Harbor freight band saw or angle grinder?

Bill DeShivs said:
I have had a Harbor Freight 4 X 6 bandsaw for 12+ years. It works great.
You could skip the wood cutting bandsaw and use the HF metal saw for wood cutting. It's a little slower than a dedicated wood saw, but works well.
Skip the portable band saws unless you are on a tight budget.
Forget the angle grinder.
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Hmm. New guy, just bought a wood bandsaw, which eliminates much need for another band saw. I've worked with a prominent Mastersmith that produces 50-75 blades /month with a simple, inexpensive abrasive wheel.

They are safe and very accurate in the right hands. Cheap as heck to buy or run, no fiddling with adjustments, takes up no space at all.

Forget it? That seems like an extremely narrow minded opinion, especially in this case.
 
The Harbor Freight 4 X 6 won't spew toxic, abrasive dust everywhere like an angle grinder. And it won't explode in your face.
I use Starrett 24 tpi blades on my 4 X 6.
 
There are some really great bandsaw mods out there. I'll have to look into making some improvements. That seat is an interesting solution. Looks great!
 
For years I had a English riding saddle on the bottom part of my HF band saw. It provided a nice comfortable seat while sawing out profiles. I considered making a padded motorcycle style seat like Goldsmithy, but decided to get rid of the entire base and free up some floor space.

One thing his setup has that is often not mentioned is good lighting. I have a goose neck lamp mounted on mine.
 
Clamp light on mine.
I have a Harbor Freight gardening knee pad cable tied to mine as a seat. I removed all the horizontal stuff from mine.
If you set it up as a vertical only, keep the parts and instructions because I guarantee that one day you'll want to cut a piece of railroad track or something similar!
 
Picked mine up today. Along with a really nice sturdy maple and steel workbench from sams club. I also grabbed the slide out secondary cart with a maple top and 5 or 6 drawers. Meant to fit under the main bench.

That idea of just using a gardening knee pad is a great easy solution. That's probably what I'll do.
 
Speaking of safety, I put in a foot switch to start and stop the saw. The original switch was hard to reach with the seat in place. It is very convenient and safer also. ...Teddy
 
coldblooded357 said:
Ok so I checked out the Portaband and swag table combo but Between the two is approaching the price of the 4x6. So I figure might as well just get that one. It is what I planned for anyway. I may grab a cheapo angle grinder to compliment it if I feel its needed as I go on.
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If you buy cheap angle grinders you asking for problems/injuries.
 
I have the hf 4x6 too. I would invest in a 1/4" piece of aluminum for the cutting table and a good hour of research on blade type and how tight to set them for the material you are cutting.
 
The bench mount Stacy did is very cool. along with the seat Teddy/Goldsmithy did.
I just sit on the saw horse of my HF 4 x 6 and feed the steel to be cut by hand. I have never had any problems of it tipping over. Make sure you bolt the saw horse frame together securely.

HF is famous for sending a slightly different manual with their tools and sometimes you need a trip to the hardware store to get correct length bolts and nuts etc. lol.
 
Rhinoknives1 said:
The bench mount Stacy did is very cool. along with the seat Teddy/Goldsmithy did.
I just sit on the saw horse of my HF 4 x 6 and feed the steel to be cut by hand. I have never had any problems of it tipping over. Make sure you bolt the saw horse frame together securely.

HF is famous for sending a slightly different manual with their tools and sometimes you need a trip to the hardware store to get correct length bolts and nuts etc. lol.
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I hope I don't have to deal with that nonsense lol. I've got a bunch of cleaning and moving stuff out of my basement before I start assembling.
 
Looks good.
Now, unbolt that piece of tin they gave you as a table and make a 4X4" table to fit on it.
 
Yep, that's my next step. I'm just trying to work it out in my head. I had to try it anyway, though...Damn that thing is quick, even compared to a 4.5" angle grinder.



ETA: Done and done. It's 5x5.

 
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gomipile said:
Has anyone installed a coolant system on one of the Harbor Freight 4"x6" bandsaws?
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I'm working on one. Micro-Mark sells a jug with a pump inside and you can regulate the flow of fluids. As soon as I can figure out a bracket I will use it with lapidary tool coolant, which isn't supposed to rust. I'll post a pic when I get it done.
 
I bought the hf 7 x 12 it was on sale for $800.00 then I had 25% off coupon so ended up $600.00. Compare it with the Grizzly or Jet and you wont find much difference except for the color and price.
I love it. Found local shop that makes up good skip tooth blade for $30.00
 
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