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Tool Talk Discussion Forum

Metal Cutting Bandsaw

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Mitchissippi

09-21-2004 08:17:31




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Mornin.

Any of you guyd have any experience - good or bad - with the Central Machinery Horizontal / Vertical Metal Cutting Bandsaw that Harborfreight sells. They have a good price, if it's a halfway decent machine. I'm thinking about buying one, but I'd like some feedback if anyone has been around one of them.

Thanks,
Mitch

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Slowpoke

09-29-2004 01:23:33




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 Re: Metal Cutting Bandsaw in reply to Mitchissippi, 09-21-2004 08:17:31  
I've had one from HF for several years. It needed things like modification of the blade adjustment setup; as soon as the locking screws were loosened, the blade tension pulled it back out of what alignment it did have. The new models have no blade adjustment. I don't know if it's an improvement or not. Moving the vice jaw to cut angles and trying to get it square again is the pits. I added an outboard table for cutting angles and short pieces, so the jaw seldom gets moved. I've had little trouble with the blade coming off the wheels unless it jams in the cut. The last time I left it cutting for a couple of minutes while I did something else, it jammed, failed to come off the wheels and burned out the start windings of the motor before I got back to it. Now I have to spin the pulley by hand to start it. There is no thermal switch on the motor and it didn't draw enough current to throw the 20 amp breaker. The new motor will have a manual reset.
I also scrapped the cheap folding stand and used a sturdy old Atlas stand I had saved, increased the height by about 8", added 5" wheels and a bottom shelf. Other than that, it's a 1000 times better than a hack saw or Sawzall. $150 on sale.

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Dave2pa

09-25-2004 16:39:08




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 Re: Metal Cutting Bandsaw in reply to Mitchissippi, 09-21-2004 08:17:31  
you might want to watch Ebay sometimes if you can find one close enough to go get,, you can get a deal, I bought a Vertical one on Ebay back in march ,had to go almost 200 miles to pick it up but it was well worth nice old cast iron Industrial quallity machine .it might take some time to find one close but might be worth the wait



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RusselAZ

09-21-2004 18:18:58




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 Re: Metal Cutting Bandsaw in reply to Mitchissippi, 09-21-2004 08:17:31  
I have two of them and have had them for about 10 years. If you do some suttle adjustments when you get it and take the cover off the little gear box and pack it with good grease and run it on the slowest speed they work well. I get my blades from my local true value hardware, any good 64 1/2 inch blade will work.

Oh, the motor is no where near a 1 HP but mine have been good enough to do what they do.

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Mark - IN.

09-21-2004 18:05:02




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 Re: Metal Cutting Bandsaw in reply to Mitchissippi, 09-21-2004 08:17:31  
Don"t own one, but have seen a few in action and wish that I could afford one. Good luck, use it in good, properous health.



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wdTom

09-21-2004 17:51:46




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 Re: Metal Cutting Bandsaw in reply to Mitchissippi, 09-21-2004 08:17:31  
Well you get what you pay for. I bought one maybe 10 to 12 years ago. Use it all the time. BUT- you must look at any such import tool as a kit. You need to realize it may need a lot of adjustment, taking aprat and putting back together right, and maybe even some modifications, before you will be satisfied. That is about the best price you wil find on such a saw. Many companies sell the same thing, some with their name on it, for maybe a couple hundred more. Buy it. Order some good blades from someone like McMaster Carr or MSC. Along with the other adjustments and such you will do when setting it up, check the oil in the gear box. Mine had some horrible looking and smelling stuff in it. Put some 90 weight gear oil in and it has run fine. Using too fine a blade can contrubute to the blade sticking in the cut and comming off the wheels too. With too fine a blade the chips have no place to go and jam it up. When cutting wide flat stock tip the back up on a piece of 1/4" or 1/2" rod so the blade doesn't have to cut the whole width at once. Don't angle it enough that the stock will not be securely clamped in the vise, just enough to help it, maybe 3/8" in 4" is enough.

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Bus Driver

09-21-2004 16:15:53




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 Re: Metal Cutting Bandsaw in reply to Mitchissippi, 09-21-2004 08:17:31  
The Horrible Fright saw is not much as originally received. The blade is crap. I use Morse blades. I had it referenced on my old computer, but not the new one- a website devoted to improvements to the HF saw. I tried a couple of them- they helped. Some of the mods are quite extensive. Search for that site.



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txblu

09-21-2004 11:50:40




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 Re: Metal Cutting Bandsaw in reply to Mitchissippi, 09-21-2004 08:17:31  
Can"t be any worse than my Milwaukee (sp). that I bought used for the same money.

Watch HF. My last order (Friday) was over $50 but had to pay freight anyway. Looked at their fliers and no "free freight over $50" ads anymore.... at least on the 3 I looked at and according to the 800 sales girl.

Mark



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Mitchissippi

09-21-2004 12:00:09




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 Re: Metal Cutting Bandsaw in reply to txblu, 09-21-2004 11:50:40  
Thanks for the "heads up"! WWW says free frieght - I'll try to pin them down before I awder.



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j-tex

09-21-2004 11:45:53




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 Re: Metal Cutting Bandsaw in reply to Mitchissippi, 09-21-2004 08:17:31  
I have one and I love it, as stated in the other post its not a heavy duty saw. It works great for sq tubing and smaller pipe, although I have cut some 2-3/8 oilfield tubing on it it takes a while but it gets it done. One important thing to remember is the blade tension and alignment, if either is off any at all the blade jumps off. Once I got all of that adjusted it works great



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TimV

09-21-2004 10:00:48




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 Re: Metal Cutting Bandsaw in reply to Mitchissippi, 09-21-2004 08:17:31  
Mitch: I have a Clarke saw from TSC--it's the same China jobbie sold by lots of companies, including Harbor Freight. I absolutely love it--best $200 I've spent in a long time! The key thing to recognize is that it's not a heavy-duty saw, and if you've got a lot of cutting to do, you're better off with a bigger one. However, there's no comparison to my next-best alternatives which were a Sawzall or a torch. Below is a link with a bunch of info on them. I know the earlier ones were prone to blades jumping off the wheels, but I believe they have that cured--mine has never done it.

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Mitchissippi

09-21-2004 11:57:20




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 Re: Metal Cutting Bandsaw in reply to TimV, 09-21-2004 10:00:48  
I've just about talked myself into going on and buying the thing. I've needed one for 20 years!

Interesting reading on the site you linked. I'll go back.

Thanks.



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TimV

09-21-2004 13:14:33




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 Re: Metal Cutting Bandsaw in reply to Mitchissippi, 09-21-2004 11:57:20  
Mitch: I found that site awhile ago, when I was looking seriously at a 7x12 lathe. Ended up buying one of those (Cummins, but they're all pretty much the same) and last winter I bought the mini-mill as well. I use all of them quite a bit--you'll find that like a lot of things, the longer you have one the more uses you find for it. Example: bought a "personal spa" (basically a plastic pad with holes that you put in the tub and connect up to a blower) for $3.00 at a yard sale a couple of weeks ago. I wanted it for my home-made hot tub (that started life as a 300-gallon cow watering tank) but the blower tube was just a smidgen under 1"--the size of the blower inlet on the tub. Cut off a piece of 1" PVC with the bandsaw, chucked it in the lathe, and took off about 0.030" so it would fit in the blower--works like a champ, and now I have bubbles in the tub! It's a lot cleaner than my old method, which involved baked beans and medium-rare venison..... .

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Mitchissippi

09-21-2004 14:31:46




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 Re: Metal Cutting Bandsaw in reply to TimV, 09-21-2004 13:14:33  
I know what you mean. I repaint/rebuild/modify toy tractors as a hobby. Most of the tools I've bought for the hobby, get used more for other little projects that I never would have guessed would come along. I hate having an idea on how to fix something and not having the tool to do it. Nothing makes my madder.



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