4 x 6 horizontal vertical band saw.

[Doc Hoy]

To move to Florida to assist parents, I sold out in Virginia including my entire shop. That included a Harbor Freight band saw (see title). I loved this saw even though it was from Harbor Freight. The saw was accurate and reliable. Parenthetically, if you know what you are buying, you can do well at Harbor Freight.

Anyway, I started setting p a new shop in Naples and one of the things I needed was the band saw. I am a fan of Craigslist so I began watching. Yesterday I came up with what I thought was a Harbor Freight band saw. When I examined it, I was convinced that I was right. Now, I am not so certain.

The thing needed a major cosmetic overhaul so I began to take it apart. I went for the standard 10, 12, 13, 14 mm wrenches only to find they did not fit. I tried some SAE hardware in locations where hardware needed replacing and found that the entire saw is put together with American size screws, nuts and bolts.

I know of no other HF tool that uses anything but metric hardware. My last saw was all metric.

It is not beyond HF to adapt a design from the U.S. or other national manufacturer and build it cheaper in China. That means there is an expensive and well built American version and a cheaper (and in many cases inferior) Chinese version. However, I am aware of no American version of this saw. Am I missing something?

 

[darkzero]

I'm not sure who the original maker was but I always believed it was Rong Fu (Taiwan). So many are clones of the RF-128. Some were actually made by Rong Fu & rebranded, like the Enco I use to have that was made in Taiwan by Rong Fu. The older green HF 4x6 was identical to my Enco and may actually be made by RF but not the red ones. Same with older HF RF-31s that were made in Taiwan.

Most machinery made in Taiwan are made with imperial fasteners, sometimes a mixture of imperial & metric. Like my RF-712N bandsaw, most of the fasteners are imperial but there are a few metric fasteners on it too which is a pet peeve of mine. So my guess is some (but not all) of these 4x6 clones copied the use of imperial fasteners also. But for what rhyme or reason I have no clue.

 

[Doc Hoy]

I'm not sure who the original maker was but I always believed it was Rong Fu (Taiwan). So many are clones of the RF-128. Some were actually made by Rong Fu & rebranded, like the Enco I use to have that was made in Taiwan by Rong Fu. The older green HF 4x6 was identical to my Enco and may actually be made by RF but not the red ones. Same with older HF RF-31s that were made in Taiwan.

Most machinery made in Taiwan are made with imperial fasteners, sometimes a mixture of imperial & metric. Like my RF-712N bandsaw, most of the fasteners are imperial but there are a few metric fasteners on it too which is a pet peeve of mine. So my guess is some (but not all) of these 4x6 clones copied the use of imperial fasteners also. But for what rhyme or reason I have no clue.

Good info. My HF job had all metric fasteners and threads. This one is completely American. That includes the allen set screws in the pulleys. I bought it for a hundred bucks, knowing I would need to do some cosmetic work. I will also do some mods to make it more user friendly.

 

[Doc Hoy]

In my previous post, I mentioned mods. I stole these ideas:

And these:

Harbor Freight band saw modifications

I know there are tons of band saw modifications and post about them on here and everywhere else. After tuning up my old 4 x 6 band saw and getting it to be the metal eating beast it should be, I decided to do some upgrades. I searched the net and found enough upgrade sites and write ups to keep...

www.hobby-machinist.com

 

[markba633csi]

I have a late 70s 4x6 bandsaw made by Trans World Steel in Taiwan. It has nearly all American-size fasteners also.
Mark

 

[darkzero]

In my previous post, I mentioned mods. I stole these ideas:

And these:

Harbor Freight band saw modifications

I know there are tons of band saw modifications and post about them on here and everywhere else. After tuning up my old 4 x 6 band saw and getting it to be the metal eating beast it should be, I decided to do some upgrades. I searched the net and found enough upgrade sites and write ups to keep...

www.hobby-machinist.com

Haha, that chip pan looks familiar!

 

[Doc Hoy]

I have a late 70s 4x6 bandsaw made by Trans World Steel in Taiwan. It has nearly all American-size fasteners also.
Mark

Many of the castings on this saw are marked with two and three digit numbers preceded by either "C" or "S". This saw could easily be that old.

The restoration is going well so far. In point of fact, I am reluctant to call it a restoration becasue all I am restoring is paint and finish.

 

[hman]

Interesting that the fasteners have inch size heads. But double check the thread pitch. I've seen several Chinese tools recently that have what I call "ba$tard" fasteners - either inch heads with metric threads, or metric heads and inch threads. All kinds of strange stuff going on!

I've refurbished and resold a goodly number of these 4x6 bandsaws. Seems like there are at least 4 or 5 different versions ... 4 or 6 bolts on the gearbox cover, several different shapes of handles on the arm, saw guide bars inside or outside the arm casting, Taiwan or mainland China, etc.

 

[Doc Hoy]

Interesting that the fasteners have inch size heads. But double check the thread pitch. I've seen several Chinese tools recently that have what I call "ba$tard" fasteners - either inch heads with metric threads, or metric heads and inch threads. All kinds of strange stuff going on!

I've refurbished and resold a goodly number of these 4x6 bandsaws. Seems like there are at least 4 or 5 different versions ... 4 or 6 bolts on the gearbox cover, several different shapes of handles on the arm, saw guide bars inside or outside the arm casting, Taiwan or mainland China, etc.

Thread pitch is American sizes too. I know that some of the hardware has been replaced. But in each case, an American fastener was put in place of a fastener without the need to resize or rethread the hole. I am preparing some photos to attach. Possibly Friday.

BTW Happy Thanksgiving gang.

 

[Doc Hoy]

After pulling the machine apart, I realized that I paid too much for it. Live and learn.

Here is a photo of the front of the machine. Just like my HF job but with some minor differences.

Note that just below the gear box, there is a shaft for mounting a small grinding wheel.

The second photo is the motor mount. The tightener is caste iron. A little different. A second knob like this is on the spring tightener.

Mote later.