give it a cool down when it warms up, but still better than a porta band.

I also have had good CS by phone not so much by email.

Steve


----------



## jgedde (Aug 13, 2012)

Sharon,

The HF bandsaw can perform well with a bit of TLC which it definitely will require.  Mine took a whole weekend's worth.  This included disassembly, refitting (like you see with yours, etc).

Mine had a very serious problem too.  Within an hour or so after getting her up and running she stopped dead.  It seemed like the motor was seized.  What was really the case was that they reversed the output gearbox seal and bearing spacer (yep, the seal was in between the bearings - duhhhh).  This allowed the worm gear to jam.  It took a few hours to get it all apart and fixed.  I could have simply returned it for another saw, but after I had put so much time making it right I couldn't bear the thought of a new round of issues to fix.

John



PurpLev said:


> So after considering a stationary yet small bandsaw and not being impressed with a used model on CL I decided to just get a new one. since they are all the same (or so one would think) I decided to go with the least expensive alternative - HF. to be fair, I wasn't excited about this, but given that I knew the risk, I chose to take it for the savings factor.
> 
> so picked up this bs at a local store, drove it home and managed to get it into the basement and all assembled. the user manual is pure crap - no way around it. I had to use grizzly's manual to be able to put this one together as the HF manual is clearly of a different model as the instructions call for threaded holes in the casting where there are clearly not, and also does not include any references to some of the parts (like the angled corner support brackets for the base).
> 
> ...


----------



## Rbeckett (Aug 13, 2012)

Dude, I feel terrible about extolling the virtues of the HF saw, but I guess I got lucky because I have never had any real issues with HF stuff.  I'm sorry to hear that it was such a circle jerk, but there CS should square you up pretty easilly too.  Let us know if that turns into a debacle too.  The new one will probably b nearly perfect when you get it, no consolation, but thats how it usually goes with HF stuff.  Sorry man.
Bob


----------



## PurpLev (Aug 13, 2012)

Thank you for the replies - nice to know that I'm not the only one experiencing issues with this saw (although I'm sorry you have had your share of it too). I agree that it would be best to tackle the problematic parts as opposed to repacking this one as I've discovered it after I cleaned it all up including taking apart the gear box for a complete cleaning operation (remove oil, clean all the debris that was in there and would be transferred with the oil to the gears, re-oil and seal again)... I left a voice message to CS to call me back (not sure if it was because it was after hours, or if this is the new game they are running) and will try to get the replacement part to begin with. just hope that it doesn't take too long only to discover that there are other things as well that needs replacement.

Thanks again. I'll keep updating this as thing progress.


----------



## righto88 (Aug 13, 2012)

I inherited my dads. Gear was out. I ordered a new one and repaired. Aligned it and works fine. 
I just ordered a new motor start capacitor. I need to get some "gear lube" for it as I put 10w40 in it.:rofl:


----------



## 7HC (Aug 14, 2012)

righto88 said:


> ................ I need to get some "gear lube" for it as I put 10w40 in it.:rofl:



It's hard to know what to use.

Grizzly says:


> *Remove the cover on the gearbox and coat the gears with multi-purpose gear grease.*



HF says:


> _*Remove the old oil from inside the Gear Box and replace the oil using 140 weight gear oil.*_




:thinking:

M


----------



## PurpLev (Aug 14, 2012)

so I actually got a reply to my email sent 2 days ago stating that HF does no longer have part #112 (blade guide bracket) available as it is discontinued. they suggested I take the saw back to the store for refund/replacement. bummers... I guess I will have to repack it after all.

Just thought you guys should know that apparently they are discontinuing replacement parts on this model.


----------



## 7HC (Aug 14, 2012)

PurpLev said:


> so I actually got a reply to my email sent 2 days ago stating that HF does no longer have part #112 (blade guide bracket) available as it is discontinued. they suggested I take the saw back to the store for refund/replacement. bummers... I guess I will have to repack it after all.
> 
> Just thought you guys should know that apparently they are discontinuing replacement parts on this model.



That's not good, and a little strange too, as the 4x6 bandsaw must be one of their most popular sellers as well as for most of their competing companies.

I wonder if the factory that churns these out for all the different suppliers is about to change the design?

M


----------



## thomas s (Aug 14, 2012)

I have the same HF saw, and the same problems. It will take some work to get it cutting true but you will love it when you get everything sorted out. One thing I have learned is get a good bi-metal blade it will cut anything and last a long time. Oh and change the gear lube I used 90W


----------



## PurpLev (Aug 14, 2012)

7HC said:


> That's not good, and a little strange too, as the 4x6 bandsaw must be one of their most popular sellers as well as for most of their competing companies.
> 
> I wonder if the factory that churns these out for all the different suppliers is about to change the design?
> 
> M



no it isnt good long term, and the first thought that came to mind is that they are changing the design- but you would think that they would still stock up on replacement parts before revamping the factory for a completely different line of machines which makes me think they stopped making those a WHILE ago... either way. not very good news. I hope it's just HF though. makes me wonder if I should replace, or ask for a refund all together.


----------



## PurpLev (Aug 14, 2012)

thomas s said:


> I have the same HF saw, and the same problems. It will take some work to get it cutting true but you will love it when you get everything sorted out. One thing I have learned is get a good bi-metal blade it will cut anything and last a long time. Oh and change the gear lube I used 90W



Thanks. I replaced the gear lube as well. and have the same 90W gear oil (actually got that oil when I have my 9x20 lathe, and after replacing it didn't know what else to do with that oil until now). so your blade guides are all bruised up and won't slide smoothly in and out?


----------



## Old Iron (Aug 14, 2012)

I've had mine about 5 years and know problems so far, I also have a old 4 X 6 made in Taiwan that was under 4' of water for about a week when Ivan hit here only needs a bearing in the gear box. 

It is a lot better saw than the H.F. so I need to fix it when I got the band saw I also got a power hack saw. Whats funny about it is the motor still runs on the band saw and the motor on the hack saw is lock up.


I need to get to work on both of them I only gave 50.00 for both and a floor model drill press.

Paul


----------



## 7HC (Aug 14, 2012)

PurpLev said:


> no it isnt good long term, and the first thought that came to mind is that they are changing the design- but you would think that they would still stock up on replacement parts before revamping the factory for a completely different line of machines which makes me think they stopped making those a WHILE ago... either way. not very good news. I hope it's just HF though. makes me wonder if I should replace, or ask for a refund all together.



I think I'd go for the replacement, just because it's such a handy machine to have around, and in relative terms the cost isn't that great, and if it came to the crunch most of the parts could be replicated or repaired.

It might be interesting to check with Grizzly/Jet/Northern to see if they have parts available.
It's hard to imagine it's going completely away, even Home Depot sells a version of it.

M


----------



## November X-ray (Aug 14, 2012)

Hmmm, Decisions, decisions.....as far as getting a refund or a replacement, I guess it all depends on what your final goals are. If you plan to one day perhaps have a larger band saw, perhaps a refund is in order, however if you think a 4 x 6 will serve your needs for a reasonably long time, then maybe a satisfactory replacement (as long as you inspect it before departing the store with it) would be the prudent thing to do with the knowledge that some tweaking may/will be required.

All in all the little saw is a fairly reasonably priced "kit" that once the bugs are worked out of can be a decent addition to one's stable of metalworking toy,,,er, tools! Just make sure you drain the goop out of the gearbox and wash it clean before you use the saw and refill it with some type of gear oil. While the gears are exposed check the quality of the surface finish as some have needed the gears stoned to remove rough finish. There is quite a bit of information available on the Yahoo 4 x 6 Bandsaw Site.

Good Luck with your decisions!


----------



## PurpLev (Aug 14, 2012)

yeah, I'd prob go for a replacement as I don't think I'll ever need anything larger than this (hobby use) and yes, not a whole lot of parts and all those that exist can be remade (just don't want to remake something that is brand new and is under warranty). just a bad taste to this whole thing I guess.


----------



## November X-ray (Aug 14, 2012)

PurpLev said:


> (just don't want to remake something that is brand new and is under warranty). just a bad taste to this whole thing I guess.



True, however we as consumers of all things cheap have done this to ourselves. It is a crap shoot, even with buying stuff from Wal-Mart as they lower their standards all in the name of cost, or in our case, "prices". If you look at it from another perspective though, you could not begin to build one from scratch for $200 and you would not be near as far along in building one as the unit comes from HF in it's "kit" form and there is even somewhat of a warranty for just in case you do not feel like working on the kit!

It'll all work out in the end!!!


----------



## PurpLev (Aug 16, 2012)

Update:

After getting the reply from CS saying that the guide (part #112 in the HF manual) is discontinued and being suggested to return/replace the entire unit at the store I did just that. repacked the behemoth and took it back to the store. as much as the equipment is lacking in QC the staff is full of CS. I was pleasantly surprised how painless and forthcoming the experience was to replace the saw albeit having to repack->bring to store ->drive another saw back home part of it. the saw was replaced and a new 90day warranty was issued on the spot. This time around I opened the box before taking it home (had to open it in the car) - after giving it a general checkup that all the parts seem legit I strapped the now open box and took it back home:

here is candidate #2:



brought it to the basement (AGAIN), unpacked (AGAIN), built the base (AGAIN), mounted saw on base (...), did another general checkup of all parts before I put any more work in this - saw seemed LESS stable than the previous one, but other than that in much better condition parts wise. I liked the fact that this spring does not do the "TING" sound the other one did when the pressure was applied on it. cleaned it up including emptying the oil from the gear box, cleaning up all the debris in there, and refilling with new clean oil:



...and gave it a test run which seems to be running well. I still have to fine tune it all, but for a step-1 all seems to be well with this one:



so yeah, had to work hard to get here, but the cost savings on this one were huge compared to all other alternatives so I think its one of those cases it's worth it. but that's cause I know what I'm doing. any other way I would have been real disappointed.

Thanks everyone for the feedback.


----------



## November X-ray (Aug 16, 2012)

Hopefully everything will be well worth all of the effort and it will be smooth sailing from here on out. Of course in life we need a little turmoil every once in awhile in order for us to really appreciate the good times!

Enjoy using your new saw!


----------



## 7HC (Aug 16, 2012)

Good to hear that #2 worked out.  
There wasn't any casting sand in the gearbox on mine. It has a rough finish from the casting process, but it looked like it was cleaned out before it was painted.

Mine was set up well from the factory, the blade runs true and the new motor runs well.  There's sufficient adjustment on the mounting plate to allow the pulleys to be set at the same height and square to each other.

The worst part of the saw for me is the paint color, which could probably best be described as 'Industrial Sludge'.

The stand works ok to hold it up so it won't fall over, though it might if you look at it funny. :whistle:

However, a new stand is easily made, and it won't be hard to make something that's stronger, wider and more stable, and that's easier to roll around.

M


----------



## November X-ray (Aug 16, 2012)

I just remembered something, on my HF 4 x 6 saw, which I bought about 4 or 5 years ago, it began breaking blades after a month or two. Best I can figure is the wheels had powder coating or something on them that wore off and made them become out of round by about .050". I chucked them up on my 9" lathe and trued them up and have not had any more blades break since.

Just an FYI.


----------



## PurpLev (Aug 27, 2012)

Just an update, after cleaning the saw up, and setting the fence at 90 to the blade I can a test cut through some 1.5x3 aluminum bar and was very pleasantly surprised by how true and clean the saw cut even with the stock blade:




I did get some Irwin bimetal blades from enco last week but will wait until this blade will fail before replacing as it seems to be doing well so far.

thanks for all the feedback



November X-ray said:


> I just remembered something, on my HF 4 x 6 saw, which I bought about 4 or 5 years ago, it began breaking blades after a month or two. Best I can figure is the wheels had powder coating or something on them that wore off and made them become out of round by about .050". I chucked them up on my 9" lathe and trued them up and have not had any more blades break since.
> 
> Just an FYI.



That's very interesting info and good to know - will definitely keep that in mind. thanks for posting.


----------



## Hawkeye (Aug 27, 2012)

I like the 'kit' analogy. If I wanted to build a saw or lathe or mill, I'd start with getting some castings made, then do everything that was needed to build the machine. Barring major casting flaws, these low end machines have everything you need. Some parts may need to be modified or replaced, but you are most of the way there.

If you want to buy a machine, pay for as good a machine as you can afford. If you want to save money, consider it a kit. I think, if we approach the process that way, we won't be as disappointed. Sometimes you'll get lucky and it will work right the first time.

As NX pointed out, we did this to ourselves. Now, lets deal with it.


----------



## swatson144 (Aug 27, 2012)

> I did get some Irwin bimetal blades from enco last week but will wait  until this blade will fail before replacing as it seems to be doing well  so far.



I did the same thing but one thing that was unexpected is that the band didn't fail it just stopped cutting straight. Much like just one side got duller than the other. So you may want to put it away and use it if you need to cut rebar or something trashy. Mine went crooked on a block I was cutting to my spec so i simply changed the spec and milled it 1/8" thinner as a over thick tool holder.

Steve


----------



## PurpLev (Aug 27, 2012)

Hawkeye said:


> As NX pointed out, we did this to ourselves. Now, lets deal with it.



I agree, we chose to get the cheapest (affordable) alternative knowing it would cost us time/labor which I was OK with, but for someone that doesn't realize that it could be very surprising and disappointing.



swatson144 said:


> I did the same thing but one thing that was unexpected is that the band didn't fail it just stopped cutting straight. Much like just one side got duller than the other. So you may want to put it away and use it if you need to cut rebar or something trashy. Mine went crooked on a block I was cutting to my spec so i simply changed the spec and milled it 1/8" thinner as a over thick tool holder.
> 
> Steve



hmm... thanks for the tip, I may just do that.


----------



## 8ntsane (Aug 27, 2012)

Saw #2 sounds like a keeper
Good to hear you got everthing sorted out with the replacement.


----------



## November X-ray (Aug 27, 2012)

Sharon,

Once you get all the tweaking done, they really are pretty decent little saws. Of course the weak link then will be the motor but that too can be remedied fairly easily. No matter what they sure beat using a hack saw for most jobs!

On another note, I was at the Harbor Freight Southern Distrubution Center this past Saturday and noticed the 4 x 6 price had increased!


----------



## PurpLev (Aug 27, 2012)

thanks guys. yeah, this one seems to be behaving well and definitely an improvement over standing there hacking with a hack saw for an hour (although I do appreciate the workout) 

I haven't noticed any issues with the motor ,but haven't really used the saw much as of yet either. can always replace motor with a good leeson/baldor ac/dc if it gets to that point. as far as price goes - the store did say that they increased the prices on the saw. I guess with oil/gas prices going up everything goes up with it. it was ON SALE for 239 when I got it before the 20% coupon. I know some folks got those a year ago for ~160 which I told the folks at the store, but that didn't help convince them to lower the price for me  oh well... at least it was no sales tax weekend.


----------



## November X-ray (Sep 8, 2012)

PurpLev said:


> I guess with oil/gas prices going up everything goes up with it.



Everything but Wages!!!


----------



## aametalmaster (Sep 8, 2012)

Thats the reason i only bought the ones with the exposed sheet steel arms because i didn't like the ones with the cast arms. Far better machine but harder to find now...Bob


----------



## havnfun (Sep 8, 2012)

aametalmaster said:


> Thats the reason i only bought the ones with the exposed sheet steel arms because i didn't like the ones with the cast arms. Far better machine but harder to find now...Bob



My bandsaw looks very similar to yours, only more used and worn. I purchased it used last year at a very reasonable price. I have cut steel of all structural shapes up to 4 x 4 x 1/4 angle. It cuts great when properly setup, but as previously mentioned, let's you know when a new blade is needed. Recommend the Enco bimetal blade. Good blade at  a good price when on sale.


----------



## aametalmaster (Sep 8, 2012)

7HC said:


> It's hard to know what to use.
> 
> Grizzly says:
> 
> ...



DO NOT USE GREASE. The gearbox will get warm and melt all of the grease from around the gears leaving them unprotected. Seen it a millon times when i was a millwright in the big factory. Just my thoughts...Bob


----------



## wolframore (Nov 1, 2012)

I got the red HF 4x6 and had it shipped... I don't have a truck. First one arrive with a cracked casting one of the pivot ears broke off mangling the box, bend sheet metal, broken knobs.... I opened the gear box and the oil looked like used truck oil with sand and grit in the gear box... I called HF and they sent me a replacement. 

The second one had clean beautiful golden oil in the gearbox. I changed the oil and find a few grits of sand. With absolutely no adjustment the saw cuts true and straight. I've had it for a year now and still has the same blade. It's missing a tooth or two but still cuts beautifully... if only the quality control can get better out of China. I want to build a new vertical table and a stand but it works fine the way it is... Would love to paint it a different color but not worth the hassle.  Sometimes they get it right but that one time really screws it up for me.

Charlie


----------



## PurpLev (Nov 1, 2012)

wolframore said:


> I got the red HF 4x6 and had it shipped... I don't have a truck. First one arrive with a cracked casting one of the pivot ears broke off mangling the box, bend sheet metal, broken knobs.... I opened the gear box and the oil looked like used truck oil with sand and grit in the gear box... I called HF and they sent me a replacement.
> 
> The second one had clean beautiful golden oil in the gearbox. I changed the oil and find a few grits of sand. With absolutely no adjustment the saw cuts true and straight. I've had it for a year now and still has the same blade. It's missing a tooth or two but still cuts beautifully... if only the quality control can get better out of China. I want to build a new vertical table and a stand but it works fine the way it is... Would love to paint it a different color but not worth the hassle.  Sometimes they get it right but that one time really screws it up for me.
> 
> Charlie



I've had the exact same experience (albeit I did carry it from the store in my hatchback car...) while I did clean and reoiled the gear box, it may not have been completely necessary (but better safe than sorry) , the saw cuts true and smooth using the factory blade (I did order a few bimetal blades but so far am still waiting for the original to fail before replacing).

I do want to jig up a better clamping setup for smaller parts, and thinking of replacing the spring feed with an alternative more for the jest of it than necessity.


----------



## 7HC (Nov 1, 2012)

wolframore said:


> I got the red HF 4x6 and had it shipped... I don't have a truck. First one arrive with a cracked casting one of the pivot ears broke off mangling the box, bend sheet metal, broken knobs.... I opened the gear box and the oil looked like used truck oil with sand and grit in the gear box... I called HF and they sent me a replacement.
> 
> The second one had clean beautiful golden oil in the gearbox. I changed the oil and find a few grits of sand. With absolutely no adjustment the saw cuts true and straight. I've had it for a year now and still has the same blade. It's missing a tooth or two but still cuts beautifully... if only the quality control can get better out of China. I want to build a new vertical table and a stand but it works fine the way it is... Would love to paint it a different color but not worth the hassle.  Sometimes they get it right but that one time really screws it up for me.
> 
> Charlie




My experience was similar.  The first one had a cracked frame, the second had a cracked motor!

However, they sent a new motor and all was good.  No sand and it runs true.  When I build it a new stand I'll see if have the enthusiasm to paint the saw a different color.


M


----------



## strantor (Nov 1, 2012)

Hawkeye said:


> I like the 'kit' analogy. If I wanted to build a saw or lathe or mill, I'd start with getting some castings made, then do everything that was needed to build the machine. Barring major casting flaws, these low end machines have everything you need. Some parts may need to be modified or replaced, but you are most of the way there.
> 
> If you want to buy a machine, pay for as good a machine as you can afford. If you want to save money, consider it a kit. I think, if we approach the process that way, we won't be as disappointed. Sometimes you'll get lucky and it will work right the first time.
> 
> As NX pointed out, we did this to ourselves. Now, lets deal with it.



I also like it. It's given me a new pespective. I, for the past 2 years, have willed myself away from shopping at HF. I won't even go to the website or read the circular. I don't WANT to see what they have, and how cheap it is, because I'll be tempted to buy it. I have had nothing but bad luck with every single HF tool I've bought. Angle grinder, vise, drill, multimeter, hell even screwdriver failed (plus lots more).  Every time I buy there, I learn my lesson (again) and vow never to shop there (again), but eventually break my vow. As I said, it's been 2 years now. 
I think that, if I had viewed those failures from the 'kit analogy' perspective, I might feel much differently - I was expecting a functional tool out of the box, as they marketed it. 

But, I think my current philosophy is a safer bet - buy right, buy once.


----------

