I borrowed a band saw from my friend last week and my wife asked me why don't you just buy one for yourself. I had a 25% off coupon from Harbor Freight so here are some pics of my latest addition to the shop. I have plenty of "odd" steel pieces laying around that will go through this 4x6 band saw to be made useable for machining on the lathe and mill.
I checked the gearbox and it does not have any sand or casting debris. The oil looks clean but I will probably run it for a few hours and then change it if I can find some "yellow metal safe" gear oil.
So far this saw runs pretty quietly but I may upgrade the belt and fab a more substantial stand when time permits.
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JScott,
Change the belt out with a link belt. It'll run much smoother.
Ed
They are good metal bandsaws
DaveH
(09-16-2014, 03:49 PM)DaveH Wrote: [ -> ]They are good metal bandsaws
I have been using the SIP branded one for more than 20 years (£120) (Ok off and on) but its cut a lot of stainless and recently a lot of MS for the Rugby Club Veranda project.
It is the BEST ever investment a model engineer can make!
Its the sams as buying your own cement mixer for when laying bricks!
Before the mixer you would knock up some dubious non-fluffy mortar and be so kna****d that the brick work was Cr*p.
And as for the odd ton of concrete by hand
I've been running the equivalent saw from Busy Bee (Canadian Grizzly, plus or minus, mostly minus) since 1980 +/- and it's a great little saw for it's price. Around 2000 +/- I had to do some maintenance/repair. I replaced the bronze worm wheel shown in your #2 photo as well as the bearing for the worm shaft and I had to machine off what was left of the flange on the rear of the drive wheel and replace it with a ring of 1/8 HRS attached with a few flat head screws.
It's used only in the vertical mode since I made my big horiz. band saw. I run the more expensive Bi-Metal blades on both saws because I abuse them and find that In my case it's more economical.
I read (in shocked disbelief) what your wife said about your purchase, your a lucky man!
JScott,
I agree with Steve on using the bi-metal saw blades, and with Ed on using a link belt vs the standard v-belt. Both will improve the saws performance. It won't be long before you'll be asking yourself why you waited so long to buy a bandsaw.
I just bought a second hand bandsaw a to replace my failing powered hacksaw and can't believe how fast it cuts through steel. And it's so quiet compared to power hacksaw.
Shawn
Thanks everybody for the tips on belts and blades. I know there are several modifications that can make this little saw even better. Hope to do some of them down the road and I think the first one will be a better stand. I really appreciate all the input.
And it is true that my wife is one in a million. She let me pull the trigger on buying my lathe, mill and tooling 2 years ago and I could have purchased a used saw like this one in the same package. She has been chiding me that I didn't spend the extra $100 and get it too. One of my first projects is going to be finishing my welding table so that I can mount a slip ring roll (which is another project). Then I am going to make her some hanging baskets and a trellis for the backyard. This is going to be fun!
There's rarely a day in the shop that my bandsaw isn't used. I use the 10/14 variable pitch bimetal blades like Ed's pointed to (a good price!)