Opinions On Hf 14" 4-speed Bandsaw?

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karim

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Does anyone have any experience of this one? My mini bandsaw is just not cutting it anymore (ha! see what I did there?) and I'm trying to find a good compromise of price, capability (variable speed), and size (I have a small workshop).

I know that some HF tools are great bargains, and some are garbage... What's the consensus on this one?
 
Just to clarify, my needs are about evenly split between wood, plastic, and metal (mostly aluminum & brass), and I don't have room for specialized or full-size machines, which is why I'm looking at this one... variable speed, (relatively) small footprint.
 
i don't have actual experience with that particular saw, but...
generally speaking the HF stuff can be made to work with some adjustment or modification of their existing plan.
i have seen the bandsaws at HF and would consider it worthy to cut the materials you seek to cut.
as long as you don't try to push the saw too hard or try to cut very thick or resistant materials the shortcomings will reveal themselves.
i would recommend getting the best blade you can afford, cheap blade break easier and generally don't cut as well, or as long- saw for saw.
perhaps an old piece of iron (delta,craftsmen,atlas, etc.) may also suit your needs?
 
14 inch is wood cutting and slowest is still to fast

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337Z using Tapatalk
 
I have one of those, may not be HF, but the same saw. I picked it up at an auction for $25 What I did was to install a 2 speed motor with 30:1 gear reduction. It will still cut wood OK , but will run slow enough (60 FPM) to cut tool steel. If needed, adding a second pulley to the wheel shaft would make it 16 speed, and boost the speed for wood cutting.

Had I not had the parts on the shelf to slow it down the way I did, I would have just added a jack shaft to give another stage of reduction for metal cutting. For metal or plastic cutting 60 to 250 FPM is a good range. I like to cut most plastic kind of slow so it cuts without trying to melt.

As said above, use good blades. I have my blades made by a local shop and buy M42 cobalt bi-metal. Not cheap, but they last for ever. In fact, I just broke one on my horizontal band saw after 2 years, it was still cutting fine and made a lot of cuts in many different materials from plastic to tool steel.
 
Eight years ago I put together a jack shaft setup using parts from McMaster Carr and some misc steel. The only tools required were a drill press, band saw and a welder. It was designed for a Rigid 14" wood bandsaw I bought from Home Depot. It's one of my most used tools in the shop.
 
Thanks for the comments. Again, I'm not looking to cut tool steel on this thing. My machines are a matched pair of Sherline micro-lathe/mill—that should give you a sense of the envelope I'm trying to fulfill.
 
Last edited:
karim said:
Again, I'm not looking to cut tool steel on this thing.
Click to expand...

The ability to cut tool steel is a function of the blade speed (and material), and to a lesser degree the power of the machine. You can cut annealed D-2 and stainless steels at 60 FPM. Normal mild steel would normally be cut at 100-120 FPM. I like to cut plastics in the 100 FPM range to minimize melting at the cut.

Wood can be successfully cut at a much lower speed than the speed charts would suggest. In any case, buying good blades is worth it, they will save you money in the long run.
 
Anyone know if any "Name Brand" models share parts with this saw?
 
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