Harbor Freight bandsaw and jig?

[Rachel Aberle]

Looking for information on this bandsaw to round blanks.

Also anyone have a favorite jig they have purchased or made to secure blanks?

 

[Gary Beasley]

It depends in part on the motor horspower and part in the blade you mount. A 3/8” 3 or 4 tooth blade will do well cutting blanks round. Most folks I know would mark the blank with a compass or circle template then freehand cut the wood.
That bandsaw looks to be a copy of the old Delta bandsaw and has a belt drive motor mounted in the base. You can swap these out for stronger motors but if buying new you should get one with the right hp. That said it may do a pretty good job for you if you keep a good quality blade on it and keep it tuned up.

 

[Rachel Aberle]

It depends in part on the motor horspower and part in the blade you mount. A 3/8” 3 or 4 tooth blade will do well cutting blanks round. Most folks I know would mark the blank with a compass or circle template then freehand cut the wood.
That bandsaw looks to be a copy of the old Delta bandsaw and has a belt drive motor mounted in the base. You can swap these out for stronger motors but if buying new you should get one with the right hp. That said it may do a pretty good job for you if you keep a good quality blade on it and keep it tuned up.

Thanks for the feedback. Yes it’s kinda of a toss up how much I’d need. Current bandsaw doesn’t have the height to cut anything more than 3-4” or more.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

I have bought couple of items from Harbor Freight that have worked well enough, notably some tool chests (but even these had quality issues). But based on HF's reputation I wouldn't buy anything from them that had a power cord. Maybe I'm being a snob, or something, but that's my view.

 

[Allen Mattsen]

I have bought couple of items from Harbor Freight that have worked well enough, notably some tool chests (but even these had quality issues). But based on HF's reputation I wouldn't buy anything from them that had a power cord. Maybe I'm being a snob, or something, but that's my view.

When it comes to some of their larger power tools there's a wealth of information / warnings to heed or not. I'm generally with Mark on this one, though a few items of theirs are decent. I would not buy a drill press, bandsaw, or lathe, etc. from them. Smarter to save and get a tool that will last and you'll be happy with. Used on Craigslist or FB Marketplace are two places to regularly check.

 

[John Walls]

You get what you pay for. Cheap is cheaply made. I shop there for one or 2 time use items that does not bother me $$ wise to throw in the dumpster after use. Anything I'm going to use much, I pony up and pay (not at HF though).

 

[Rachel Aberle]

I have bought couple of items from Harbor Freight that have worked well enough, notably some tool chests (but even these had quality issues). But based on HF's reputation I wouldn't buy anything from them that had a power cord. Maybe I'm being a snob, or something, but that's my view.

Fair enough I’d rather know before buying.

 

[Rachel Aberle]

When it comes to some of their larger power tools there's a wealth of information / warnings to heed or not. I'm generally with Mark on this one, though a few items of theirs are decent. I would not buy a drill press, bandsaw, or lathe, etc. from them. Smarter to save and get a tool that will last and you'll be happy with. Used on Craigslist or FB Marketplace are two places to regularly check.

Good to know. Will steer clear and keep and eye on the used market.

 

[Lance Mirrer]

It is often hit or miss. I've bought tools where I had to return the first two, but the third worked for years.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I agree with the others. That HF bandsaw looks exactly like the Delta knockoffs that everybody was selling thirty years ago. The one that I bought came from Home Depot and while it wasn't completely awful it also wasn't particularly good. I used it for a few years until I decided it was time for an overhaul. The good news is with a lot more work than the saw was worth I turned it into a fairly nice machine. A few of the problems that I fixed included the following:

• The cast iron table was warped and had rough machining marks. I used a 12" square piece of float glass with silicon carbide sandpaper glued to it to flatten the table starting with 120 grit and finishing with 1500 grit. I should have stopped at 400 grit, but the mirror finish produced a really slick surface not to mention the mirror finish made the bandsaw look better than it could possibly ever be.
• The part of the casting that held the upper blade-guide post was very rough which caused the post to have an angle that was skewed a few degrees from vertical. Since the post was hexagonal rather than round, I was able to correct the misalignment with a lot of file work.
• The blade tensioner/upper wheel tilt assembly apparently had a casting flaw and cracked after a year of use. I replaced it with an aftermarket assembly that was much better.
• The upper and lower wheels were not balanced which created a low-level vibration. I decided while I was fine-tuning the saw I might as well balance the wheels. It was accomplished by drilling lightening holes.
• The original rubber tires developed stress cracks and became brittle after only a couple of years (a condition known as ozone cracking). So I replaced them with polyurethane tires. Much better.
• Although the blade guide bearings were satisfactory, I replaced them with Cool Blocks® (a phenolic material) which I prefer on small bandsaws, especially for narrower blades.
• The upper and lower castings weren't aligned so there was a twist between the upper and lower wheels. There was also a lot of flex in the upper casting when the blade was tensioned. I flattened the mating surfaces and replaced the single bolt that fastened the upper and lower castings together with a ¾" bolt and two ½" bolts after aligning the castings so that the wheels were coplanar.
• The biggest job was coming up with a better belt tensioning arrangement. The original version was just plain awful. The belt tension was adjusted by loosening the four motor mounting bolts and then sliding the motor until the belt was properly tensioned. This meant having one hand and a wrench reaching around the back of the cabinet, a second hand and wrench reaching in the front and finding the head of the bolts that can't be seen because they are blocked from view by the motor, a third hand trying to hold the very heavy motor level so that the pulley will be perpendicular to the plane of the belt, and a fourth hand moving the motor to properly tension the belt. If you know a Shiva who would be willing to help then you're all set. My modification is having the motor slide in a track and belt tension is adjusted with a screw. No more standing on my head and trying to do this task with only two hands and uttering words that fouled the air in my garage.

 

[Rachel Aberle]

I agree with the others. That HF bandsaw looks exactly like the Delta knockoffs that everybody was selling thirty years ago. The one that I bought came from Home Depot and while it wasn't completely awful it also wasn't particularly good. I used it for a few years until I decided it was time for an overhaul. The good news is with a lot more work than the saw was worth I turned it into a fairly nice machine. A few of the problems that I fixed included the following:

• The cast iron table was warped and had rough machining marks. I used a 12" square piece of float glass with silicon carbide sandpaper glued to it to flatten the table starting with 120 grit and finishing with 1500 grit. I should have stopped at 400 grit, but the mirror finish produced a really slick surface not to mention the mirror finish made the bandsaw look better than it could possibly ever be.
• The part of the casting that held the upper blade-guide post was very rough which caused the post to have an angle that was skewed a few degrees from vertical. Since the post was hexagonal rather than round, I was able to correct the misalignment with a lot of file work.
• The blade tensioner/upper wheel tilt assembly apparently had a casting flaw and cracked after a year of use. I replaced it with an aftermarket assembly that was much better.
• The upper and lower wheels were not balanced which created a low-level vibration. I decided while I was fine-tuning the saw I might as well balance the wheels. It was accomplished by drilling lightening holes.
• The original rubber tires developed stress cracks and became brittle after only a couple of years (a condition known as ozone cracking). So I replaced them with polyurethane tires. Much better.
• Although the blade guide bearings were satisfactory, I replaced them with Cool Blocks® (a phenolic material) which I prefer on small bandsaws, especially for narrower blades.
• The upper and lower castings weren't aligned so there was a twist between the upper and lower wheels. There was also a lot of flex in the upper casting when the blade was tensioned. I flattened the mating surfaces and replaced the single bolt that fastened the upper and lower castings together with a ¾" bolt and two ½" bolts after aligning the castings so that the wheels were coplanar.
• The biggest job was coming up with a better belt tensioning arrangement. The original version was just plain awful. The belt tension was adjusted by loosening the four motor mounting bolts and then sliding the motor until the belt was properly tensioned. This meant having one hand and a wrench reaching around the back of the cabinet, a second hand and wrench reaching in the front and finding the head of the bolts that can't be seen because they are blocked from view by the motor, a third hand trying to hold the very heavy motor level so that the pulley will be perpendicular to the plane of the belt, and a fourth hand moving the motor to properly tension the belt. If you know a Shiva who would be willing to help then you're all set. My modification is having the motor slide in a track and belt tension is adjusted with a screw. No more standing on my head and trying to do this task with only two hands and uttering words that fouled the air in my garage.

For that many adjustments it seems not worth it. Thank you for giving feedback on it.

 

[robo hippy]

Check your area's Craig's List. Some times there are good deals there. Of course, if you buy a brand new one, the next day the same one will be on Craig's List for half the cost. There are some community centers that have wood shop tools that you can use. Or find a friend who has one you can use...

robo hippy

 

[Rachel Aberle]

Check your area's Craig's List. Some times there are good deals there. Of course, if you buy a brand new one, the next day the same one will be on Craig's List for half the cost. There are some community centers that have wood shop tools that you can use. Or find a friend who has one you can use...

robo hippy

I never thought about the community centers which might be a great option for the few larger ones that I need cut.

 

[Marvin Jones]

Harbor Freight tools labelled Central Pnuematic, and Chicago Electric, were some of their original brands of power tools. All the comments above are exactly right about those. If you notice Grizzley tools, at least many of them are the exact same tool. I have a Chicago Electric carbide tool grinder that I have had for 10 years and when I went to balance one of the stones, I found the mounting plate cracked. This is no longer carried by Harbor Freight but Grizzley still sells one so I ordered the part for the Grizzley and it was an exact fit. I did buy and learn on a Harbor Freight lathe but don't remember much about it except to know I was bitten by the turning bug and bought a Powermatic. Harbor Freight had upgraded their tool line to some new brands, Bauer, Hercules, Fortress to name a few. These look to be better quality than the original tool line Harbor Freight carried but I can only vouch for one that I bought. I finally bought a stand for my compound miter saw and I shopped hard to find one I liked. Did not like the scissor type sold by some of America's top tool manufacturers, they seemed springy to me. I bought the Hercules and love it. I'm impressed with it, I believe Hercules is Harbor Freight's top of the line. If I upgrade to a 12" compound saw, I will go with the Hercules unless a used DeWalt becomes available...They cost more than the original brand of tools but are way better quality.
One final comment, I bought a 10-345 Rikon 18" bandsaw but almost bought a used commercial grade. If you shop, you can find those used commercial grade with a single phase motor, only problem with those is moving them, some look like they weigh a ton, but can be bought cheaper than my Rikon. Some of them have a blade welder built into it.

 

[Jason Matisheck]

One point that nobody addressed is that these vintage Delta clones only have a resaw height of 6". If you are thinking of making larger bowl blanks this is totally inadequate. More precisely, you are limited to logs/bowls less than 12" in diameter. Riser blocks can be used to make the saw taller, but I see that as introducing more flex/vibration into the machine. Better to get a saw designed for 12" (or more) resaw.

 

[Gwen Himbury]

Gonna chime in on this thread... I have that exact band saw sitting in my garage right now. I bought it a couple of years ago at HF as well as the mini lathe at HF, both of which I use today. With that said, when I first bought the two machines, I was in my very early learning stage of cutting on the band saw, used it once in awhile to cut larger pieces. I just replaced the tires with polyurethane tires last week but I haven't turned it on yet since then but plan to try it this weekend to cut out some blanks off a few logs. Up to this point it's served its purpose just fine with what little I've done with it but like Bill had talked about in an earlier thread... it's basically a pain to adjust, his description of belt/motor tensions is spot on... it's almost impossible to put tension on the belt unless you have about 4 more hands coming out of your arms.
The lathe, like I said, I had bought around the same time and like the band saw, used it sparingly, when I had time, and to turn small objects to just learn how to turn wood. The main thing I don't like about it is having to manually change the belt to adjust my speeds, but as a learning curve it wasn't that big of a deal. I still use it to turn as my wood turning is starting to increase and I'm learning more techniques and challenging ways of turning.

In my own experience, to learn the very basics and decide whether I want to continue turning or re-sawing anything, they served their purpose at a pretty low expense. However, I have caught the woodturning bug and have been turning more and more lately now on the hunt for a bigger, better built bandsaw and lathe. I want to be able to adjust speeds, turn a bigger diameter, and cut through logs/blanks without all vibration and holding my breathe hoping the cut comes out somewhat decent. I have my eye on a lathe and bandsaw by Laguna, but I'm also looking around for used machines of that same caliber. Once I get my hands on a full size lathe, I don't know that I'll be able to stop turning!

 

[robo hippy]

Gwen, best way to find deals on tools is to find the nearest clubs.

robo hippy

 

[Tim Starliper]

Gonna chime in on this thread... I have that exact band saw sitting in my garage right now. I bought it a couple of years ago at HF as well as the mini lathe at HF, both of which I use today. With that said, when I first bought the two machines, I was in my very early learning stage of cutting on the band saw, used it once in awhile to cut larger pieces. I just replaced the tires with polyurethane tires last week but I haven't turned it on yet since then but plan to try it this weekend to cut out some blanks off a few logs. Up to this point it's served its purpose just fine with what little I've done with it but like Bill had talked about in an earlier thread... it's basically a pain to adjust, his description of belt/motor tensions is spot on... it's almost impossible to put tension on the belt unless you have about 4 more hands coming out of your arms.
The lathe, like I said, I had bought around the same time and like the band saw, used it sparingly, when I had time, and to turn small objects to just learn how to turn wood. The main thing I don't like about it is having to manually change the belt to adjust my speeds, but as a learning curve it wasn't that big of a deal. I still use it to turn as my wood turning is starting to increase and I'm learning more techniques and challenging ways of turning.

In my own experience, to learn the very basics and decide whether I want to continue turning or re-sawing anything, they served their purpose at a pretty low expense. However, I have caught the woodturning bug and have been turning more and more lately now on the hunt for a bigger, better built bandsaw and lathe. I want to be able to adjust speeds, turn a bigger diameter, and cut through logs/blanks without all vibration and holding my breathe hoping the cut comes out somewhat decent. I have my eye on a lathe and bandsaw by Laguna, but I'm also looking around for used machines of that same caliber. Once I get my hands on a full size lathe, I don't know that I'll be able to stop turning!

Never had a HF bandsaw, but much of my early turning was done on a HF lathe. Sold that when I bought a new Delta midi. That was sold after I bought my Nova DVR. The Nova was bought from Craigs list, as I recall it was close to an hour drive each way to get that one, it was already mounted to a rock solid table (made from 3/8" angle iron welded frame with a deck made from 2x12 pieces. Where the lathe bolts are, they go through 3/8 angle front and back). The guy loaded it on my utility trailer, a friend and I unloaded it - thankfully the trailer deck height was the same as my shop floor, because there is no way we were lifting it without completely disassembling it. Slid it in the shop, slid it across the floor to where it lives today. If the Nova ever dies on me, another DVR will take it's place. The only issue I have at the moment is the display - there is either noise or an issue with the chip that controls the LCD itself - it will sometimes pop up random Cyrillic characters in various places (I know it's Cyrillic because I looked at the data sheet for the specific LCD display, and the one used here has English and Cyrillic alphabets in the controller).

My bandsaw was a clearance Ridgid from Home Despot - they had changed manufacturers and were clearing out the old stock, I waited until the display model was the only one left and bought it literally right before someone else - he was in the aisle, I got to the department manager first . I also bought that right before they discontinued the lifetime power tool warranty. Served it's purpose until I bought a Laguna 14twelve on sale at Woodcraft during a promotion where it also included the light kit.

The next 'big' tool purchase will likely be a new floor standing drill press, the one I have was used hard before I got it, and while it works, it could be a lot better. It's either tear the whole thing apart and rehab, replacing worn parts (assuming I can even find them), and tuning it back up or buy a new (to me) one. Was looking in FB marketplace yesterday, spotted a few but not sure I want to drive almost 2 hours one way for one, and the other will ship to me for a scarily low price (something like $8). That sort of sets off a warning alarm for me....

 

[Gary Beasley]

You have one of the older DVRs? Mine was getting a wonky display and the board was outdated and I think unavailable. Tehnatool has a newer board that was compatible with mine that also has a speed control knob as well as the buttons. As theres more than one type of internal board in the DVRs you have to check with them to see if you can just change out the control panel or need the internal board changed as well.

 

[Gwen Himbury]

Gwen, best way to find deals on tools is to find the nearest clubs.

robo hippy

Good to know! Thank you!

 

[robo hippy]

Gwen, you can probably just call them to ask, but going to meetings is a HUGE learning experience...

robo hippy

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

Gwen, you can probably just call them to ask, but going to meetings is a HUGE learning experience...

robo hippy

I will second that. I found a club about 50 minutes from me. They meet the second Saturday every month. They have a morning demonstration and also an afternoon demonstration. They are a wealth of knowledge and are happy to answer any questions asked. I have learned quite a bit in the few months I have been going.