Must read for unsatisfied bandsaw owners!

I like my HF bandsaw, I had a portable and it worked ok but not as well at this. With a new blade it cuts well, but I wont use the butter term. I do agree on the tuning, these come out of the box ready to frustrate.

I disassembled mine and mounted the working parts with the orginal switch and electrics to a tool stand. One problem is the platform, if it wiggles you will snag blades and have all kinds of trouble, its need to be replaced and more structure added to make more ridged. This saw has seen quite a bit of steel including 1/4 A2 and cuts fine, I do buy good blades, its makes a difference.

bandsaw006.jpg
 
Patrickknives said:
I like my HF bandsaw, I had a portable and it worked ok but not as well at this. With a new blade it cuts well, but I wont use the butter term. I do agree on the tuning, these come out of the box ready to frustrate.

I disassembled mine and mounted the working parts with the orginal switch and electrics to a tool stand. One problem is the platform, if it wiggles you will snag blades and have all kinds of trouble, its need to be replaced and more structure added to make more ridged. This saw has seen quite a bit of steel including 1/4 A2 and cuts fine, I do buy good blades, its makes a difference.

bandsaw006.jpg
Click to expand...

I use the same HF saw. I use a good Hard Back blades 14 or 18 on anything smaller than 1/8''. I always use cutting oil. Mine is running straight out of the box. I have it running on the second slowest speed. Speed is as important as the blade.
I worked in Job Shops for 10 years. I have run every piece of crap you could imagine. Plus I have ran some top notch equipment.
For the money I would buy this saw again. But again I have run $20,000 Band saws. I know what to expect. Saw Blades and speed are everything. First thing Metal saw don't cut like butter. Metal cutting on a band saw is not a fast process.

Last Company I worked for made slice bread. Our Saws used 21 Blades.
We would break one or two blades a shift and It would take us 20 plus minutes to replace a blade when I started with the company 4 years ago. It cost of around 400.00 to change a blade or over a half million dollars a year.
When I left the company last year. We might change One blade a week on a single machine. We still changed all the blades during the weekly maintenance. The only thing we did was change the Blades to a better blade.

Use a good blade! Don't rush it. Use Cutting oil. Don't try to cut through a work harden area. That happen quite often on tool steel, especially if you are hand cutting. Have fun and make knives that is what it is about. Always do what works best for you.
 
bikermikearchery said:
Really nice feature of the 4 x 6 is being able to use it in the horizontal mode to cut large stock. I cut some train track to make hardy tools a while back. Just clamp it in the vice and turn it on. I made a sturdy table with a white corian table top for it, and put a seat on it for those long detailed cuts. My cheap HF bandsaw has paid for it self.
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That's a cool idea Mike. I've got an exta bandsaw that I'm going to use some of your ideas on. Thanks.
 
Patrice: Can you post some more pictures showing a bit more details on how you mounted the work plate. My DeWalt should be delivered today. I bought it based on this thread. Also - cutting oil recommendations? Thank you. Nicholas Jasper
 
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