Harbor Freight metal cutting band saw

D

dmelton

Joined
Jan 2, 2001
Messages
164
Anyone else have one of these? Honestly, it's one of the tools I use the most but it's also the most frustrating for me. I'm contemplating selling it in favor of a porta-band. My primary complaint is that the blade jumps off the pulleys at the slightest 'catch' into metal. I just made two 4 inch cuts into 3/16th inch 1084 and had to reseat the blade around the pulleys 4 times during the process. Does anyone know a trick to help with this problem?

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I have a Harbor Freight 4x6 and it works great. That was not always the case. I put quite a bit of time getting mine set up. There is a yahoo group for the 4x6 that gives a ton of information on this and other clones of this saw that was a great help to me. Here is a PDF from the group on blade tracking and adjustment.

Hope this helps!
 
Mine works great but it will jump off if I try to cut a really tight radius. As long as I keep the blade nice and tight and make straight cuts it works great.
 
NC Biker said:
I have a Harbor Freight 4x6 and it works great. That was not always the case. I put quite a bit of time getting mine set up. There is a yahoo group for the 4x6 that gives a ton of information on this and other clones of this saw that was a great help to me. Here is a PDF from the group on blade tracking and adjustment.

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Thanks!!
 
The blade jumps off on mine whenever I hit the slightest bit of resistance in the steel or if I push into it too hard. I tighten down the knob on the top of the bandsaw for tension as hard as I can and it still happens.
 
dmelton said:
The blade jumps off on mine whenever I hit the slightest bit of resistance in the steel or if I push into it too hard. I tighten down the knob on the top of the bandsaw for tension as hard as I can and it still happens.
Click to expand...

Something is wrong with it and likely can be fixed or adjusted.

That said, the HF model is the worst of this design. Grizzly, Jet and a few others of the same design are much better quality.
 
dmelton said:
The blade jumps off on mine whenever I hit the slightest bit of resistance in the steel or if I push into it too hard. I tighten down the knob on the top of the bandsaw for tension as hard as I can and it still happens.
Click to expand...
No experience wuth this model but it might be worth checking that the pulleys are square and parallel to each other and no wobble.

If you can get to them you can use a straight edge across the faces to tell. Google pulley alignment.
 
The HF bandsaws are very hit and miss for quality. I had one, and it sucked so bad that it was literally un-fixable without re-machining and bushing out everything. After being frustrated by it for so long, I eventually smashedi t up with a sledge hammer and bought an antique power hacksaw... and i've honestly been happier since!

[video=youtube;nk3HgUUZIKM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk3HgUUZIKM[/video]
 
I have been using a HF 4 X 6 saw for 15 years.
I did have to replace the on/off switch.
If it went out, I would drive to the HF store and buy another one immediately.
 
search for a tuning guide online. I had one someone sent long ago, but no idea where it is now. I used to have to the same issue until i aligned and setup everything. Now, no problems
 
I've got one and love it. That said, after reading up on it the first thing I did was check and make sure it's pivot was square to the table and blade, a few are miss cast or machined and if so there's no easy way to fix. I have a Wilton upright metal bandsaw for blades and such. I was building a treadle hammer and had a 25% off coupon and got it to cut materials. I like it a lot better than my chop saw and use it a lot for cutting damascus billets for re stacking and other projects where I need to cut stock to precision length. I know some people that have mounted a seat and table to it for use as an upright, and no reason it wouldn't work for that, but it wouldn't be my first choice. I used a porta band for several years and it works, but is kind of a pain too.
 
I have an old jet that is a very similar model and have similar issues. No matter how tight I tighten it the blade stalls out and pops off.
 
NC Biker said:
I have a Harbor Freight 4x6 and it works great. That was not always the case. I put quite a bit of time getting mine set up. There is a yahoo group for the 4x6 that gives a ton of information on this and other clones of this saw that was a great help to me. Here is a PDF from the group on blade tracking and adjustment.

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

That link will not work for me, probably have to be signed into the page

Can you post it outside of tht page ?






I had one that frustrated me terribly, blade wouldn't stay on.
Tension, tracking and making sure that the wheels are aligned

The only thing keeping the bottom wheel aligned is one set screw, odds are it was not properly aligned in the factory.
 
12345678910 said:
That link will not work for me, probably have to be signed into the page

Can you post it outside of tht page ?

I had one that frustrated me terribly, blade wouldn't stay on.
Tension, tracking and making sure that the wheels are aligned

The only thing keeping the bottom wheel aligned is one set screw, odds are it was not properly aligned in the factory.
Click to expand...

Sure, no problem. I uploaded to my server, so this link should work. If not, let me know.
I've heard of some HF saws that were beyond help, but following these instructions got mine cutting great.
 
If the blade is tight and I do mean tight , then the problem is that the blade alignment is very bad. To check I open the cover stand back as well as I can, and turn it on. There is an allen screw directly behind the top wheel for adjustment. Mine , a real old machine similar looking does not have a lock on that set screw. Once in a while I check it out just because I know it will move on its own.
Frank
 
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