I ended up buying one of those cheapy HF bandsaws. I got mine on sale
for $169 plus $8.95 shipping. I checked the site yesterday and it is
now $209 and the same low shipping. It had (HAD) a even cheaper 1/3 HP
motor on it. My only concern in buying this was the motor. But since
the next cheapest bandsaws were around $200 and $70-$90 shipping, I
figured if the motor went out, I could always just replace it and still
be saving money. Besides, I figured the rest of them probably did not
have a motor much better than HF.
Yesterday (Friday) I finally got it set up. I cut a chunk of 1-1/2"
brass and it seemed to work pretty good. I replaced the blade with a
bi-metal cutting blade too. I started cutting a 3" chunk of brass rod
and the motor ran for about five minutes (if that) and quit. It was
getting somewhat warm to the touch, so I let it cool off for an hour or
so. Went back and tried it and nothing. I went to the local hardware
store and bought a decent 1/2 HP motor for it ($80) and I am in the
process of installing it. I need to go back this morning and get a
pulley for it. I figured I am still ahead even with the motor change.
The bandsaw itself seems to be made well enough. I could tell the motor
wasn't going to last long, but I was sort of surprised it went out on
the second cut.
I thought about contacting HF about it, but I didn't want another of
these piece of sh!t motors again. And I was not going to take apart the
bandsaw and send the whole thing back had it come to that.
One more thing...when I got my bandsaw, the blade was already
installed...backwards.
Mike

Thats weird, my HF bandsaw still has the original motor on it after
20+ years of almost daily hard use, and runs just fine.......Guess as
cheap as it was made 20 some years ago those chinese fingured out a
way to make em even cheaper......


On 26 Nov 2005 05:36:12 -0800, "mj" wrote:

===I ended up buying one of those cheapy HF bandsaws. I got mine on sale
===for $169 plus $8.95 shipping. I checked the site yesterday and it is
===now $209 and the same low shipping. It had (HAD) a even cheaper 1/3 HP
===motor on it. My only concern in buying this was the motor. But since
===the next cheapest bandsaws were around $200 and $70-$90 shipping, I
===figured if the motor went out, I could always just replace it and still
===be saving money. Besides, I figured the rest of them probably did not
===have a motor much better than HF.
===Yesterday (Friday) I finally got it set up. I cut a chunk of 1-1/2"
===brass and it seemed to work pretty good. I replaced the blade with a
===bi-metal cutting blade too. I started cutting a 3" chunk of brass rod
===and the motor ran for about five minutes (if that) and quit. It was
===getting somewhat warm to the touch, so I let it cool off for an hour or
===so. Went back and tried it and nothing. I went to the local hardware
===store and bought a decent 1/2 HP motor for it ($80) and I am in the
===process of installing it. I need to go back this morning and get a
===pulley for it. I figured I am still ahead even with the motor change.
===The bandsaw itself seems to be made well enough. I could tell the motor
===wasn't going to last long, but I was sort of surprised it went out on
===the second cut.
===I thought about contacting HF about it, but I didn't want another of
===these piece of sh!t motors again. And I was not going to take apart the
===bandsaw and send the whole thing back had it come to that.
===One more thing...when I got my bandsaw, the blade was already
===installed...backwards.
===Mike

--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder! Koi-ahoi mates....

Some are good, some are bad. I've had mine running for about 3 years now -
nearly daily use - and it is still running fine with the original motor and
saws dead true.

A friend of mine got one and couldn't seem to get the blade to track right.
He took it apart and found that the top driving wheel was wobbly. Sure
enough, after taking it apart he found that it was missing one of the 2 main
bearings! He took it back to the store and exchanged it for another (No
questions asked - nice). The second saw had both bearings but one of the
bearing seats was bored too large so the bearing would just wobble in its
seat. So, he made and pressed a sleeve into the oversized seat, installed a
couple of good bearings and now has a saw that runs beautifully.

I'm reminded of Forest Gump: "Harbor Freight is like a box of chocolates.
You never know what you're going to get..."

Robert

"mj" wrote in message
oups.com...
I ended up buying one of those cheapy HF bandsaws. I got mine on sale
for $169 plus $8.95 shipping. I checked the site yesterday and it is
now $209 and the same low shipping. It had (HAD) a even cheaper 1/3 HP
motor on it. My only concern in buying this was the motor. But since
the next cheapest bandsaws were around $200 and $70-$90 shipping, I
figured if the motor went out, I could always just replace it and still
be saving money. Besides, I figured the rest of them probably did not
have a motor much better than HF.
Yesterday (Friday) I finally got it set up. I cut a chunk of 1-1/2"
brass and it seemed to work pretty good. I replaced the blade with a
bi-metal cutting blade too. I started cutting a 3" chunk of brass rod
and the motor ran for about five minutes (if that) and quit. It was
getting somewhat warm to the touch, so I let it cool off for an hour or
so. Went back and tried it and nothing. I went to the local hardware
store and bought a decent 1/2 HP motor for it ($80) and I am in the
process of installing it. I need to go back this morning and get a
pulley for it. I figured I am still ahead even with the motor change.
The bandsaw itself seems to be made well enough. I could tell the motor
wasn't going to last long, but I was sort of surprised it went out on
the second cut.
I thought about contacting HF about it, but I didn't want another of
these piece of sh!t motors again. And I was not going to take apart the
bandsaw and send the whole thing back had it come to that.
One more thing...when I got my bandsaw, the blade was already
installed...backwards.
Mike

Things made in China can be very good or so bad that a sledge hammer
cracks it's face on the first strike.

There needs to be a quality control and receiving inspection between
China and the customer to filter out the bad.

My personal anecdotes turned into seat of the pant statistics:
1) Jet 95% good, 5% crap
2) Enco 90% good, 10% crap
3) Grizzly 40% lousy, 50% crap
4) Harbor Freight 20% good, 80% crap

As a result:
1) I love my Jet tools
2) I buy all the time from Enco while throwing out 10% of what they ship
3) Grizzly catalog goes straight into the recycling bin
4) If I am a passenger in a car that stops at HF, I wait in the car.

Exceptions:
Randy Ketchum, a great gunsmith and machinist, just got a small sander
for $19.95 from HF and uses it all the time. Sometimes people win at the
horse track too.



--
Accidental creation should not be taught as a fact.
Intelligent creation should not be banned from teachings as
unconstitutional.

The motor on mine lasted two or three years of non-constant use. I bet
if you would have taken your old motor back with you they would have given a
good discount on the better motor. Most of their stuff has issues but I
guess they expect many returns and are happy to try and make things right on
everything that I've bought from them. I bought a mill/drill from them once
on sale and there was a little surface rust on part of the table. I
mentioned it and they took off an additional 200.00 making the final price
500.00 plus tax for a 1,000.00 mill/drill.
Dick

--
Richard H. Neighbors
Building and repairing fine billiard cues for real pool players at
affordable prices.
Over 35 years exp. Located in Cincinnati OH
ph.# 513 233-7499
e-mail
web site http://www.dickiecues.com
"mj" wrote in message
oups.com...
I ended up buying one of those cheapy HF bandsaws. I got mine on sale
for $169 plus $8.95 shipping. I checked the site yesterday and it is
now $209 and the same low shipping. It had (HAD) a even cheaper 1/3 HP
motor on it. My only concern in buying this was the motor. But since
the next cheapest bandsaws were around $200 and $70-$90 shipping, I
figured if the motor went out, I could always just replace it and still
be saving money. Besides, I figured the rest of them probably did not
have a motor much better than HF.
Yesterday (Friday) I finally got it set up. I cut a chunk of 1-1/2"
brass and it seemed to work pretty good. I replaced the blade with a
bi-metal cutting blade too. I started cutting a 3" chunk of brass rod
and the motor ran for about five minutes (if that) and quit. It was
getting somewhat warm to the touch, so I let it cool off for an hour or
so. Went back and tried it and nothing. I went to the local hardware
store and bought a decent 1/2 HP motor for it ($80) and I am in the
process of installing it. I need to go back this morning and get a
pulley for it. I figured I am still ahead even with the motor change.
The bandsaw itself seems to be made well enough. I could tell the motor
wasn't going to last long, but I was sort of surprised it went out on
the second cut.
I thought about contacting HF about it, but I didn't want another of
these piece of sh!t motors again. And I was not going to take apart the
bandsaw and send the whole thing back had it come to that.
One more thing...when I got my bandsaw, the blade was already
installed...backwards.
Mike

I'd tell 'em what happened and get a new motor. They need to know.
They have been good to work with from my experience.
FWIW, I have heard that some US companies that import from China
actually have their own quality assurance people on site. Delta, for
instance.

Pete Stanaitis
------------------

j wrote:

I ended up buying one of those cheapy HF bandsaws. I got mine on sale
for $169 plus $8.95 shipping. I checked the site yesterday and it is
now $209 and the same low shipping. It had (HAD) a even cheaper 1/3 HP
motor on it. My only concern in buying this was the motor. But since
the next cheapest bandsaws were around $200 and $70-$90 shipping, I
figured if the motor went out, I could always just replace it and still
be saving money. Besides, I figured the rest of them probably did not
have a motor much better than HF.
Yesterday (Friday) I finally got it set up. I cut a chunk of 1-1/2"
brass and it seemed to work pretty good. I replaced the blade with a
bi-metal cutting blade too. I started cutting a 3" chunk of brass rod
and the motor ran for about five minutes (if that) and quit. It was
getting somewhat warm to the touch, so I let it cool off for an hour or
so. Went back and tried it and nothing. I went to the local hardware
store and bought a decent 1/2 HP motor for it ($80) and I am in the
process of installing it. I need to go back this morning and get a
pulley for it. I figured I am still ahead even with the motor change.
The bandsaw itself seems to be made well enough. I could tell the motor
wasn't going to last long, but I was sort of surprised it went out on
the second cut.
I thought about contacting HF about it, but I didn't want another of
these piece of sh!t motors again. And I was not going to take apart the
bandsaw and send the whole thing back had it come to that.
One more thing...when I got my bandsaw, the blade was already
installed...backwards.
Mike

I have a 4x6 from MachineMart in the UK which I would expect comes from
the same sources. They are not known for selling the highest quality
items but its horses for courses. It has done a lot of work so the £170
it cost delivered was money well spent.

I had the motor on mine burn out after it stalled while unattended, I
was in another part of the workshop at the time. Whatever burns in those
certainly would make a good chemical weapon as I couldn't get near it
for the smell which would make your eyes water. The motor had upto that
time done about 6 years good service. I replaced it with a 3/4 hp unit.
The original was 1/2hp or 5/8hp depending on which rating plate you
read. It had 2 one visible on top of the motor and one underneath which
was visible after you removed the motor.

While I had it apart I determined the cause of the stall was the worm
drive mesh being too tight, I had this problem originally and corrected
it. Over time the sharp edge on the worm had worn away the wheel and
caused a tight mesh. The replacement parts were cheap at about £17
delivered. I removed the sharp edges on the worm so hopefully that won't
happen again. I'll check it occasionally. When I rebuilt it I replaced
the bearings with new. One of the bores in the original ball races was
0.004" oversize and that wasn't wear. It was one of the ball race that
supported the main bandsaw drive wheel.

mj wrote:

I ended up buying one of those cheapy HF bandsaws. I got mine on sale
for $169 plus $8.95 shipping. I checked the site yesterday and it is
now $209 and the same low shipping. It had (HAD) a even cheaper 1/3 HP
motor on it. My only concern in buying this was the motor. But since
the next cheapest bandsaws were around $200 and $70-$90 shipping, I
figured if the motor went out, I could always just replace it and still
be saving money. Besides, I figured the rest of them probably did not
have a motor much better than HF.
Yesterday (Friday) I finally got it set up. I cut a chunk of 1-1/2"
brass and it seemed to work pretty good. I replaced the blade with a
bi-metal cutting blade too. I started cutting a 3" chunk of brass rod
and the motor ran for about five minutes (if that) and quit. It was
getting somewhat warm to the touch, so I let it cool off for an hour or
so. Went back and tried it and nothing. I went to the local hardware
store and bought a decent 1/2 HP motor for it ($80) and I am in the
process of installing it. I need to go back this morning and get a
pulley for it. I figured I am still ahead even with the motor change.
The bandsaw itself seems to be made well enough. I could tell the motor
wasn't going to last long, but I was sort of surprised it went out on
the second cut.
I thought about contacting HF about it, but I didn't want another of
these piece of sh!t motors again. And I was not going to take apart the
bandsaw and send the whole thing back had it come to that.
One more thing...when I got my bandsaw, the blade was already
installed...backwards.
Mike

Clark Magnuson wrote:
Things made in China can be very good or so bad that a sledge hammer
cracks it's face on the first strike.

There needs to be a quality control and receiving inspection between
China and the customer to filter out the bad.

My personal anecdotes turned into seat of the pant statistics:
1) Jet 95% good, 5% crap
2) Enco 90% good, 10% crap
3) Grizzly 40% lousy, 50% crap
4) Harbor Freight 20% good, 80% crap

As a result:
1) I love my Jet tools

I'm glad somebody has good luck with them. No more for me. As I see
it, many things start as imports from China, and I assume that there is
some initial triage that sends better results to higher priced resellers
(correlation coefficient not quite 1.0 g). Some additional trim,
logos, and some spare parts of various quality appear next, and on to
the market. I have serious doubts about some of the component designs
that I have seen on Jet equipment. It started with their tenoning jig,
which misses the mark on some very simple points. More recently, the
bandsaw I didn't want to talk about at first was a Jet. The more I
study it, the worse it looks. I wrote to Jet, and was struck by the
fact that the "higher up" I reached (I will give them that much credit)
argued with me instead of listening to my advice and cautions about the
problems with their design - always a bad sign. There were some
complicated circumstances, and I got a fairly nice credit from the
reseller, making the saw quite inexpensive. I plan to run it into the
ground doing rough cuts, extending the life of the next bandsaw I buy.

As much as I don't like Home Depot (they are in fierce competition with
Lowe's to offer the worst customer service in my area), I have found
Rigid equipment to be pretty good; make that damn good. In particular,
my table saw is very well made, far better than the Jet I passed up
along the way. The arbor should be a smidge longer (with a super wide
dado stack the supplied washers will not fit), but otherwise it is a
great machine.


2) I buy all the time from Enco while throwing out 10% of what they ship

I must admit that I was impressed based on my first order. Somewhere on
the net, I got the impression they were more like Grizzly, but I am
starting to like them. J&L has been pretty good too.


3) Grizzly catalog goes straight into the recycling bin

Thanks for the validation.


4) If I am a passenger in a car that stops at HF, I wait in the car.

FWIW, they put some very good manuals on their web site, at least when
it is possible to find them =:0


Bill

On Sat, 26 Nov 2005 18:34:26 GMT, Bill Schwab
wrote:
4) If I am a passenger in a car that stops at HF, I wait in the car.

FWIW, they put some very good manuals on their web site, at least when
it is possible to find them =:0


Bill

Hey Bill, I think your the first person I 've ever heard talk
positively about the chinglish manuals. I love reading them for
comedy value: " turn screw too good left" :-)

I have to say, I have noticed a great improvement in them in the
last few years though.
Art

Art,

Hey Bill, I think your the first person I 've ever heard talk
positively about the chinglish manuals. I love reading them for
comedy value: " turn screw too good left" :-)

I have to say, I have noticed a great improvement in them in the
last few years though.

In the case of my power feed, it's actually a _good_ manual, in English
- seriously. The hardcopy in the box wasn't even close to same quality.

I know exactly what you mean though. However I would hate to think what
I would end up saying in Chinese using the same dictionary in reverse

Bill

Bill Schwab wrote:

Art,

Hey Bill, I think your the first person I 've ever heard talk
positively about the chinglish manuals. I love reading them for
comedy value: " turn screw too good left" :-)

I have to say, I have noticed a great improvement in them in the
last few years though.

In the case of my power feed, it's actually a _good_ manual, in English
- seriously. The hardcopy in the box wasn't even close to same quality.

I know exactly what you mean though. However I would hate to think what
I would end up saying in Chinese using the same dictionary in reverse

Bill

Since they teach english as a standard second language in Chinese
schools, with each successive generation, (particularly the ones who's
parents also learned english) they get better at it.

Pete C.

I also have one of the $169 HF bandsaws.

I did try it with the original Chines motor for about 10 minutes before
the motor started actually smoking.

However, I do have a policy: If I buy something from HF, I assume it
will be a "HF self-assembly rebuild kit", regardless of whatever "it"
is -- so I was ready to go with a 1/2 HP 1725rpm motor, mounted in the
appropriate frame to swap in place of the Chinese motor, before I got
the HF saw home! I swapped the motor in -- 20 minutes work. I also
had to re-assemble the upper wheel bearing assembly to get the
alignment right -- 10 minutes work.

That did it. It's now very solid, and I've now done quite a lot of
work using the saw quite reliably and without any complaints from it.

The total price $169 + $50 for the new motor = $219. I consider that
quite reasonable. And I even have a motor-shaped paperweight to show
for the effort!

"mj" wrote in message
oups.com...
I ended up buying one of those cheapy HF bandsaws. I got mine on sale
for $169 plus $8.95 shipping. I checked the site yesterday and it is
now $209 and the same low shipping. It had (HAD) a even cheaper 1/3 HP
motor on it. My only concern in buying this was the motor. But since
the next cheapest bandsaws were around $200 and $70-$90 shipping, I
figured if the motor went out, I could always just replace it and still
be saving money. Besides, I figured the rest of them probably did not
have a motor much better than HF.
Yesterday (Friday) I finally got it set up. I cut a chunk of 1-1/2"
brass and it seemed to work pretty good. I replaced the blade with a
bi-metal cutting blade too. I started cutting a 3" chunk of brass rod
and the motor ran for about five minutes (if that) and quit. It was
getting somewhat warm to the touch, so I let it cool off for an hour or
so. Went back and tried it and nothing. I went to the local hardware
store and bought a decent 1/2 HP motor for it ($80) and I am in the
process of installing it. I need to go back this morning and get a
pulley for it. I figured I am still ahead even with the motor change.
The bandsaw itself seems to be made well enough. I could tell the motor
wasn't going to last long, but I was sort of surprised it went out on
the second cut.
I thought about contacting HF about it, but I didn't want another of
these piece of sh!t motors again. And I was not going to take apart the
bandsaw and send the whole thing back had it come to that.
One more thing...when I got my bandsaw, the blade was already
installed...backwards.
Mike

I've had one of these for 5+ years and have gotten a lot of work out of it
with no problems. The original blade, of course, lasted about 5 minutes,
but I run Sterrett blades in it and they go quite a while, especially
considering I cut mostly steel tubing with it. The motor gets quite warm,
but it is still hanging in there.

Where I had problems was with the sloppy/floppy sheet metal stand. I
finally welded up a decent one and am very happy with the machine.

Jerry

My motor swap took four hours (or it seemed like that). First I bought
a 1/3 HP replacement motor. I got home and found that the pulley wasn't
going to work. Went back to the hardware store, and was looking at the
pulleys when I saw the 1/2 HP motor for $20 more. I picked it up and
forgot the pulley. Got home and found that I could not get the wiring
figured out, so I went back to the store and got to talking with the
sales guy (a friend of mine). We figured out the wiring. I left. Forgot
the pulley again. I got home, got it wired up and bolted back together
when I remembered the pulley that I forgot to purchase twice. By then
the store was closed. The next morning, I go back to the store knowing
that I only needed the pulley. I got it and had the saw running about 5
minutes after I got home.

It was one of those days. It "should" have taken 20 minutes, but thank
God I didn't have to mess with anything else on it. I might have been
days or weeks the way things went. The blade tracks good and everything
seems to work.
Mike

Yeah, I might contact them and see if they will do anything about it.
Maybe they will send me a gift certificate or something. I don't need
another junk Chinese motor.
Mike

Hey Dick,
I would have taken the junk motor back to HF but I mail ordered this
thing in. I think our nearest HF is something like 500 miles away. I
might contact them to see if they will make good on it.
Mike

I learned the hard way to never let these saws run unattended. Mine
stalled (blade had a few broken teeth) when I was in another room and
the motor kept spinning the belt on the stuck pulley. It got hot enough
to melt the plastic belt guard, and clouds of acrid smoke were billowing
out when I walked into the room. Another minute or two and I'm sure it
would have caught fire. The China-crap motor on mine survived though,
and it's still cutting metal.



David Billington wrote:
I have a 4x6 from MachineMart in the UK which I would expect comes from
the same sources. They are not known for selling the highest quality
items but its horses for courses. It has done a lot of work so the £170
it cost delivered was money well spent.

I had the motor on mine burn out after it stalled while unattended, I
was in another part of the workshop at the time. Whatever burns in those
certainly would make a good chemical weapon as I couldn't get near it
for the smell which would make your eyes water. The motor had upto that
time done about 6 years good service.

Mine still ran but you had to kick start it in the right direction via
the cooling fan after removing the cowl. The start winding must have
burnt out but the main winding seemed fine. I finished off the cutting I
was doing at the time before organising the replacement as all told it
was offline for several days due to factors such as stripping it,
ordering new bearings, motor, remachining the pulley to suit a metric
shaft etc .

Tim Killian wrote:

I learned the hard way to never let these saws run unattended. Mine
stalled (blade had a few broken teeth) when I was in another room and
the motor kept spinning the belt on the stuck pulley. It got hot
enough to melt the plastic belt guard, and clouds of acrid smoke were
billowing out when I walked into the room. Another minute or two and
I'm sure it would have caught fire. The China-crap motor on mine
survived though, and it's still cutting metal.



David Billington wrote:

I have a 4x6 from MachineMart in the UK which I would expect comes
from the same sources. They are not known for selling the highest
quality items but its horses for courses. It has done a lot of work
so the £170 it cost delivered was money well spent.

I had the motor on mine burn out after it stalled while unattended, I
was in another part of the workshop at the time. Whatever burns in
those certainly would make a good chemical weapon as I couldn't get
near it for the smell which would make your eyes water. The motor had
upto that time done about 6 years good service.

I have been using a HF bandsaw (3 wheel, 12 inch) for about 8 years. Almost
all the work is cutting 1/2 brass pipe. The saw has been perfect to date.

LLB

"mj" wrote in message
oups.com...
I ended up buying one of those cheapy HF bandsaws. I got mine on sale
for $169 plus $8.95 shipping. I checked the site yesterday and it is
now $209 and the same low shipping. It had (HAD) a even cheaper 1/3 HP
motor on it. My only concern in buying this was the motor. But since
the next cheapest bandsaws were around $200 and $70-$90 shipping, I
figured if the motor went out, I could always just replace it and still
be saving money. Besides, I figured the rest of them probably did not
have a motor much better than HF.
Yesterday (Friday) I finally got it set up. I cut a chunk of 1-1/2"
brass and it seemed to work pretty good. I replaced the blade with a
bi-metal cutting blade too. I started cutting a 3" chunk of brass rod
and the motor ran for about five minutes (if that) and quit. It was
getting somewhat warm to the touch, so I let it cool off for an hour or
so. Went back and tried it and nothing. I went to the local hardware
store and bought a decent 1/2 HP motor for it ($80) and I am in the
process of installing it. I need to go back this morning and get a
pulley for it. I figured I am still ahead even with the motor change.
The bandsaw itself seems to be made well enough. I could tell the motor
wasn't going to last long, but I was sort of surprised it went out on
the second cut.
I thought about contacting HF about it, but I didn't want another of
these piece of sh!t motors again. And I was not going to take apart the
bandsaw and send the whole thing back had it come to that.
One more thing...when I got my bandsaw, the blade was already
installed...backwards.
Mike

"Jerry Foster" wrote in message
. com...

I've had one of these for 5+ years and have gotten a lot of work out of it
with no problems. The original blade, of course, lasted about 5 minutes,
but I run Sterrett blades in it and they go quite a while, especially
considering I cut mostly steel tubing with it. The motor gets quite warm,
but it is still hanging in there.

Where I had problems was with the sloppy/floppy sheet metal stand. I
finally welded up a decent one and am very happy with the machine.

Jerry


First thing I did was to make a stand with wheels on it, and a tray for
tools and tape measure and all that. Then I made a little piece that holds
the blade off of the work so I can measure and slide the material in or out
and not have it riding on the blade.

I figure for the $149 I paid for it, I will treat it like a $149 car - if
it ever gives up the ghost, I'll try to fix it, and if that is not possible,
just shoot it and leave it lay where it falls.

My Makita abrasive chop saw was stolen, and I do not miss it one bit. I do
prefer the band saws, and will probably get a better one when a used one
presents itself.

Steve

mj wrote:

I ended up buying one of those cheapy HF bandsaws. I got mine on sale
for $169 plus $8.95 shipping. I checked the site yesterday and it is
now $209 and the same low shipping. It had (HAD) a even cheaper 1/3 HP
motor on it. My only concern in buying this was the motor. But since
the next cheapest bandsaws were around $200 and $70-$90 shipping, I
figured if the motor went out, I could always just replace it and still
be saving money. Besides, I figured the rest of them probably did not
have a motor much better than HF.
Yesterday (Friday) I finally got it set up. I cut a chunk of 1-1/2"
brass and it seemed to work pretty good. I replaced the blade with a
bi-metal cutting blade too. I started cutting a 3" chunk of brass rod
and the motor ran for about five minutes (if that) and quit. It was
getting somewhat warm to the touch, so I let it cool off for an hour or
so. Went back and tried it and nothing. I went to the local hardware
store and bought a decent 1/2 HP motor for it ($80) and I am in the
process of installing it. I need to go back this morning and get a
pulley for it. I figured I am still ahead even with the motor change.
The bandsaw itself seems to be made well enough. I could tell the motor
wasn't going to last long, but I was sort of surprised it went out on
the second cut.
I thought about contacting HF about it, but I didn't want another of
these piece of sh!t motors again. And I was not going to take apart the
bandsaw and send the whole thing back had it come to that.
One more thing...when I got my bandsaw, the blade was already
installed...backwards.
Mike

I picked up my $135 HF bandsaw last night ($169 sale - 20% coupon).

Certainly not the best fit and finish but it runs remarkably smoothly
and even with the crappy blade it came with it made a few test cuts in
3/4" sq steel tube without any complaints. I'll pickup a decent blade or
two when I'm out shopping today. It certainly seems that the $135
bandsaw is far superior to no bandsaw.

Pete C.

"Pete C." wrote:

mj wrote:

I ended up buying one of those cheapy HF bandsaws. I got mine on sale
for $169 plus $8.95 shipping. I checked the site yesterday and it is
now $209 and the same low shipping. It had (HAD) a even cheaper 1/3 HP
motor on it. My only concern in buying this was the motor. But since
the next cheapest bandsaws were around $200 and $70-$90 shipping, I
figured if the motor went out, I could always just replace it and still
be saving money. Besides, I figured the rest of them probably did not
have a motor much better than HF.
Yesterday (Friday) I finally got it set up. I cut a chunk of 1-1/2"
brass and it seemed to work pretty good. I replaced the blade with a
bi-metal cutting blade too. I started cutting a 3" chunk of brass rod
and the motor ran for about five minutes (if that) and quit. It was
getting somewhat warm to the touch, so I let it cool off for an hour or
so. Went back and tried it and nothing. I went to the local hardware
store and bought a decent 1/2 HP motor for it ($80) and I am in the
process of installing it. I need to go back this morning and get a
pulley for it. I figured I am still ahead even with the motor change.
The bandsaw itself seems to be made well enough. I could tell the motor
wasn't going to last long, but I was sort of surprised it went out on
the second cut.
I thought about contacting HF about it, but I didn't want another of
these piece of sh!t motors again. And I was not going to take apart the
bandsaw and send the whole thing back had it come to that.
One more thing...when I got my bandsaw, the blade was already
installed...backwards.
Mike

I picked up my $135 HF bandsaw last night ($169 sale - 20% coupon).

Certainly not the best fit and finish but it runs remarkably smoothly
and even with the crappy blade it came with it made a few test cuts in
3/4" sq steel tube without any complaints. I'll pickup a decent blade or
two when I'm out shopping today. It certainly seems that the $135
bandsaw is far superior to no bandsaw.

Pete C.

I noticed two interesting things with the new HF bandsaw. First I
noticed when assembling it on it's legs that the blade guide bearings
had small grease lines around them indicating that they actually test
ran the saw in Taiwan. Tonight when changing out the so-so blade that
came with the saw for a better made in USA blade, I noticed that the
ball bearings on the made in Taiwan saw, the blade guide bearings and
the main wheel bearings that were visible, are almost all made in Japan
bearings. The new $15 wavy style blade cuts much faster than the blade
that came with the saw BTW.

Pete C.