# There's hope for HF!  A review on the 7x12 bandsaw



## jgedde (Dec 31, 2012)

*Prologue*: I went without a bandsaw for quite a few years.  When I needed to cut something, I'd use a Sawzall, a hacksaw, or in later years, a HF portable bandsaw.  For larger stuff, I'd have to bring it in to work and use the company saw.  Then I bought the little 4x6 bandsaw from HF.  How did I ever get by without my own bandsaw?  Oh the hours wasted over the years cutting stuff.

When I picked up my little 4x6 HF bandsaw, I was a bit disgusted with the quality of the machine.  I spent hours putting it together just to have it cut WAY out of square and have the gearbox jam up due to improper factory assembly.  Nonetheless, after a weekend of disassembly, hand fitting, accurizing and general TLC, _the little saw has become a staple in my shop and a reliable and accurate performer.  _In short, if you put in the time to tune it up, the 4x6 can be a nice little saw.

The only drawback of the little saw?  Well, it's little!  I'd like the ability to cut 6" round stock which the 4x6 cannot readily do.  Also, I found the 6" dimension a bit optimistic.  Including the requisite jaw mod (for which I give up 3/4"), the real capacity was more like 4x5".

*The 7x12 (the good): * I had a bunch of HF gift cards, some holiday cash, and a 20% off coupon so off to HF the missus and I went off to buy the 7x12...  (BTW: the 4x6 is for sale, PM me if interested).

The saw was quickly purchased and loaded into my truck...  All 359 pounds of it!  It looked like it was just a BIG cardboard box with a wood skid strapped to it.

I got it home and muscled the box down into my basement shop.  When I cut open the cardboard, I saw that the cardboard was simply an "overshell".  The saw was in a solid wood framed crate.  Even more pleasing was that it looked like the saw was more or less fully assembled (unlkike the 4x6 which required a few hours to assemble).  All I had to do was put on the belt guard, wheels and leveling feet and remove a packing lock.  

In the parts box with the wheels was this little thingy:



Never mind the fake "inspected" report with randomly populated measurement fields.  This baby was tested!

The machine was covered with the requisite cosmoline.  However anything that is painted was spared the slop brush.  Even more pleasing was that I didn't need scrapers, mineral spirits, degreasers, etc. to get it off; it was very soft (much like pertroleum jelly) and just wiped right off!  Nice!  

Fit and finish is quite good.  Here's an example:



Here she is in her new home.  This thing is a brute!  The 4x6 is a toy in comparison.



I checked the squareness of the jaw to the blade.  Could it be?  Yep, it was spot on.  Then I checked the blade's perpendicularity to the bed.  Damn!  Spot on too!  (My 4x6's blade was canted about 5 degrees when I got it)

OK, next step, I plugged her in and made a test cut.  All was well, although the blade chatters slightly until it really bears into the cut.  Not a big deal, the blade it comes with is crummy carbon steel.  It'll be replaced with a 6-10 variable pitch bi-metal blade.  I've never seen a variable pitch blade chatter.  The only issue I found was that the saw turned off befre the cut had completed.  It took a slight bending of the shutoff tang to fix this.  

Next, I mixed up some soluable oil coolant (Mobilcut 102) and filled the tank.  The coolant system works like a champ.

The jaws on the vise end up about 1 1/4" in from the blade.  For cutting short stuff, this is obviously an issue.  The fixed jaw is readily repositionable to a new spot 3/16 from the blade just by unbolting it and using a different set of existing holes.  The movable jaw, however needed an extension plate which I added:



A really nice feature to the bandsaw is how the moveable jaw is implemented.  Firstly, it has a "quick" feature which allows it to move independantly from the leadscrew for fast adjustment.  Just grab it and move it up to the work, then give the leadscrew handle 1/4 turn and the work is locked.  Secondly, the jaw is in a slotted way.  Unlike the 4x6, the 7x12 movable jaw doesn't flop all over.  It's retained parallel to the fixed jaw.  A minor downside is that BOTH jaws have to be adjusted for an angle cut.  No big deal.  I rarely do that anyway.

When I was all ready to remove the movable jaw for the extension mod, I had my set of metric wrenches handy.  Then I discovered something I considered incredible!  There's no metric hardware on this thing!  It's all grade 5 SAE.

So that's all the good - and quite a good amount of it there is.  

*The not so good: *But it wouldn't be HF without some poor materials or poor workmanship, right? 

Here's my only two real beefs (apart from the crummy included blade):

1) The wiring box on the side of the motor is cheap plastic.  This broke within minutes:



2) Vertically, the jaws aren't exactly square to the bed.  I don't think this will matter much in practice, but they did go through the trouble of milling (or Blanchard grinding - it's hard to tell exactly) a nice finish on two sides of the jaws.  You figure it would be square, right?



This isn't really a beef, but I find it a bit humorous.  Perhaps it's a clever new feature not found on the competition's units?  Or, just a bit of adventurous translation?  



*Conclusion: *  This new saw is a brute.  It's accurate, rigid, powerful, and has good fit and finish (with a few exceptions).  With the installation of a quality blade, this is a winner.

Happy New Year!

John


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## Ray C (Dec 31, 2012)

I've been eyeing one of those for a good while now.  It was a toss-up between that and converting all my motors to 3 phase -I went with the motor conversion.  The saw is next -and after that, a sheet metal brake/bender.

Thanks for writing that up and reporting about it.  Thanks!


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## jgedde (Jan 1, 2013)

Just a quick follow up...  I forgot how crummy those HF blades really are.  It's been in my shop for three days and the blade is already dull.  It cuts aluminum slowly and with long chips.  The cutoff is almost polished!

I've just ordered two Lenox blades from bandsawbladesdirect.com: one a 6-10 TPI variable pitch and the other in 18 TPI wavy set.  Both are bi-metal.  I haven't used Lenox blades before, but the custom made blades from that website have the best prices.  We'll just have to see how they do.  The guys at work have opinion that Lenox is not the best around...

I've used both Morse and Irwin before and have been happy with both - the Irwin being my preferred blade.

John


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## PurpLev (Jan 1, 2013)

looks like a champ indeed.

good review - thanks for posting!


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## xalky (Jan 1, 2013)

> 2) Vertically, the jaws aren't exactly square to the bed. I don't think this will matter much in practice, but they did go through the trouble of milling (or Blanchard grinding - it's hard to tell exactly) a nice finish on two sides of the jaws. You figure it would be square, right?



This can actually be a good thing.  With a slight bevel, it forces your piece down to the table with no chance for escape. Since the top of the jaw is unsupported it will tend to flex back and force your piece up if it were square, or worse beveled the other way.


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## Jon K (Jan 1, 2013)

This looks great - I like the downfeed too.

My 4x6... I admit, is a little toy-like.  I need to spend time again squaring it up.  How much does this guy go for @ HF?


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## jgedde (Jan 1, 2013)

xalky said:


> This can actually be a good thing.  With a slight bevel, it forces your piece down to the table with no chance for escape. Since the top of the jaw is unsupported it will tend to flex back and force your piece up if it were square, or worse beveled the other way.




Good point xalky!  Maybe it's meant to be like that...

John


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## jgedde (Jan 1, 2013)

Jon K said:


> This looks great - I like the downfeed too.
> 
> My 4x6... I admit, is a little toy-like.  I need to spend time again squaring it up.  How much does this guy go for @ HF?



List price is $799.  Adding in the "20% off any item" coupon available in their mailings on printable online, it came to $639. I had a collection of HF gift cards so it came to about $425 out of my pocket...

John


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## Jon K (Jan 2, 2013)

jgedde said:


> List price is $799.  Adding in the "20% off any item" coupon available in their mailings on printable online, it came to $639. I had a collection of HF gift cards so it came to about $425 out of my pocket...
> 
> John



Thats not bad at all!  Though, it looks like it shows up for $999 list.

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-hp-7-inch-x-12-inch-hydraulic-feed-metal-cutting-bandsaw-97009.html

I think I will have to make do with my 4x6 for now - its actually fine for what I need, its just not straight.  I need to spend time setting it up.


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## jgedde (Jan 2, 2013)

Jon K said:


> Thats not bad at all! Though, it looks like it shows up for $999 list.
> 
> http://www.harborfreight.com/1-hp-7-inch-x-12-inch-hydraulic-feed-metal-cutting-bandsaw-97009.html
> 
> I think I will have to make do with my 4x6 for now - its actually fine for what I need, its just not straight. I need to spend time setting it up.



Wow!  Looks like a price increase hit.  On 12/31 the price on the website was $799 (which agreed with the tag on the floor model in the store).

Guess I got mine just in time.

John


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## xalky (Jan 2, 2013)

jgedde said:


> Wow!  Looks like a price increase hit.  On 12/31 the price on the website was $799 (which agreed with the tag on the floor model in the store).
> 
> Guess I got mine just in time.
> 
> John


Yes you did! You made out like a fat cat.:thumbsup:


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