Import Band Saws

[howellhandmade]

I guess they are all import, pretty much, nowadays. My benchtop 9” Delta is starting to drop the occasional hint that 20 years is enough. A few months ago I would have been about buying a better tool. Now, I’m about spending as little as possible to avoid being dead in the water. The Harbor Freight 14” is $329 at the moment. Half the price of the similar Grizzly and has four speeds, the slowest of which, with the right blade, should cut brass or aluminum.

Anyone with relevant experience?

[Sasquatch]

I have a 9" Ryobi, it was like 99 bucks. I think I've made 400 pipes with it.

[KurtHuhn]

I'm in the same boat with my 9" Delta. I have to spin it up by hand - it's a wonder I have any fingers left.

I bought a Harbor Freight "portaband" saw several years ago for cutting steel, and it's still going strong. It cuts wood, just veeeeerrry slowly (but accurately). I'm also interested if anyone has any experience with that HF 14" saw.

[howellhandmade]

Yes, Kurt, the spinning up by hand is part of it. I could (and probably should) buy another 9” benchtop saw. There have been times, though, when I would have liked to resaw a board. There are some pretty negative reviews of the HF 14”, but it seems some of those may be down to horrible assembly instructions. There are positive reviews also, and some indicate that it is exactly the same saw as a Jet, down to having identical part numbers and accepting Jet replacement/add-on parts.

[LatakiaLover]

No worries. MSC carries exactly what you need. Should last a while:

[KurtHuhn]

Yes, Kurt, the spinning up by hand is part of it. I could (and probably should) buy another 9” benchtop saw. There have been times, though, when I would have liked to resaw a board. There are some pretty negative reviews of the HF 14”, but it seems some of those may be down to horrible assembly instructions. There are positive reviews also, and some indicate that it is exactly the same saw as a Jet, down to having identical part numbers and accepting Jet replacement/add-on parts.

A buddy of mine has the Jet 14" he got off of Facebook Marketplace, and loves it. He doesn't use it very often though, and I sometimes rib him about buying him a 9" and taking his 14".

Those mixed reviews confound me sometimes - and are the primary reason I don't just walk into the local HF and drop money for one. Maybe grab the assembly instructions for the Jet to use while putting together the HF.

[howellhandmade]

Oddly enough, George, the DoAll version of that saw is one of the things being auctioned as the Kennametal plant up the road is closing. I remember that sort of saw well from my college machine shop classes and it’s a wonderful tool. If you have space for it and enough work for it to earn its keep. That may have been the first day of class, learning to use the blade welder on that saw.

For now I’m going to keep starting my Delta like a Model T — they just canceled the rest of the season and the August European Tour so I’ll probably buy a coping saw before a new band saw.

[LatakiaLover]

A hardwood miter box that's sized for briar blocks would work quite well as long as there's one surface that's "where you want it" to start with.

Anyone with a table saw or chop saw could make one for you in a few minutes.

[oklahoma red]

I've had good luck with my 14" Craftsman.

[Masonrygh]

For what it's worth, I have the Harbor Freight Bandsaw and it's not terrible. That being said, it could be a lot better. It's fine for what I use it for though.

[Masonrygh]

I should elaborate, I've had some issues on the HF Bandsaw table staying true, but nothing an occasional adjustment won't fix. I'm sure that it's an issue with a lot of the cheaper bandsaws, but definitely an option to consider. I'm looking at upgrading for smoother sawing of lumber for tables etc. but mine is fine for pipes. I'd recommend upgrading the blade though. The one mine came with was garbage.

[KurtHuhn]

A follow-up to this thread, regarding my tempermental Delta 9" BS100:

I figured out my problem...








That's the motor capacitor, responsible for providing the requisite zoobs during initial start, and a boost if you abuse the saw and bog the motor. I've never seen one fail this way, but I don't repair saws for a living, so this might be a normal failure mode. Most of the capacitors I've replaced over the decades have just quietly died, and give very little outward indication of death - this one was obvious.

Of course, since this saw is 20-ish years old, Delta no longer supplies capacitors. However, being a geek of sorts, that wasn't a problem. I know that the capacitor is a 20uf unit, and the motor is 120/240VAC wired for 120VAC - meaning any capacitor rated at 20uf and 240VAC will work. I wasn't even going to look on Amazon, I was going to buy one from Mouser, I swear. But then I looked on Amazon, and $12 and 12 hours (I kid you not) later, it was in my Saw:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N5 ... UTF8&psc=1

Saw fixed! Except for the part where it has seemingly had it in for me since I bought it - I'm pretty sure it's the most malicious machine in my shop.

[howellhandmade]

Yup, there’s your problem.

And I’m with you, that is the MOST interesting capacitor failure I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen them turn brown or the discs bulge or pop apart but never seen one release the schmoo like that.

By the by, I bought a 14” Jet at the Kennametal auction — it was packed full of green carbide dust, but has turned out to be a great saw.

[KurtHuhn]

Nice! I'm definitely going to grab something larger one day, but that might involve inflating my workshop as well.