Choosing a chop saw?

[chumly2071]

I would pick the bandsaw over the chopsaw hands down. After I got my HF 4x6, I sold my Ryobi chop saw. Never regretted it. The only place you will still wish you might have one is if you are cutting hardened spring steel or any hardened steels. In these cases, I usually grab a 4-1/2" grinder with a cutting disc in it, or the plasma cutter.

As for the import plasma cutters,Parker metalworking gets a lot of attention on the 4x4 boards. They seem to have some initial issues, but the guys at Parker are supposed to be fairly good about backing up their equipment.

 

[canoetrpr]

Still hoping that one of you bandsaw fans will clear up for me if I will be able to cut stock that is longer than 6".

I can't believe that you guys are getting by only cutting things that are 4x6 in total.

 

[Willl]

I can't believe that you guys are getting by only cutting things that are 4x6 in total.

I think they're talking about this saw.
Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

 

[kennyd]

The 4x6 refers to height and width, not length. The max stock thickness is 4", while the max width is 6"(that's all the vise will open). Then length does not matter as long as its well supported.

Also, the blades that come with these saws are basically junk, so factor in a good bi-metal blade into the budget

 

[Bill_C]

Yep, that's the bandsaw, the red HF one. I think I caught it on sale for 159 but prices have gone up.

My vise will go out a little bigger, maybe 7 inches I think, but the cut width limit is the clearance between the sawblade guides, that's the 6 inch clearance--actually it's just a smidge more, I believe. The first blade lasted five or six months. I've got a cheapie Oldham blade from Tractor Supply on it now. (the old blade broke on Sunday and I was right in the middle of a project, so I had to get a blade from TSC). I'll see how long this blade lasts before paying more for a bimetal.

There's a Yahoo user group on these saws, with setup articles, blade comparisons, mods, and stands. Overall consensus is the saw is good but the included stand is cheap. One day I'll fab a better one...

 

[kennyd]

Kenny, any idea where I can get some of that smoke? And, how do you get it back in there?

It's only available in China...It cannot be made or purchased in the USA. It can only be installed by small Chinese people with very tiny fingers

 

[gsganzer]

If I had to do it over, I think I'd buy a Milwaukee portaband first. It has a lot more versatility for the DIY'er

 

[al3]

Bought a Makita chop a few years back. Cuts bar stock fine, but whenever doing pipe it flares out at the bottom of the cut. Must be some torque/twisting going on. At any rate, cut edge winds up being slightly less than square on the bottom portion. I致e tried slowing down, but still tapers. Doesn稚 appear to be excess play in the saw hinge?. For welding projects, if I had the floor space , I壇 prefer a band saw

 

[patrick_g]

Bought a Makita chop a few years back. Cuts bar stock fine, but whenever doing pipe it flares out at the bottom of the cut. Must be some torque/twisting going on. At any rate, cut edge winds up being slightly less than square on the bottom portion. I致e tried slowing down, but still tapers. Doesn稚 appear to be excess play in the saw hinge?. For welding projects, if I had the floor space , I壇 prefer a band saw

There is a significant overlap in the jobs you can do with a floor model band saw, hand held (electric hack saw) like the Milwaukee, and a chop saw. Each has abilities not shared by the others. Depending on your tasks, you might need only one or two of the three but to do it all well you need all three.

I have the HF hand held band saw (electric hack saw thingy) and it works but is super slow compared to a Milwaukee. I also have had Ryobi, Hf, and DeWalt chop saws with DeWalt being the clear front runner.

As to the repeated question of how long a cut can you make...

None of the three tools; floor model band saw, hand held band saw, nor the chop saw is intended to be used for "ripping." If you need to make a long cut you can use a metal cutting blade in a Skill saw. With patience you can use a SawzAll. Better would be a torch and better still a plasma.

Pat

 

[Bill_C]

I've never tried it, but I suppose if you really wanted to rip some long stock with the HF bandsaw, you could lock the bandsaw in the vertical position, then make a rip fence and infeed/outfeed rollers. It'd take a while to rip a 20 foot long stick but it could be done, in theory.

 

[Soundguy]

Soundguy - right after your last post I went looking for a chinese plasma cutter too . Didn't find one yet. They are bound to come eventually. I'd rather buy a brand name welder like the Hobart I have now but I'll happily purchase a Chinese plasma cutter.

Yep.. I like my hobart welder.. but if I found a super cheap plasma cutter.. I might be tempted to get it!

soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

Kenny, any idea where I can get some of that smoke? And, how do you get it back in there? Seems like everytime I let the smoke out of something, it quits working.

Now see.. that's the trick.. letting it out is easy.. putting it back in is the $$ part.

soundguy

 

[wushaw]

I bought the Makita that came with a 4.5" grinder for 150.00 from Tylertool @ three years ago, I like using the chop saw for quick easy cuts and anything hardened.
I have a 7X12 horizontal bandsaw that I got this year and it does cuts things the chopsaw can't and anything I want a square cut on.

I have five grinders...all Makita, three of em reconditioned
1. 4" with flap disk
2. 4.5" with grinding disk
3. 4.5" with cut off disk
4. 4.5" with wire brush
5. 5" for more reach with a cut off disk or if I need more HP for a grinder.

 

[Egon]

There is something interesting in this thread. Seems people want cheap outsourced tools yet, on the other hand in a different thread complain about outsource production and the harm to the economy. Witch is it?

 

[canoetrpr]

I wandered over to a new home depot around here and found the Milwaukee at $210 and decided to pick it up.

The plot gets thicker..... I re-read this thread and the bandsaw guys finally got to me. Wandered over to Princess Auto. They dug up the 4x6 bandsaw for me from the warehouse. Pretty good deal I'd say - $225. Theres a pretty darn good reason Chinese are doing as well as they are - pretty amazing value for the $ best I can tell.

Of course it didn't come with any sort of assembly instructions so I've been sorting through the screws and assembling the stand etc. Theres still a piece that I haven't found a home for.

Seems for now that a bandsaw it will be. Can't wait to do a few cuts after I get this sucker running tomorrow. I'm going to return the chop saw.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[canoetrpr]

Most people realise that globalisation goes both ways. There is going to be lots of money to be made by N. American firms and thus their employees as a result of the growth in China and India.

 

[canoetrpr]

As for the import plasma cutters,Parker metalworking gets a lot of attention on the 4x4 boards. They seem to have some initial issues, but the guys at Parker are supposed to be fairly good about backing up their equipment.

chumly, those plasma cutters look pretty neat! I think if I was doing much cutting I'd jump on the cheapest one of those. $460 is pretty darn good for being able to cut through 5/8" steel.

Would be pretty hard to justify an Oxy/Acetelene setup just for cutting with prices like that!

 

[Bill_C]

I...Of course it didn't come with any sort of assembly instructions so I've been sorting through the screws and assembling the stand etc. Theres still a piece that I haven't found a home for....QUOTE]

Go to the Harbor Freight site Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices and find their 4x6 bandsaw (the red one for around $200)...the instruction manual is available for download on the page!!

Also, I had a couple of leftover parts too.

 

[canoetrpr]

I'll bet this Princess Auto one is made in the same factory that makes the HF ones

Gentlemen - you have been immense help as usual. Not sure what I'd do without you.

Finally got the bandsaw going today. Took a while to assemble the pieces but most of it was straightforward. I did have a few pieces left over at the end .

Some TLC was required to get it going. I got the blade going and within seconds I heard a loud bang. No smoke though, whew! I can't afford a trip to China just to get that special smoke to put back in

The blade tension was not set...something I should have checked so the blade popped out.

Got the blade in again, tensioned it right and got going.

I've picked up some 1/4" angle iron from the scrap yard to practise my welding on so I decided to cut it to see how it did. No trouble at all even with the original blade. Took about 5 or 6 min but the cut is real real nice!

I've posted some pictures of the angle iron I cut and the bandsaw.

I'll be returning the Milwaukee chop saw until some day when I decide I need a chop saw for something.

 

[canoetrpr]

Bill_C. Thanks for the tip. I checked the manual on HF and sure enough it is the exact same bandsaw that I got from Princess Auto here. The HF manual is AWESOME! I now know what the point of some of the parts - like the stock stop

One question: Should I be using cutting oil at all when operating it?