HF's bigger band saw

[Mechanos]

I'm in need of a better tool for cutting stock in my fab projects.... the POS chop saw is just too messy, inaccurate and all around PITA. I've been using my brothers cheapy HF band saw and it works great... just ssssllllloooooooowwwwwwww. I've also considered getting one of the cold saws from Trick Tools, but I'm thinking the bigger HF band saw (the one with hyraulic feed, etc.) may be more versatile in the long run.

Anyone have one of these saws? How do you like it?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/photos/93500-93599/93507.gif

[tennessee rockhumper]

i really like mine. it cuts straight and in a big hurry.

immediately buy a lenex blade and change the gear dope upon purchase.

[Mechanos]

Hmmmmm...... decisions, decisions. $450 for an Evolution cold saw or $600 for the hydro feed band saw.

[vintagespeed]

New bandsaw blades are how much again? :flipoff2:

[Brian1]

I have used a similar version from Enco and it worked good. Do get a quality blade and it will work much better.

On a side note does anyone know where to get those coolant tanks and pumps from that the bandsaw pictured above uses? I bought an older bandsaw recently and I want to add a coolant system to it.

[tnjeep]

The HF one does not have the ability to work as a vertical bandsaw? I do not know anything about the Turn-pro ones but there resonably priced.

The turn-pro one at ENCO works in both the horizontal and vertical positions and its on sale for $718 markdown from 958 on their website.

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/1622/399xr5.png (http://imageshack.us)

but, one I really like is the seivel head 7 x 10.5, which allows for a mittering cut. Its on sale for 1029, which is quite a bit higher than the first one I pictured.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/7734/398ye9.png (http://imageshack.us)

[Mechanos]

The HF one does not have the ability to work as a vertical bandsaw?...
Yes, the HF one has the ability to work as a horizontal & a veritcal bandsaw.... it's pretty much just like the 7 x 12 turn-pro you've pictured.

[rusmannx]

i've got the cheaper one....
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93762
i can cut through a piece of 1/4"wall 2" tubing in about 3 minutes with the included blade, and no cutting fluid. yeah it's kinda slow, but i don't have to baby it, and it's SOOOO much quiter and cleaner than my chopsaw. it took a few minutes to get it dialed in, but it cuts pretty straight.

[DpSyChO]

i've got the cheaper one....
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93762
i can cut through a piece of 1/4"wall 2" tubing in about 3 minutes with the included blade, and no cutting fluid. yeah it's kinda slow, but i don't have to baby it, and it's SOOOO much quiter and cleaner than my chopsaw. it took a few minutes to get it dialed in, but it cuts pretty straight.

I have the same one you linked, have had it for about 5 yrs and for the price I gave ($139) it is awsome. However, if something ever happens to it, I will be getting this one at the traveling homier sales:
http://www.homier.com/detail.asp?SessionKey=IN93Elf%2ftyY3MarPT0dyfBSOME S29P%2fdZpY31DgwGAhAvBUJ4Dm%2fq%2btMZ%2fISnlvnBahi G3C%2fil6%2f&dpt=&cat=&sku=03111
I looked at it a little over a year ago when I went to one of there sales, looked to be heavier duty for a few dollars more than the HF version.

[Mechanos]

i've got the cheaper one....
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93762
i can cut through a piece of 1/4"wall 2" tubing in about 3 minutes with the included blade, and no cutting fluid. yeah it's kinda slow, but i don't have to baby it, and it's SOOOO much quiter and cleaner than my chopsaw. it took a few minutes to get it dialed in, but it cuts pretty straight.
I just used that same saw (my brother's) to cut the pieces for my latest project. I had to make about 10 cuts on 4" channel and it took about 3 to 3.5 hours. Granted some of that time was setup when I had to switch to different angles. Don't get me wrong... it worked great and fitment between all the pieces is nice and tight making the welding easy, but it just eats up too much time cutting all the stock for a project. I think if I'm going to buy a band saw, I'm going to step up to one like the one I pictured above. I don't charge myself much for my time.... but when I don't have a lot of it to work on something, I don't want to spend all night cutting.

[tsm1mt]

I just used that same saw (my brother's) to cut the pieces for my latest project. I had to make about 10 cuts on 4" channel and it took about 3 to 3.5 hours. Granted some of that time was setup when I had to switch to different angles. Don't get me wrong... it worked great and fitment between all the pieces is nice and tight making the welding easy, but it just eats up too much time cutting all the stock for a project. I think if I'm going to buy a band saw, I'm going to step up to one like the one I pictured above. I don't charge myself much for my time.... but when I don't have a lot of it to work on something, I don't want to spend all night cutting.

FWIW, the the 64.5 saws you can change things a bit to speed it up.

Just like your sawzall, there are different point counts for different materials to make it cut faster/slower.

You can also tension up the blade as much as you can (my knob broke so I now have a bolt and can put a ratchet on it) and then crank up the feed rate (reduce the spring pressure) to make it cut faster.

Until I broke the auto-shut-off switch, I would just chuck the stock up in the saw and walk away and do something else.

While one piece is cutting, I'm welding another in, so I don't lose "that much" time, but I can spend a bit of time when I want to make 10 of something before I get to work.

Free-handing tube-notching n' such IS time consuming on it, tho' - but faster than the hole-saw.

Anyhow.. I have the older 64.5 from Homier (with the sheetmetal base) and I like it - no comment on the bigger HF or the new base on the Homier unit.

Just tell your brother he might be able to speed up HIS saw with a little setup time. :D

[Mechanos]

The biggest thing we noticed while playing around with it is that you CAN speed it up a bit, but almost always at a sacrifice to cut quality and/or accuracy.

[Proeliator]

I have the big one that you pictured and its a great saw, once you change the blade. Its identicle to the Jet. Not sure about the comments about it being slow....you can adjust the blade speed and the downfeed speed so you can make it as slow or fast as you want. Plus, with it being watercooled the blades last. The only other thing I'd change is I'd make a better worktable for when its in verticle mode.

[Dusty]

On a side note does anyone know where to get those coolant tanks and pumps from that the bandsaw pictured above uses? I bought an older bandsaw recently and I want to add a coolant system to it.

I'd like to hear some ideas on this too. I also recently bought an older bandsaw It has the sump/chip tray already but no coolant pump and plumbing. Anybody know where to pick that stuff up? Cheap?

Dusty

[X-Rated]

the 500 dollar dry cutter chop saws kick ass... They cant do vertical band saw cuts, but they cut through steel like butter.

[MOB-40]

Anyone With Experiance On The Smaller Hf Verion Mentioned Above..
How Long To Get Through A Piece Of Round Tube, Say 1.75" .120 Wall?
Thnx