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Chinese Bandsaw or Power Hacksaw?

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SPiN Racing:
Ive never used a power hacksaw actually.. but have used a few bandsaws.. and bought one a couple years ago.
Its the harbor freight cheapie. Like 175 dollars or something. Same thing as the cheap Jet one.

The legs are flimsy tinfoil things.. and the start capacitors in the motor failed after a month or so...

I have the motor released so its weight causes it to engage.. this helps with starting, as I give the blade a little wiggle and voom its off. Starts fine all day after the initial wiggle.

63" or 62" blade.. cant remember off hand. 1/2 inch wide. Cheap blades... BUT.. they are ultra critical. I have bought a variety of ones.. and all of them have been Bi-Metal.. but as they are cheap blades.. you are rolling the dice depending on generic manufacturer. The last one I bought for 12 dollars, cut about 1/8 inch into a hex stainless rod, then stopped cutting.  It wouldnt even cut aluminum after that.
A good blade will rip through stainless, and tool steel and all sorts of stuff.. so a cheap saw with a good blade works.

I also made a new plate for the thing so when vertical I have a small table to cut work on.


A bigger 500 dollar or more bandsaw is really the ticket though. The bigger ones cut more true, have better adjustments, and handle tougher metals better in my limited experience.

Scott

NickG:
Is there anything that lifts the blade on the forward stroke on the Axminster one? I briefly thought of a cut off saw but to be honest I'm a little scared of the idea. Sounds more hazardous to me, what sort of price are those?

Nick

Darren:
Hi Nick,

I have a bandsaw and a power hacksaw. This is my second bandaw of this type and both have performed in the same manner. They are fairly quick but not very accurate in giving a straight cut no matter how you set them up. The blade is flexable so they do wander a little. But having said that I think they are good to have.

The power hacksaw I have yet to use properly, I expect it to be slower but more accurate, I'll have to let you know on that one at a later date when my garage build is done. At the mo it's under cover outside.

You can see them both here, http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=479.0

I paid 70 quid for the hacksaw and 16 quid for the bandsaw.

Then I have one of those cut everything cut off saw, that is amaizing, about 70 quid again, wood, ally, steel even SS no problem. Cut straight too as well as fast and cold.

For the really tought stuff like hardened shafts the cut off saw will cut fine, but I don't like abusing it this way, maybe it's ok but I prefer to use the fiber blade cut off saw.


Then there are chop saws, circular saws, jig saws, etc and there is still one more type I would like to have around....


The thing is, depending on what you want to do, having just one type of saw would be quite limiting. I suppose if I had to make a choice I would keep the band saw as that seems to get used the most.

sbwhart:
You Chaps are making me green with envy, all I've got is a Stew powered hacksaw, and a sore arm. (With Muscles)

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Stew

bogstandard:

--- Quote from: NickG on June 05, 2009, 04:31:04 AM ---Is there anything that lifts the blade on the forward stroke on the Axminster one?


--- End quote ---

It stays in constant contact Nick, but it doesn't seem to cause any problems.

The chop saws like Ralphs are not a new thing. I was using one in the early 80's, and if you can get one second hand they are great, but work slightly differently. They use a TCT blade, but they run very slowly, and cut thru normal metals like a hot knife thru butter. It is only fairly recently they have gone for the 'rage' technology? and speeded the blades up considerably. The cost of replacement blades for that type of saw is the prohibitive part.

Blade cost, with any saw, should not be taken lightly. I buy my blades in half dozens, so I get them cheaper, and I find that my little band saw gets thru one in about 2 months, but as yet, even though I have done a lot of cutting with my hacksaw, I have still to wear the first one out, unlike Dave, who's original was no use. No matter what saw you eventually go for, I find Axminster blades are a very good quality, especially the ones for the bandsaw, they have them made up for themselves. The hacksaw ones were Bahco, which are a renowned for very good quality. This blade cost must be taken into consideration about your final decision on what you buy, and always have at least one spare in stock.

John

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