4x6 bandsaw options in 2021

[Soloz2]

Hello. I'm new here and found your forum during my research on metal cutting band saws. I have recently picked up welding as it's something I've always wanted to do and have some simple projects planned, but I will need to be able to cut material straight and my angle grinder skills are still in development so I've been looking at more dedicated metal cutting saws. Primary purpose will be for hobby use mild steel or some aluminum cutting. I'd like to be able to primarily make both 90 and 45 degree miters for general fab/shop projects. I'm not interested in an abrasive chop saw due to noise and mess, and am leaning band saw over a dry cut saw like the Evo or Skillsaw options as the bandsaws are quieter and cleaner.
I've done some reading and it seems nearly all of the options available are similar, but some may bee better than others. When considering freight costs Harbor Freight is clearly cheaper than the other options, but I wonder if it might be better to spend a little more to get a Wen or Grizzly. Here's the pricing I found (base price plus shipping, as Harbor Freight is the only model that is actually available locally)
Harbor Freight 93762 $279.99 if I pick up or $301.93 delivered
Wen 3970 $352.20 -$384
General International BS5205 $378.29 - $433 appears to be closer to HF than others based on pictures
Northern Tool Klutch $392.55
Grizzly G6022 $458.95 -$484.95
Jet HVBS-56 $599

The stand/base appears to be better, and identical, on the Wen, Klutch, and Grizzly. The HF and GI appear to be the same stand/base. Jet appears to have the nicest base, but is also 2x the price. I can't really tell about other aspects just based on online pictures.
Based on what I've seen all of them will likely need some tweaking and possibly some modifications in order to be really good. Assuming this, is it worth spending more to get one that might be a bit better? Basically, assume $300 for HF, $350 for Wen, $400 for Klutch, $460 for Grizzly, and $600 for Jet. Price jumps about $50 each time. I know there have been other similar threads, and I've read through the ones I've found, but they all are several years old and some of the brands referenced appear to have gone out of business, others like General International seemingly are back again? LOL. I'm wondering if spending a little more on a base saw would be better, or if my money would be better spent getting one of the cheaper options and then leaving more $ free for tweaks and/or other tools or materials.

I also have not ruled out a used machine, but I have not had much luck hearing back from sellers and have either missed out on seemingly good deals or folks want new money for clearly run down saws.

 

[Larry$]

I've had a cheap, Chinese 4x6 for a long time. Like most people with one of these, I've done some modifying. They all look like they came out of the same garage shop. For the small cost and the limited size they seem like a good deal. I'm not so sure that there is any difference in "quality" between the lot of them. Just remember, you are buying a kit, you will need to make it into a saw. There are lots of videos showing what people do to improve them. First thing is buy an good quality variable pitch blade. Tweak the blade guides. Tension the blade tight! Mitering isn't ideal but doable. I made a larger table so I can better support the work when using it in the upright position. Replaced the set screw on the stop with a lever, drilled the fence for a bolt for cutting short work. .

I recently came by an old cold saw. It cuts beautifully smooth and relatively fast (compared to a band saw.) Similar new ones are in the $5K range. Other than being filthy and over 50 years old it only needed a little minor work. Cuts very nice miters but you don't have any ability to free hand cut like on the little 4x6 band saws. Might be worth looking around for something similar.

 

[mikey]

I own a Jet 5X6 and it is quite good out of the box. Like all of these saws, I had to tune it a little bit in the beginning but it has remained stable and accurate for I think more than 15 years now and I have NEVER had to tune it again. It cuts clean, straight and my blades last well beyond 5 years. I do not crank down on my blade tension; actually just enough to keep it on the saw and running straight. I also don't have a hydraulic downfeed control; just the stock spring tensioner and it runs fine.

A friend of mine has a HF saw and while they may look similar, they are not the same. The Jet is beefier and quality control is considerably better. The stock stand is more than rigid enough to support it without vibration. With a good shop-made table, it cuts in the vertical position without any problems and I've used it enough to know. With just wax stick lubricant, it cuts fast, clean and straight.

As I don't own those other brands you listed, I cannot render an opinion but the Jet, yeah, I can recommend the Jet.

 

[markba633csi]

Having a hydraulic downfeed feature is worth the extra $$ if you can afford it. The cheapest saws use a crude spring tension device which is less than ideal in my opinion
Use a good blade- Lennox, Starrett and Morse are all good. HF sells a premium Supercut blade, also ok
Mine had an especially flimsy stand- I bolted a pair of bedframe rails onto it at the lower edge
-Mark
ps you can build your own hydraulic downfeed- I did and I'm no genius. Lots of different ways to do it and save $$
These saws are eminently customizable

 

[Jim F]

Make sure it uses off the shelf blades.
Mine uses 51 1/4" blades, I need to have them custom welded.

 

[Soloz2]

Having a hydraulic downfeed feature is worth the extra $$ if you can afford it. The cheapest saws use a crude spring tension device which is less than ideal in my opinion
Use a good blade- Lennox, Starrett and Morse are all good. HF sells a premium Supercut blade, also ok
Mine had an especially flimsy stand- I bolted a pair of bedframe rails onto it at the lower edge
-Mark

I believe I saw some references to adding this, but it was around $150. I think the only versions I saw with this feature were the swiveling one by Grizzly or Jet which were hovering into 7x12 price range. That's something to think about.

 

[Soloz2]

Make sure it uses off the shelf blades.
Mine uses 51 1/4" blades, I need to have them custom welded.

I'd have to double check, but I think all the ones I looked at uses 64 1/2" 1/2" blades. Do you have one of the bench top versions? I do like that the bench top ones often swivel for miter cuts, but I'd probably end up putting it on a stand anyway.

 

[Jim F]

No, mine is on a stand and is a 3 1/2" saw.

 

[Soloz2]

I own a Jet 5X6 and it is quite good out of the box. Like all of these saws, I had to tune it a little bit in the beginning but it has remained stable and accurate for I think more than 15 years now and I have NEVER had to tune it again. It cuts clean, straight and my blades last well beyond 5 years. I do not crank down on my blade tension; actually just enough to keep it on the saw and running straight. I also don't have a hydraulic downfeed control; just the stock spring tensioner and it runs fine.

A friend of mine has a HF saw and while they may look similar, they are not the same. The Jet is beefier and quality control is considerably better. The stock stand is more than rigid enough to support it without vibration. With a good shop-made table, it cuts in the vertical position without any problems and I've used it enough to know. With just wax stick lubricant, it cuts fast, clean and straight.

As I don't own those other brands you listed, I cannot render an opinion but the Jet, yeah, I can recommend the Jet.

Thank you for your post. I suspected there were some differences, but could you be more specific about what is beefier on the Jet vs the HF? I suppose it is also possible things could be different now. I'm not too sure.

 

[Aaron_W]

For the money the HF 4x6 is a good deal, I've had one for a couple years and have no complaints for the price and size of the saw, I have more than gotten my money out of the little saw. How big of stuff are you planning to cut? A 4x6" works well on 1-2" stock and I've cut a bunch of 4x4 heavy wall tubing on mine, but getting away from 90 cuts you lose capacity quickly. It is a nice size to tuck away in a corner when it is not being used.

Most of these are essentially the same saw, just with higher / lower levels of quality control. Mine came with a cracked drive pulley, and rather than taking the saw apart and making a 120 mile round trip to exchange the saw, I just ordered a pulley for the Grizzly saw for $15 and it is an exact match. I have a shop in town that sells Jet tools, and I don't really see much difference between theirs and the HF except it is white and the finish is better.

Earlier this year I bought a well used (it came out of a fabrication shop) 50 year old Kalamazoo 6x10 and it kills the HF saw in cutting time, and in every way is a better machine. I haven't even done any work to it yet.
Not really a fair comparison though, the Kalamazoo is larger, heavier and new cost around $800 in the 1960s. Even at 50 years old I gladly paid about $100 more for it than I did the little HF saw.

I've taken a couple of welding classes and they had a Jet 7x12. It wasn't bad and to be fair it had been used by high school students for who knows how many years, but other than the size and power I really didn't find it that much better than my HF saw. The school also had a brand new Ellis swivel miter type bandsaw and that was very nice. I would love one of those but they are also around $3000.


Personally if I were going to spend more than $300 on a new saw, I'd be considering a swivel head style saw like the Grizzly G9742. After using that Ellis saw I found these are much nicer for making angled cuts. Since the head swivels instead of moving the stock you don't need as much room, and there is no having to move supports for long stock.