that harbor freight bandsaw again

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rusmannx

rusmannx

Joined
Feb 9, 2002
Threads
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Location
Utah
i've been looking at this again and i think it's time.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=37151
my only concern is the replcement blades. in another thread someone said that the blade on the saw is no good, but i can't find anyone else besides HF that sales a 64.5" blade.... or does it matter?
someone else said milwaukee makes a good blade called "the torch" but i can't find that blade in a size that the HF will use.

basically, i'm looking for someone to show me where i can get good blades for this bad boy before i decide to buy.
link's are best.
 
I don't know where you are but there is a guy here in Denver that can make blades for you. Any size, any material, any tooth count. He has huge racks of bandsaw stock and all you have to do is tell him how big to make it and he welds one up. Price is resonable....I'll have to find his card. For those around here, he is right down the street from Rocky Mountain Cruisers, the original one? in Denver, not Rocky Mountain Cruiser & 4x4 in Silt (we have two shops here with the same name.
 
i'm in utah.
does he ship?
anyone else have a source?
 
I have the Delta version of this saw. You can get the blades at Home Depot or have them made up for you at any metal shop supply.
 
Get a jet the a little more money. Works great.

IMG_3874.jpg
 
I'd think that any serious shop would have a welder for blades...
 
Most machine shops will have a blade welder on their bandsaws. We bought Starrett blade stock in 100 ft rolls and made our own.
 
e9999 said:
I'd think that any serious shop would have a welder for blades...
Click to expand...

You can buy a bunch of blades for what a good blade welder costs!:eek:

I wanted the Homier 03111 band saw for the swivel vice and nice stand, but at the time they wanted $299 and $140 shipping. Looked at the Jet, locally the best price I could find was about $300. Got the Harbor Freight for $169 very happy with it, it's cut a bunch of metal. A buddy has a Jet, there are very few significant differences, mainly the slightly better stand and white paint. :rolleyes:

Morse bi-metal blades from Enco have worked well. I broke my Morse and put the Harbor Freight one on, it's not that bad, a little slower.

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INLMK32?PARTPG=INSRAR2

http://www.homier.com/detail.asp?Se...Ma/Mdm1uadeJSRQ+Fyx2B&dpt=9&cat=119&sku=03111
 
I meant pro shop, not a hobbyist garage...
and they are often built-in in the saw gizmo itself I think
 
I have the Grizzly version of this saw. I love it.
 
you can buy them from McmasterCarr
I've got the HB water cooled band saw and it works great. I think it was 350when i got it 7 years ago. The blades last a lot longer than without the water and lube
 
looks like the grizzley and the jet have that 1.2HP motor. i wonder how much faster it actually cuts.

when using the table, does anyone find it easy to cut 1/4" steel? what about 1/2"?
i think i would be using it upright more than i would horizontally.
 
the nice part about cutting it horizontally is you can have gravity do the work for you....set it up, start the cut and you can then start on something else....

I'd love to have a saw, but I think I better start with a garage first :)

bk
 
Tools R Us said:
A buddy has a Jet, there are very few significant differences, mainly the slightly better stand and white paint. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Better guides, rollers, better motor and drive system.

If you don't care about cutting a straight line get the harbor freight. Not bad for the price. But buying or making custom blades is a pain in the ass.
 
The things are easy to modify too. I have a double acting cyclinder that I am installing with a gas/water valve so I can more accurately control the feed of the blade into the material. I am not a nig fan of the spring as the counterweight.

Next on my list of mods will be a better miter box.
 
Trollhole said:
Better guides, rollers, better motor and drive system.
Click to expand...

On the Harbor Freight the guide arms mount on top of the casting, Jet's mount to the backside looks a little nicer, but functions the same. The early HF guide arms were stamped newer ones like mine are castings. The blade roller bearings on my HF are sealed, on his Jet they are only shielded . The motor mount plate is a little stronger on the Jet, but i don't see the one on the HF being an issue.

Trollhole said:
If you don't care about cutting a straight line get the harbor freight. Not bad for the price. But buying or making custom blades is a pain in the ass.
Click to expand...

When I got the HF the guide bearings were adjusted loose, when readjusted it cut as straight as can be expected from a horizontal saw. On his Jet the blade was walking off, new out of the box, after dealing with Jet "customer service" he finally got the parts that they said would fix it. We took it apart and the set screw on the drive wheel was loose dorking up the shaft. After tuning them, both saws cut well.

Why would you want custom blades, the same blade fits both saws? :rolleyes:

The gear boxes have been known to have casting sand in them, both of ours were clean, the fluid was changed to Mobil 1 gear oil. The motor on the HF is labeled 1 HP, all I can say about that is, Chinese horses must be smaller than American horses!:D

Some good 4x6 links;
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/4x6bandsaw/
http://www.tinyisland.com/4x6bsFAQ.html
http://www.acmearms.com/bandsaw.php
http://www.ben.com/tools/hvbs-463.html
http://www.homemetalshopclub.org/projects/sawstand/sawstand.html
http://www.frugalmachinist.com/bandsaw.html
 
speaking of HF, I have one nearby, in comparison to Northern Tool...what is the difference in the quality of their equipment? I mean the prices make HF almost disposable in many cases. Opinions?
 
Used to be pretty crappy, has been getting much better, hard to beat the prices. Always check harborfreight.com before you buy, many times the same item is available on the web much cheaper. Just print out the web page and they will match the web price in the store.
 
Rusmanx
Traceys Saw in Orem makes blades. They are right on state street North of 1600 North.
 
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