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- Apr 14, 2014
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The Craftsman saw looks to be a fairly simple and well-made piece of equipment. In the scheme of things, it's on the low end, but may work out well depending on what you intend to use it for. Here's a short video of one being disassembled, cleaned, and put on a new stand.
It's smaller than I would like, but again seems to be built well. Note the shafts, bushings and other possible wear parts could all be either purchased or made in house. If you look closely the ad in the OP it states, the saw does have a nylon bevel gear, is using a 14 tpi blade, will cut at 135 fpm, and cuts through a 2" cold rolled bar in 2 minutes 15 seconds. While it's not blistering fast it will get the job done if you have the patience.
I personally have 5 saws in the shop. The advantages and disadvantages of each are listed below. The saws are critiqued in the order of use.
Saw #1 is the 7x 12 Startrite horizontal/vertical bandsaw. It uses a 3/4" x 98-3/4" blade. It has 3 speeds of 60 fpm, 100 fpm, and 160 fpm. While the blade length is a bit different than most I have them made by Ellis. I call them when I need them and pick them up an hour or so later. Any good saw shop should be able to make any size you want.
Advantages include relatively quick cutting time. A 2" cold rolled bar is in the neighborhood of 1 minute. While this saw is capable of contour cutting in the vertical position and has coolant capacity, I've never used these features. Speed and down feed pressure can be adjusted for the material being cut. The saw can be left unattended. Blades last over 2 years with almost daily use. Disadvantages include need to change blades depending on types and sizes of material to be cut, and footprint size. This saw in infeed roller conveyor take up far more floor space than any of the other saws
Saw #2, probably because it's the most recent acquisition is a Baileigh 350mm cold saw. Being the latest addition, it has fewer hours than the next most used saw, but and has more use recently. The advantages are, it's a variable speed machine that will turn the blade from 24 rpm to 120 rpm. As mentioned, it's accurate to within less than .005". It uses coolant to flush the swarf from the kerf. The time to cut the 2" round stock is about 30 seconds. Blades can be resharpened for around $20.00 a copy.
The disadvantages are blades are ground specific the type and size of the material being cut. 1/2" flat cold rolled will take a blade with a different number of teeth than a 4" round of the same material. Aluminum will take a different blade than steel, and again will need a different number of teeth for 1/2" flats than 4" rounds. Blades usually run between $150.00 and $250.00 depending on grind and number of teeth. I currently have 5 blades in stock for different sizes of aluminum and steel. Coolant is a necessity, it costs around $60.00 a gallon, and can be messy. The machine requires an operator at all times to be functional.
The 3rd saw is a Racine 66W2 power hacksaw. It uses a 14" blade with coolant, has 2 speeds of 100 strokes per minute, and 140 strokes per minute. The advantages are the fact that it's compact in size compared to the horizontal saw. Down pressure can be adjusted for the material being cut. Once started the machine can be left unattended. When the saw was purchased, I was buying blades for between $2.00 and $4.00 per copy. I now have over 50 blades from 3 tpi to 18 tpi. The machine is coolant capable but can be run either wet or dry. Changing blades takes less than a minute. Disadvantages are that in reality it's a bit slower than the Startrite as the 140 strokes per minute is roughly equal to the 60-fpm cutting speed of the Startrite.
Saw #4 is a Rockwell 10" vertical bandsaw. This saw is seldom used as I don't do a lot of contour work. It comes in handy when needed, but the afore mentioned saws get considerably more use. The advantages include a small footprint, and easy blade changes. The disadvantage is that it's a single speed machine, so the operator has to match the infeed speed to the material being cut. Like the cold saw operator presence is required.
Saw #5 is a Black & Decker abrasive chop saw. This is by far the least used saw. It's great for roughing to size rusty or scaly material. The disadvantages are its light weight, doesn't have a great material clamping mechanism, throws sparks and dust all over the shop, and is by far the noisiest of the bunch.
I'm sure I missed some advantages and disadvantages of each machine. However, I think I've touched on the differences enough to give an idea as to the strong and weak points of each. All of these machines except the vertical bandsaw were purchased used. All the used saws were purchased for between $200.00 and $500.00. The only one needing any attention before being put to work was the Baileigh cold saw. It was purchased as more of a project than a need for an additional saw.
It's smaller than I would like, but again seems to be built well. Note the shafts, bushings and other possible wear parts could all be either purchased or made in house. If you look closely the ad in the OP it states, the saw does have a nylon bevel gear, is using a 14 tpi blade, will cut at 135 fpm, and cuts through a 2" cold rolled bar in 2 minutes 15 seconds. While it's not blistering fast it will get the job done if you have the patience.
I personally have 5 saws in the shop. The advantages and disadvantages of each are listed below. The saws are critiqued in the order of use.
Saw #1 is the 7x 12 Startrite horizontal/vertical bandsaw. It uses a 3/4" x 98-3/4" blade. It has 3 speeds of 60 fpm, 100 fpm, and 160 fpm. While the blade length is a bit different than most I have them made by Ellis. I call them when I need them and pick them up an hour or so later. Any good saw shop should be able to make any size you want.
Advantages include relatively quick cutting time. A 2" cold rolled bar is in the neighborhood of 1 minute. While this saw is capable of contour cutting in the vertical position and has coolant capacity, I've never used these features. Speed and down feed pressure can be adjusted for the material being cut. The saw can be left unattended. Blades last over 2 years with almost daily use. Disadvantages include need to change blades depending on types and sizes of material to be cut, and footprint size. This saw in infeed roller conveyor take up far more floor space than any of the other saws
Saw #2, probably because it's the most recent acquisition is a Baileigh 350mm cold saw. Being the latest addition, it has fewer hours than the next most used saw, but and has more use recently. The advantages are, it's a variable speed machine that will turn the blade from 24 rpm to 120 rpm. As mentioned, it's accurate to within less than .005". It uses coolant to flush the swarf from the kerf. The time to cut the 2" round stock is about 30 seconds. Blades can be resharpened for around $20.00 a copy.
The disadvantages are blades are ground specific the type and size of the material being cut. 1/2" flat cold rolled will take a blade with a different number of teeth than a 4" round of the same material. Aluminum will take a different blade than steel, and again will need a different number of teeth for 1/2" flats than 4" rounds. Blades usually run between $150.00 and $250.00 depending on grind and number of teeth. I currently have 5 blades in stock for different sizes of aluminum and steel. Coolant is a necessity, it costs around $60.00 a gallon, and can be messy. The machine requires an operator at all times to be functional.
The 3rd saw is a Racine 66W2 power hacksaw. It uses a 14" blade with coolant, has 2 speeds of 100 strokes per minute, and 140 strokes per minute. The advantages are the fact that it's compact in size compared to the horizontal saw. Down pressure can be adjusted for the material being cut. Once started the machine can be left unattended. When the saw was purchased, I was buying blades for between $2.00 and $4.00 per copy. I now have over 50 blades from 3 tpi to 18 tpi. The machine is coolant capable but can be run either wet or dry. Changing blades takes less than a minute. Disadvantages are that in reality it's a bit slower than the Startrite as the 140 strokes per minute is roughly equal to the 60-fpm cutting speed of the Startrite.
Saw #4 is a Rockwell 10" vertical bandsaw. This saw is seldom used as I don't do a lot of contour work. It comes in handy when needed, but the afore mentioned saws get considerably more use. The advantages include a small footprint, and easy blade changes. The disadvantage is that it's a single speed machine, so the operator has to match the infeed speed to the material being cut. Like the cold saw operator presence is required.
Saw #5 is a Black & Decker abrasive chop saw. This is by far the least used saw. It's great for roughing to size rusty or scaly material. The disadvantages are its light weight, doesn't have a great material clamping mechanism, throws sparks and dust all over the shop, and is by far the noisiest of the bunch.
I'm sure I missed some advantages and disadvantages of each machine. However, I think I've touched on the differences enough to give an idea as to the strong and weak points of each. All of these machines except the vertical bandsaw were purchased used. All the used saws were purchased for between $200.00 and $500.00. The only one needing any attention before being put to work was the Baileigh cold saw. It was purchased as more of a project than a need for an additional saw.
