Harbor Freight Bandsaw?

ddavelarsen

ddavelarsen

Joined
Dec 7, 2000
Messages
5,179
Anyone have comments on the (cheapest - $180) Harbor Freight metal cutting bandsaw?

Is it worth the money and will it cut steel effectively?

Do you use any cutting fluid? If so, what kind and how do you apply it?

Recommended brand of blade? Experience with the Harbor Freight bi-metal blades? How many TPI?

As you can see I'm full of newbie questions, as ever. Thanks for all the help.



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Dave Larsen
--
The greatest prayer is patience
-Buddha
 
The one I have is great. I cut everything from .090 ti to 1/2" brass and 3/8" d2 on it with no problems. The blades I use are Ellis MFG Inc and are 1/2" wide, 18 tpi bimetal. I buy them from the Metal Mart online. Heres the link. http://metalmart.com/catalog/index.html
Go to the bottom of the page for bandsaw blades. Mine uses a 66" blade but I kinda altered it. I call it Frankenstein cause I made an upright frame for it from bolted together steel tubing and plate. You'll love having a bandsaw to cut out knife blanks and such. I even use mine to cut out handle materials and it has had no effect on the blade life.

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Take care!! Michael

Always think of your fellow knife makers as partners in the search for the perfect blade, not as people trying to compete with you and your work!
http://www.nebsnow.com/L6steel
Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms!!!
 
Mine was a POS.... purchased a Wilton, its great.

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"Never hit a man unless you must, but if you must, knock him down" Teddy Roosevelt.

www.lameyknives.com
 
Mine works great. Do yourself a favor if you get one DON'T crank down on the tension adjuster.
I managed to bend mine. Took it back 6mths later and they exchanged it no problem. New one is even better. Leave the stand off the bottom and bolt it to a bench. MUCH easier to use.
I expect it to give at least 3-5yrs service if not abused.
Do not expect to make tight curve cuts either , this only brakes the blades and will really %iss you off. Make many small straight cuts instead.
Best bet is get Variable pitch Bi-metal blades. Best price for excellant quality blades call:Buford Bros/Blackstone
615-256-4681 1/2 the price of everyone else. better quality.
Remember use 10-14variable pitch blade for 3/16" thick stuff. Rule of thumb is 3teeth on the surface. Ask them when you call.
 
:
I don't know anything about this particular saw, but tight radii can be cut using the proper width blade.
The smaller the radius the thinner the blade, ie 1/4" blade. There's a formula for this somewhere. If I get around to it tomorrow I will see if I can dig it up. The Machinery Handbook should have it.

Does the saw come with extra guides for different blade widths?


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>>>>---¥vsa---->®

"Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other."

~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Dalai Lama ~~~~~~~
 
well worth the money, i have mine on the middle pulley and just take my time. as others have said you do need to get a good bimental blade and do a lot of straight cuts. i also use it for wood and micarta works great. i put the arm in the vertical position and sit right on the saw horse.

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Laurence Segal www.RHINOKNIVES.com
 
I like mine. It does what I expected for the price. The only thing that I don't like is that the blade comes off the rollers almost every time I use it despite numerous attempts to adjust the tension and tracking guides. If I used it every day, this would be unacceptable. It cuts well otherwise. I don't need or expect it to make very precise cuts, I use it for profiling blades only. Harbor Freight often puts items on sale. I think I paid $139 for it a few months ago (with free shipping). It was backordered for about 6 weeks during which time I couldn't get through to their customer service to find out where it was or if/when it would be shipped. Despite these drawbacks, I think it is a good saw for the price, considering that most "name brand" units start around $1000. This one is more in line with the hobbyist's budget and needs.

Also, in regards to cutting fluid, I usually spray a little WD-40 or "1 Lube" on the bar stock while cutting. There are probably better ways to do it.

Dan

[This message has been edited by Pretender (edited 01-17-2001).]
 
Thanks for all the input. We have a Harbor Freight store here, so I can just go down and pick it up. No shipping, no backorder, but sales tax. Too bad I missed the 10% plus sale price grand opening... Though I did get the 7X10 lathe I'd had my eye on all these years. I guess it's one at a time.

Dan, I'd wondered about this before and I'll just throw it out here: do you suppose the lube is getting on the wheels and allowing the blade to creep off?

Dave
 
I had similar problems with the blade popping off all the time. I read the threads here on tuning and one of them said it is almost impossible to reach reccommended blade tension with the hand crank knob. I torqued it down as hard as I could by hand and proceeded to cut another 180 blanks without it coming off. I do loosen off the tension when I'm done cutting. I'm using olsen 18TPI bi-metal blades on 3/32 stock (mostly - some up to 1/4) and it is working great.

Complaint? The work table for vertical scroll cutting is pretty useless. The stand is also pretty useless. I can live with those.

Rob!



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Rob Ridley
Ranger Original Handcrafted Knives
 
blade popps off, bolts constantly have to be tightened, very fragile overall.

I am a bit picky i guess, mine was just plain poor as far as machinery goes. BUT for 180 bucks i guess its worth it.

The Wilton is great, but runs $1200.



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"Never hit a man unless you must, but if you must, knock him down" Teddy Roosevelt.

www.lameyknives.com
 
Mine's a POS too, but I've been cussing it for almost 18 years now. It's cut out a lot of blades though, and at $10 per year I'd have to say I got my money's worth.

I'm deeply envious of Matt though...
smile.gif


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Jerry Hossom
www.hossom.com
The New Tom & Jerry Show
 
I think my h/f was worst than most. A good freind of mine, Paul Lebetard (great maker by the way), has one and it works much better than mine did. Mine was a heap, i would use it maybe an hour or so and the bolts would be working loose etc... This is after lock tight. My blade popped off MUCH more than normal, even on a h/f.

I think i may have gotten a lemon, who knows.

I do know that that i would never own anther as the bigger saws,like the wilton combination, work so much better that you become spoiled.

Dr. Lathe has access to some serios machinery, one item is an industrial grade friction cutter... THATS the way to go.

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"Never hit a man unless you must, but if you must, knock him down" Teddy Roosevelt.

www.lameyknives.com
 
RM, I sure know what you mean when you talk about the better tools spoiling you. Last night we were talking about a friend whose fiddle-playing was just plain painful to hear. The he went out and spent $2000 on a new fiddle and behold, not only did the fine instrument sound better but he enjoyed playing it so much his skill improved dramatically in a very short time.

I'm a believer in buying the best tools you can afford. For me right now the h/f is going to be a great improvement over the hacksaw!
smile.gif


We were building a new work bench for the Bader grinder I ordered (!!!), and I got to looking around my shop and was amazed how far it's come in 12 years. When I made my first knife I had a 2'X 3' table I'd set on the patio outside my apartment, and grind on the TKS 2X48 grinder. Used a one-speed hand drill and a claw hammer to put em together. Then I really moved up in the world and got a $50 benchtop drill press from h/f. Did okay with all that, too, though everything I've seen here is better. (Then I got married and didn't make a knife for years. Now that the wife's had enough of my constant company I have a lot to relearn!)

I guess this goes back to Cory's thread about "needing" the best tools -- you *don't* need em, but they sure do make it better if you can afford em.

Sorry for being so long-winded.

Dave
 
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