[rpovey]

I don't know. It's not the most enjoyable way to cut but I have been doing a lot with the 14" black HF chop saw and have made my way through 3" 1144 with it. Yes, the area will heat harden to some extent but never so much I can't trim that off and never very deep. Now on stainless I don't know. That's another beast. I'd love to get a bandsaw someday but for now the chop saw is getting it done for me and it I got it for under $90. It just does it with a lot of noise and mess. I keep expecting it to die with what I force it to do but it keeps on chugging along.

Funnily enough I have the same chop saw, and it's what stopped me buying the bandsaw for years. All I can say is I've haven't used the chop saw since I bought the bandsaw, and it's just so much easier it's worth every additional penny.

[rocketflier]

$30 - 20%



~$2/blade

[rewster]

Sawzall is a horrible idea, no offense. I've used my Dewalt in a pinch, but that's about it.

+1 for the hf 4x6. Mine was crap out of the box, but cuts pretty well after some fiddling. I've had no problems with the stand; it looks dinky at first, but sturdies up nicely after it's all attached. Buy a couple low-tpi bimetal blades and you'll be off and running. Most of what I cut is 6x8 6061.

[Geof]

Cheapest of the lot and really keeps you fit. In one arm at least.

[rocketflier]

Cheapest of the lot and really keeps you fit. In one arm at least.

Before HF & the {now sub} $200 4x6 bandsaw, a powered hacksaw was where it's at.

If you just have to cut drops to be finished on mini-machine, hack it off and have at it.

[SuperFlyLoser]

Incase anyone was going to buy anything from HF. Here is a LINK to a 20% coupon that is good thru the 18th.

SFL

[bladehunter]

I've got a Makita cordless cold cut saw that I cut up some 100x10 BMS flat bar with, each (3A) battery was good for two to two and a half cuts. I've cut SS with a 100mm or 125mm grinder with a 1mm thick disc, so much better than the std thick ones.
But yeah I'm saving my $$ to get a small band saw, only prob is I may not have any room in the garage to move once I get it.

[UUU]

I cut up some 2" stainless with a powered hacksaw. Just like the manual one, but without the arm effort. This left both hands free to apply lubricant.
Lubricant is the key. If you can get a bandsaw or chop saw with flood lubrication, you can hack up pretty much anything. Like this one - SIP 01555 MEC TE 250 250mm Industrial Circular Saw 1 Phase

[SuperFlyLoser]

Sale at HF for the H/V bandsaw. See here: Link

Coupon: Here


I'll probably go an pick one up this weekend.

SFL

[photomankc]

S%$^, man, I don't have room for that.... but..... but....

[SuperFlyLoser]

S%$^, man, I don't have room for that.... but..... but....

Funny thing. I find that I have more room when I start throwing out the wife's junk that she puts into the garage (AKA:my shop)... :nono:

SFL

BTW: Photomankc I've been keeping up with your build, I really like what you've got going on your PM25. :cheers:

[Maglin]

I just picked up a Jet HVBS-7MV 7x12 bandsaw. I must admit that I thought the 4x6 HF saw was good but just to small for the stock I'm able to get cheap, so I've been searching Craigslist for several months for any 7x12. This Jet unit popped up for $500 with minimal use on it. I ended up getting it for $450 and man I'm very very impressed with it. All the moving parts are of good construction. The flood pump and tank seem to be of good quality. The actual saw motor is 3/4HP but is 2x the size of the 4x6HF 1HP motor and it is definitely a lot stronger.

I choose a block of 5x10" piece of 2024 T-6 aluminum as my first thing to cut. I didn't touch the blade guides. I just set the fixed jaw square to the blade and went to town. I first had it up which would only get through 7" of the stock before I hit the top of the saw. Then I turned it on it's side. Lined it up and cut the rest off. It not only cut square but also left a nice finish on both cut surfaces. Something I couldn't get my 4x6 to do in anything that was over a 2" cut.

So I'm saying it is definitely worth it to look for a better saw for your needs. The 4x6 works. Mine is sloppy on it's hinge so it is almost impossible for it to cut square. It was like this out of the box. About the only thing I can do to fix it is bore out the hinge points and sleeve it, but that is a lot of work and set-up is the main issue.

[JoeSixPack74]

Those cheap bandsaws like the HF freight ones work great. Stand is flimsy but does not matter. When I used to race cars we had one a Central Machinery one that was about 20 years old. Cut roll bar tubing, drive shafts, suspension springs, all with ease. We used a redneck lubricator though. My friend with a Busch light in one hand and WD40 in the other.

[bogiestl]

Anyone ever use one of these things with drip/flood coolant? How'd you catch the runoff? We've got a nice big Kazoo saw here, but I'm not going to have that sort of space in my small shop, but I'm still going to need to cut some small steel... Heck, worse comes to worse I can set the base in a big rubbermaid container...

[rocketflier]

search the net on '$200 bandsaw' and '4x6 bandsaw'
There are tons of mods out there including coolant.

[SuperFlyLoser]

HF 25% new years day coupon: LINK

SFL

[wizard]

A couple of years ago I stopped in at the Grizzly store to buy a smallish drill press. Luckless they have everything on display and you don't get bugged looking things over. None of their smaller drill presses where worth a damn, they had wobbly quils, spindle and just really poor fit and finish.

I ended up buying a drill press that was 2 or 3 sizes bigger than what I was originally thinking about. A much better machine even if it was terribly heavy.

Of all the small drill presses I've looked at since (can't resist to look) one of the best seems to be the Ryobi. They appear to be well put together for costing less than $200. Not that I've actually used one but they seenpm solid.

I also have the HF bandsaw. Although the base is a bear to assemble, it does seem to do the job, albeit just barely. Fitting another shelf to the bottom of the stand would help rigidity.

Keep in mind that I've not yet had to go to an outside source for cutting larger stuff, that is a viable option (at least for me).

And I'm still using the original blade, but have a couple of new bimetal blades hanging on the wall near the bandsaw for when the existing blade does break.

However, the same day I bought the HF bandsaw, I also bought the smallest HF drill press available. Bad decision. Next time I'll buy a much larger drill press.

Tom

A large drill press does end up being far more useful. I bought mine before even getting a mill (still don't have a mill), that might not be advisable if you are starting out in metal working but I do a bit of wood working so it was a justifiable purchase.

[wizard]

That is great but alternative exist and should be considered in the home shop.

The first thing thant comes to minds is using a cut off tool in a lathe.

Second is the human powered hack saw which can be very useful with a course blade.

A cold cut saw. This is a low speed circular cut off saw, not the high speed abrasive machines.

An abrasive cut off saw, but not for stainless steel.

A powered hack saw. These are actually getting hard to find.

Cutting torch.

Shears.

Chain drilling and a hack saw.

Sawsall. I'm not sure why this generated a negative response earlier but they can cut stock quickly and with care as well as the cheap band saws. A Sawsall is one of those things you need anyway so putting it to use on cutting off stock is good economics.

There are lots of ways to skin a cat. In this case, cutting stainless stock is probably best done on a bandsaw with coolant/lube. It is all about determination though. If you are stubborn enough you can cut through a 5" diameter chunk of A2 with a hack saw. Don't ask how long that took.