Looking to buy a metal cutting bandsaw to cut O1 tool steel in order to make plane blades for some of my old planes and my custom shop made planes. Max thinkness of steel wil be 1/4 inch and width max 3 inches, Any advice on either of the saws (they seem to be identical)
Scot
plane blades for some of my old planes and my custom shop made planes. Max thinkness of steel wil be 1/4 inch and width max 3 inches, Any advice on either of the saws (they seem to be identical)
Scot,
I bought the HF saw about ten years ago and it worked great. It even saw some production use.
A little later I got one for myself as a "starter" tool for my home shop, and I still use it some even today.
I recommended one to a friend who was going to get an abrasive chop saw. He got one, on my recommendation, and the sad little POS won't keep its blade on. I've tried adjusting everything but I can't figure out why the blade pops off with even a light cut.
So, two out of three were good saws.
I have quenched O1 and found that sometime long sections warp a bit, requires grinding. I wonder if an air hardening steel would be less work.
plane blades for some of my old planes and my custom shop made planes. Max thinkness of steel wil be 1/4 inch and width max 3 inches, Any advice on either of the saws (they seem to be identical)
there is a Yahoo group just for these saws. Lots of online information on them.
Homier makes the same saw, currently at $99.99. Homier also has a new design for about $200 that is much better. In fact Grizzly sells that one for over $400.
Usual advice is to by the cheapest one, immediately replace the blade with a quality US-made bimetal 10-14 blade. tighten the blade tension know as hard as you can by hand. If you need parts, call Grizzly.
Some people have had to tweak the guide rollers a bit to make them cut straight, some say they will shave accurate wafers off right out of the box.
Have you changed the blade? The OE blade is garbage.
These saws are not the same- some people have had good luck with the real cheap ones, and good for them- but I have seen a definite difference in quality between the "same" saws and other tools. I usually only buy Jet, when it comes to cheapo imports. I find the motors are better, the fasteners are better, the electricals are better, and the castings are better. Their little saw has some differences in design as well- the cheapest ones dont even have bearings on the blade guides while the Jet does. But above all else, Jet actually stocks parts, has tech guys who you can talk to on the phone who know what they are talking about, and stands behind their products- I recently had them send me free parts for a Jet tool I bought in 1978. Try that with Hornier or Harbor freight.
Jet has been in business since 1958, and since 82 has been owned by a swiss conglomerate- I just trust em more. The actual dollar amount of difference here is $200 max- and for me, in a working shop, my time is worth enough that not having to rebuild a tool constantly is worth $200 mighty fast.
Grizzly would be my second choice- I think grizzly tools are noticeably inferior to Jet, but they have very good parts and service backup, as opposed to almost every other import, which are basically, we opened the container- our job is done.
But hey, buy the cheapest if you want. Just dont complain when it breaks, and there are no parts available.
plane blades for some of my old planes and my custom shop made planes. Max thinkness of steel wil be 1/4 inch and width max 3 inches, Any advice on either of the saws (they seem to be identical)
This usually has to do with the alignment of the wheels. I know of one saw that had to have the gear box shimmed before it would keep blades on.
Wayne Cook Shamrock, TX
"Have you changed the blade? The OE blade is garbage. "
Yes, to a Starret, which is the best blade I've found.
"This usually has to do with the alignment of the wheels. "
I aligned the main wheels. I also correctly adjusted the six blade roller guides.
The best I can figure it there's too much side to side play in the tension adjustment. I plan to shim it. I have no idea if it will help.
I'll look at shimming the gear box and see if I overlooked something. Good idea.
Thanks
Indeed, there are differences. MSC seems to have one a cut above the bunch. Don't know how it rates next to a jet, but I know it's better than mine--which I get by on. Problem is, how does one compare before hand?
Parts: The place I bought my saw from (Westchester Tool, in NY) has a whole pile of these saw parts in the corner of their warehouse. :) I get my parts free, too--all's I gotta do is go over and root thru the pile. :) :) One of the advantages to buying local.
I'm thinking of pimping my 4x6 out, putting a pan w/ continuous coolant on it--mebbe even some pneumatics, tryna automate it. To dream....
Wilton makes a 4x6, if you can find one used. I think the chinese mebbe copied theirs.
I too bought one about 10 years ago -- HF -- and concur with all. Mine is still in use today. Consider the blade as a shipping band and discard at setup -- I use bimetal blades. Stand over it for more than 5 min. and you will understand one of my big concerns -- it's made for users like the manufacturers -- no one over 5' tall. I built leg extensions from 2 x 4s, relocated the wheels, crossbraced and built a scrap box between all. Now it serves my avocation needs -- not bad for $129 delivered.
Greg
make plane blades for some of my old planes and my custom shop made planes. Max thinkness of steel wil be 1/4 inch and width max 3 inches, Any advice on either of the saws (they seem to be identical)
The Grizzly has a bigger motor, sturdier stand, and better blade guides.
My HF took about 8 hours of fixing and reworking to get it to function, and I had to replace the motor with the Grizzly one. Total price was more than the Grizzly.
Alan
make plane blades for some of my old planes and my custom shop made planes. Max thinkness of steel wil be 1/4 inch and width max 3 inches, Any advice on either of the saws (they seem to be identical)
You'll get all sorts of replies depending on the luck of the draw. If you've got either store locally, go pick it up, if there's something wrong, you can return it without incurring shipping costs. I guess I was pretty lucky, I got my for $89 on a one-time in-store sale at HF. It's Taiwanese-made, as have been most of the smaller ones I've seen at HF. No major problems other than ditching the banding-iron original blade for Lenox. I changed out the gear oil, too, just as a preventative measure, some folks have had core sand in the gear boxes. No sand in mine. The guides needed just a little tweaking to get a square cut.
If you've got to have one shipped in, take a look at Enco. They used to have a deal where you could pay a little more and get a U.S.-made U.L.-listed motor, probably worth it. Usually various breaks on shipping, too. When they still had stores, the ones I saw on display looked pretty well made.
Stan
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