What electric hack saw would you buy and why? Is the HF variety okay, and
will they last a reasonable amount of time, or should I spring for more
money, and get a better one? Sources? Northern Tools? What do I look for
in a good saw?

What blades do I use for cutting .065-.120 tubing, and stock up to 1/2"?
Sources? TPI? Probably the biggest thing I would cut is 3 x 3 x .120

And when fixing blades, what is the procedure? Worth the time, or just take
them to a shop? What equipment is needed to repair blades?

TIA

Steve

SteveB wrote:
What electric hack saw would you buy and why? Is the HF variety okay, and
will they last a reasonable amount of time, or should I spring for more
money, and get a better one? Sources? Northern Tools? What do I look for
in a good saw?

What blades do I use for cutting .065-.120 tubing, and stock up to 1/2"?
Sources? TPI? Probably the biggest thing I would cut is 3 x 3 x .120

And when fixing blades, what is the procedure? Worth the time, or just take
them to a shop? What equipment is needed to repair blades?

TIA

Steve


First, I'm glad to see there's someone besides me who occasionally
screws up and reposts twice, for a grand total of three.

That said, I've had one of those chinese cheepy electric hack saws for
about a year, and it's been a "just mahvalous" addition to my home shop.
It whizzes right through jobs in seconds, the ones which used to have me
pumping away with a hand hacksaw for what seemed like ten minutes, but
was probably more like theee. I still use the hand one for "delicate"
stuff though, as I can control it better than I can the massy power hacksaw.

If I had to use one daily in a professional capacity I'd probably have
sprung for a Milwaukee, but for the once every other week I'm using
mine, It'll brobably last me the rest of my life. 'Course at my age I
don't even buy green bananas anymore. G

As far as blades go, the rule of thumb I was taught was to have a
minimum of three teeeth in the width of the stock you are cutting. For
the stuff you mentioned an 18 tpi blade should work pretty well.

I bought (on eBay) a few genuwine Milwaukee blades for mine, the
"bimetal" type, but so far I haven't had a chance to try one as the
chinese blade which came on the machine is still going strong.

Blades are cheap enough so it really isn't worth even thinking about
fixing them or making your own. If you break enough blades to make that
a problem, you're probably doing something wrong. You could buy an awful
lot of blades for what a decent butt welding rig would cost you, and
from what I hear, silver soldering isn't the best process for blades
which take as much twist as those portable saws put into them.

So, If you can't find a good used Milwaukee at a price you like, go for
the HF one. I noticed they were in a flyer this week for less that $60 even!

Good luck,

Jeff


--

Jeff Wisnia (W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"If you can smile when things are going wrong, you've thought of someone
to blame it on."

Take your small horizontal saws and mount them into an angle iron
constructed dolly with swivel casters, and you can roll them all around your
shop as you need it. I did this with one and it made a tremendous difference
in it's rigidity and usability. That one had stamped steel legs that twisted
every which way originally.

RJ

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...


SteveB wrote:
What electric hack saw would you buy and why? Is the HF variety okay,
and
will they last a reasonable amount of time, or should I spring for more
money, and get a better one? Sources? Northern Tools? What do I look
for
in a good saw?

What blades do I use for cutting .065-.120 tubing, and stock up to 1/2"?
Sources? TPI? Probably the biggest thing I would cut is 3 x 3 x .120

And when fixing blades, what is the procedure? Worth the time, or just
take
them to a shop? What equipment is needed to repair blades?

TIA

Steve


First, I'm glad to see there's someone besides me who occasionally
screws up and reposts twice, for a grand total of three.

That said, I've had one of those chinese cheepy electric hack saws for
about a year, and it's been a "just mahvalous" addition to my home shop.
It whizzes right through jobs in seconds, the ones which used to have me
pumping away with a hand hacksaw for what seemed like ten minutes, but
was probably more like theee. I still use the hand one for "delicate"
stuff though, as I can control it better than I can the massy power
hacksaw.

If I had to use one daily in a professional capacity I'd probably have
sprung for a Milwaukee, but for the once every other week I'm using
mine, It'll brobably last me the rest of my life. 'Course at my age I
don't even buy green bananas anymore. G

As far as blades go, the rule of thumb I was taught was to have a
minimum of three teeeth in the width of the stock you are cutting. For
the stuff you mentioned an 18 tpi blade should work pretty well.

I bought (on eBay) a few genuwine Milwaukee blades for mine, the
"bimetal" type, but so far I haven't had a chance to try one as the
chinese blade which came on the machine is still going strong.

Blades are cheap enough so it really isn't worth even thinking about
fixing them or making your own. If you break enough blades to make that
a problem, you're probably doing something wrong. You could buy an awful
lot of blades for what a decent butt welding rig would cost you, and
from what I hear, silver soldering isn't the best process for blades
which take as much twist as those portable saws put into them.

So, If you can't find a good used Milwaukee at a price you like, go for
the HF one. I noticed they were in a flyer this week for less that $60
even!

Good luck,

Jeff


--

Jeff Wisnia (W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"If you can smile when things are going wrong, you've thought of someone
to blame it on."

A HF bandsaw will do nicely for a home shop but I'd go with something better
for a business.

--
Bob May
Losing weight is easy! If you ever want to lose weight, eat and drink less.
Works every time it is tried!

Bob May wrote: A HF bandsaw will do nicely for a home shop but I'd go with
something better for a business.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If I had it to do over again, I would buy the same saw I have now, which is
a Milwaukee portable hand-held band saw. This is more expensive than the
saw you are considering, but it has a couple of advantages that mean a lot
to me: 1.) I can carry it to the work. 2.) I can make cuts that would be
awkward or impossible with a floor stand saw. 3.) It takes no floor space.

HF has a cheap version of this saw, which probably is of comparable quality
to the saw you are considering, and a lot cheaper than a Milwaukee or
Portaband.

I have three of the Porta-bands, two loose around the shop, and one on a
special mount/stand that I never remove the saw from. You can do a lot of
work with those dudes.
See
http://www.portercable.com/index.asp?e=3399&p=3456

RJ

"Leo Lichtman" wrote in message
...

Bob May wrote: A HF bandsaw will do nicely for a home shop but I'd go
with
something better for a business.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If I had it to do over again, I would buy the same saw I have now, which
is
a Milwaukee portable hand-held band saw. This is more expensive than the
saw you are considering, but it has a couple of advantages that mean a lot
to me: 1.) I can carry it to the work. 2.) I can make cuts that would
be
awkward or impossible with a floor stand saw. 3.) It takes no floor
space.

HF has a cheap version of this saw, which probably is of comparable
quality
to the saw you are considering, and a lot cheaper than a Milwaukee or
Portaband.

I have had very good luck with my HF-Style "4 X 6" special. The exact
one I have has a USA made 1/2 hp motor. There is a website around here
somewhere that has a lot of good "tune-up" info for this type of saw.
Use the best blade you can buy, I use the Do-All Imperial 100 style
blade at about $20 each, but well worth it. I use the 10 tooth blade
for almost everything, from 4" round solid annealed tool steel to thin
tubing and have never lost a tooth. But I hide my blades from others
who tell me I have to have at least two teeth in the material so they
don't chew me out.
I always run the saw at the highest speed it will go. The blades
last a long time, except when my kids come over and try to cut hardened
tool steel.
This is a home shop. I probably saw for about 6 to 8 hours per
month, normally, but sometimes, when I get in a fab job, I may saw for 2
or 3 8 hours days in a row.

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

SteveB wrote:

What electric hack saw would you buy and why? Is the HF variety okay, and
will they last a reasonable amount of time, or should I spring for more
money, and get a better one? Sources? Northern Tools? What do I look for
in a good saw?

What blades do I use for cutting .065-.120 tubing, and stock up to 1/2"?
Sources? TPI? Probably the biggest thing I would cut is 3 x 3 x .120

And when fixing blades, what is the procedure? Worth the time, or just take
them to a shop? What equipment is needed to repair blades?

TIA

Steve

On Sun, 1 Feb 2004 08:50:21 -0800, "SteveB"
wrote:

What electric hack saw would you buy and why? Is the HF variety okay, and
will they last a reasonable amount of time, or should I spring for more
money, and get a better one? Sources? Northern Tools? What do I look for
in a good saw?

What blades do I use for cutting .065-.120 tubing, and stock up to 1/2"?
Sources? TPI? Probably the biggest thing I would cut is 3 x 3 x .120

And when fixing blades, what is the procedure? Worth the time, or just take
them to a shop? What equipment is needed to repair blades?

TIA

Steve

You should see what a friend of my did before you buy one:
http://snipurl.com/47zp
Click on "it was a great day."


Ron Thompson
Was On the Beautiful Mississippi Gulf Coast,
Now On the Beautiful Florida Space Coast, right beside the Kennedy Space Center, USA

http://www.plansandprojects.com

'If you're standing in a puddle, don't touch anything that hums'
From the Red Green show

IMHO the Harbor Freight 5 x 7 bandsaws are hard to beat for the price.
A little time spent on improvinments and you can have a great little
saw that has the idea its bigger than what it actually is. I bought
mine from HF over 20 years ago and its never left me down. Its used
daily for the most part. Best two single improvements is a new stand
and a better blade. I have a website with some improvements I made on
mine if your interested. There are also other websites out there with
lists of improvments others have made as well.


Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

On Sun, 1 Feb 2004 08:50:21 -0800, "SteveB"
wrote:

What electric hack saw would you buy and why?

I wouldn't - go for a bandsaw.

The workshop here has both. Bandsaw's a scabby Chinese thing, hacksaw
is a gorgeous '50s Rapidor. Only the bandsaw ever gets used.