If you’re one of the many readers of Toolmonger who lurks behind an RSS reader, we wanted to clue you in to a great set of comments that you might have missed. In our post earlier this week regarding Harbor Freight’s 4×6 bandsaw, a number of readers commented on how easy it is to modify this bandsaw to make it much better than as-shipped.
Truthfully, it’s been my experience that any metal-cutting bandsaw will only cut right if it’s properly adjusted and fitted with a quality blade appropriate to the task at hand.
When I first got the HF band saw, I thought it was a complete piece of crap. It cut very slowly and burned through blades like mad. When I was over at a friend’s shop, I noticed that his bandsaw (a JET) cut like the wind, so I asked a few questions. Probably more importantly, every time I used it, I took a moment to feel the blade tension and head loaded. When I got home, I swapped in the same blade he had and adjusted it to match, and voila — mine cut like the wind, too.
So if you have a minute, check out the thread on the original post, and let us know in comments your secret to the perfect bandsaw setup.
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5 Responses to You Said It: Pimpin’ Your Bandsaw
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Once I got the blade tension right, my Craftsman tabletop bandsaw improved a hundred fold. I have on order “The Bandsaw Book” by Lonnie Bird–it comes highly recommended to me from two sources that I trust.
I agree, “The Bandsaw Book” is terrific.
so where do you order the “Band Saw Book” by Lonnie Bird?
Guys,
I had mentioned Roy Chipmaker’s website http://www.frugalmachinist.com
But as I mentioned it appears to be down. When i went looking to see if I could find some information on it, I found that it has been down for some time, and not expected to come back. The site was hacked and some other drama occurred that I’m not privy to so I don’t want to comment on that. As for the relevant information – the Bandsaw page can still be found on the web archive:
http://web.archive.org/web/20050305121213/www.frugalmachinist.com/bandsaw.html
# Bruce Says:
February 15th, 2007 at 9:28 am
so where do you order the “Band Saw Book” by Lonnie Bird?
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Bruce – check amazon ::here::