I got the cheapo one, and it works OK so far, but i was trying to cut some 3/4" flat stock (5" wide) by allowing the saw to drop down on it (rather than using it like a vertical) and the blade starts deflecting. the cuts arent straight at all. I have the blade as tight as I can get it by hand.

Is it one of the bearings/pulley things that need to be adjusted? It just doesnt seem like that will straighten the blade enuf.

Adjust the tension spring, so it doen't cut so fast.

And make sure the blade guides are extended as close to the material as possible.

Is it worth buying?

cool, Ill try moving the guides, hadnt thought about that.

I played with the tension, but it didnt seem to make a difference.

thanks for the tips

I had the same problem with cutting crooked. I think it was a combination of a few things making it cut that way. Make sure that the base is sitting level and that the blade is sharp. You may want to do a search on here on how to improve the HF bandsaw, there are a lot of good ideas on it.

yeah, i have saved all those writeups, but figured since its new the blade should be okay. guess it doesnt like cuttting 3/4. 3/8 and 1/2 plate much.

My blade went dull right away causing wandering cuts... though I didn't figure this out easily... Swapped in a Lenox blade.... The ONLY way to go unless you want headaches....

I have made many mods to my saw trying to make it work like a prof one....

I must say it works pretty pimp now....... but it will always look like ass.... All the trivial limitations and headaches are gone....

My mods:

1. floorplate under whole saw, each of the four corners using angle and bolted to the floor plat for ridgidity and wheels under each coner for portability.

2. shavings pan under cutting area... uses one of the supplied thumb wheels for attachment...

3. hold-down clamp for use with everything.... can be easily unbolted from below and uses a wing nut...

4. clamping area extensions.... this is very important... I was very careful when welding them on and oversized them... then when all done I ran the saw blade through them so now they are a perfect guide for which to measure from..... this also allows you to cut pieces which are very very short.... this was a big problem with the factory setup..... see pic 2...

5. welded a short piece of tube to the back of the clamping angle to track the slot..... keeps the clamp from turning when cutting short pieces of material....

Pics.

http://img211.exs.cx/img211/6835/dsc01581s8pq.jpg

http://img211.exs.cx/img211/1520/dsc01579s9hj.jpg


Me.

3. hold-down clamp for use with everything.... can be easily unbolted from below and uses a wing nut...

4. clamping area extensions.... this is very important... I was very careful when welding them on and oversized them... then when all done I ran the saw blade through them so now they are a perfect guide for which to measure from..... this also allows you to cut pieces which are very very short.... this was a big problem with the factory setup..... see pic 2...




I know what I'm doing this afternoon! Thanks for the idea-I've been plagued by the clamping mechanisms.

I like the clamp idea, but wouldn't it work better to have the vertical clamp welded to the fixed side of the horzontal clamp, or attached through the pivot bolt? It looks like you're limiting the cutting width of the saw to a couple inches when using the clamp.

My local Home Depot's have stopped carrying the 64 1/2" band saw blades. Where are y'all finding decent/good quality blades?

Ed

I got a good Lenox Bi-metal blade at Menards. But you can also get them from www.toolcenter.com for a few bucks more.

Tyler Tool was by far the cheapest I found online for blades for the Milwaukee portaband. Not exactly on topic, but they may have good deals on stationary saw blades as well?

My local Home Depot's have stopped carrying the 64 1/2" band saw blades. Where are y'all finding decent/good quality blades?

Ed

The Do-All salesman stopped by the other day :flipoff2:

They have some cool stuff, including killer bandsaw blades.

The HF blades suck, no doubt. Check your local steel supply places, I pick good ones from that type of place in Denver.

what would a good, all round tooth count be?

interestingly, it still cuts well when used in the vertical position, so does this mean its not the blade?