HARBOR FREIGHT HORIZONTAL BAND SAW

RIMSPOKE

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NO TELLING HOW MUCH TIME I HAVE WASTED IN MY SHOP BECAUSE
I DIDN'T HAVE A PROPER SAW TO CUT STOCK TO LENGTH .
A SAWZALL & A VISE WORKS WHEN YOU HAVE NOTHING ELSE BUT REALLY IS A RIDICULOUS WASTE OF TIME .

THIS IS PARTLY BECAUSE I AM A CHEAPSKATE BUT MOSTLY BECAUSE THE IS NO PLACE TO PUT ONE .

I SOLVED BOTH PROBLEMS WITH ONE OF THE INFAMOUS HARBOR FREIGHT 4 x 6 HORIZONTAL BAND SAWS .
IT IS SMALL ENOUGH TO FIT IN THE CROWDED SHOP AND ONLY SET ME BACK $208 WITH A 20% OFF COUPON .

THE SAME SAW IS SOLD UNDER A HALF DOZEN DIFFERENT NAMES BUT NOTHING CLOSE TO THAT PRICE .

SO HERE IT IS IN THE SHOP . I WILL BE MAKING SOME USEFUL MODIFICATIONS TO IMPROVE IT .
FOR NOW , I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER .

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Mine served me well for the last 2 years. What mods were you thinking about doing?
 
You'll wonder why you waited so long. Happy cutting. :encourage:
 
This looks to be an almost exact replica as the Jet I have except I paid almost triple the price.
 
Paint it white... place a Jet Tools sticker on it, Bam its worth 499.00.
 
I bought one a couple years back. Sure makes cutting easier.
I found the OE blade was crap and broke after a couple uses.
Based on post on this site, I bought a couple better blades at Harbor Freight. No complaints thus far.
 
Seven years ago, I had an interesting experience with a horizontal band saw. At work, we bought one from Enco. When it arrived, it had an MSC brand label. Nice, I thought. We assembled it and plugged it in. The motor was running. Went to shut it off and the motor still ran. It turned out whoever had wired the switch had done it wrong. I rewired the switch and called Enco the next day. They apologized for the error and offered me a discount on my next order.

I can understand an error in manufacturing but not why final inspection wouldn't have caught the error. I would certainly make sure my product functioned as intended before slapping my name on something.

My saw at hiome is a Buffalo, made in Taiwan in 1981, and still going strong. It is arguably the most used piece of equipment in the shop. I replaced the drive belt for the first time last year and a few years back, I made a metal hand crank for the vise to replace the plastic one that had failed. Other than that, it has seen numerous saw blades but no other repairs.
 
Holy crap! YES! The very first time I used mine I was happy I bought it. Mine sits on arms extended from the end of a roller table now, but just being able to rough a piece of metal to length with it is a joy. Even before you adjust it. For many people a lathe is the first piece of "serious" equipment they own. This should be the second.
 
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