Bandsaw or powered hacksaw, Which to get?

[ozzie46]

 Uuhh, How much is a Quid in U.S. ?  Can't find that in currency converter. 

  Ron

[spuddevans]

 Uuhh, How much is a Quid in U.S. ?  Can't find that in currency converter. 

  Ron

A Quid is slang for a pound or £ .

[No1_sonuk]

LOL.
"Quid" is the British version of the US "buck", but we don't put "s" on the end for plural.

[ozzie46]

OK, Thanks. I kind of thought so but wasn't sure.


   Ron

[bogstandard]

Ron,

It is quoted that way as some of you can't pick up the pound (£) sign because of your keyboard layout.

Quid (singular), Squid (multiple) is shorter to type than pound or pounds, and also, it then doesn't get confused with the weight value of pounds (lbs).


Bogs

[Darren]

What is your view on it after having used it for a year? Happy with it?


Tim

Very happy with it. Though it does have it's limitations as pointed out by others. But it is more than capable for the home workshop and then some.

The biggest complaint is the stand, it needs junking. I've had two of these saws, first was new and this one was almost free. Both suffered by the naff quality of the stands.
A new stand it to be built shortly....

[arnoldb]

Tim, herewith the photos:

Sorry for the mess; didn't clean the saw (Now where's that red face smiley when you need it?  )

First up, the parts I made to be able to cut short lengths of stock.  I love the vice on this saw as it is a breeze to operate, so I made slip-on extension pieces to get clamping power close to the blade.  I also made an extension that extends the base of the vice beyond the blade, so I can just clamp up a work piece and there is enough support for it to lay flat, even if it is very short.  This base extension just presses into the hole normally used for the depth stop, which I have never used in the 3 years I've had the saw.


All extensions slipped on, and cutting a 1mm slice off a 6mm long piece of round bar (everything's nice and shiny here; took the next 2 photos just after I got the saw and made the mod):


And close-up:


Next up, where I ground away bits to get the saw to work near-vertical; it's off by about 10 degrees from vertical, but fine for now:


Making a table for it is still in the overflowing bin of round tuits; I know how, just need to do it at some point...

If you want any more detail, give a shout 

Cheers, Arnold

[Darren]

I like it........

[spuddevans]

That's great Arnold great mods and I am impressed that you can slice a 1mm thick piece off a 6mm thick piece. Have you had to do much to the bandsaw to set it up to cut that accurately? ( apart from making the extended jaws on the vice )


Tim

[arnoldb]

Thanks Darren & Tim

Tim, not much. getting horizontal cutting square is a case of using a square to set the base.

Vertical is a bit more of a problem though.  The blade's bearing guides are adjustable and can pivot a bit, so I set those using a couple of repeated cuts to see where I end up.  But blade tension and the type of material you are cutting do have an influence.  Also blade sharpness.  As the blade starts becoming blunt, it is inclined to cut more of-square vertically.  Mild steel, brass and cast iron do not tend to deflect too much, but aluminium does, I suspect because of tooth clogging in the blade - (once again Yours Truly too lazy to change blades) .

I've never been able to get a hold of bimetal blades, so I don't know how those will behave differently.

Apart from this, the saw is very acceptable.  If you do go for one of these, just disassemble it when you get it, and reassemble, checking that all screws are tight.  As-received, mine's pulleys didn't even align properly.

I'll also get around to adding hinges to the blade cover, and a quick-release screw, so that changing blades are easier.

 

[NickG]

I know where there's a 2nd hand axminster power hacksaw same as Boggies for £150. http://www.bedetools.com/page18.html
I only went there for a lathe change wheel but ended up talking to the bloke for over an hour!  Luckily quite near my work but they do deliver stuff.

Nick

[spuddevans]

I know where there's a 2nd hand axminster power hacksaw same as Boggies for £150. http://www.bedetools.com/page18.html
I only went there for a lathe change wheel but ended up talking to the bloke for over an hour!  Luckily quite near my work but they do deliver stuff.

Nick

Thanks for that link that would be great.  Now, I wonder if I can convince my inlaws to move a bit closer 

Sadly I think that place is too far away from Burnley

Ho hum, the search goes on.

[jim]

Arnold, thems some great mods to your saw, mines the same one.

i'd not even thought about exteding the bottom of the vice

i'd got the extension to the vice jaws figured out

its another reason i like this site, always a mod that you can do to improve the shop

[mklotz]

As long as we're collecting bandsaw mods, let me throw in my contribution, already written for the HMEM forum...

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=896.0

[spuddevans]

That's a good one Marv, another mod filed for a future build 


Tim

[NickG]

They can arrange next day delivery but looks pretty pricey depending on where you are! Like you say, it's a fair trip from burnley, even the return fuel would cost quite a bit.

Nick

[Mike K]

Tim,

If you do get the bandsaw, there is a good Yahoo group with lots of tip, tricks, and mods:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/4x6bandsaw/

I've had my 4x6 for about a year and am very pleased with it.  Would be nice if it took up less space, but that's my fault for not tidying up the garage.

Mike

[arnoldb]

jimmyocharlie, thanks.  It's a simple modification for this type of saw.  My modification is very crude, but has served me well, as I made it "perfectly"  level with the vice bed.

When I did my mods, I did it with whatever I had at-hand; it could be done much more gracefully, but from a practical point, I've not had any reason to change my set-up.  I will, however, at some point make a plan to make it easier to change the blade.

A question from my side out of interest's sake... How often have any of you needed your saw changed to saw at a different angle than square?

  Arnold

[spuddevans]

I THINK the HV128 can go vertical.

You think correctly  I ended up emailing Chester, just on the off chance that they might have changed/added the feature of vertical operation since Bogs inquired about them, and what do you know, I got a reply stating that the HV128 can be used in both horizontal and vertical positions ( though not at the same time  ) and it can be locked in the upright position and there is even an optional table for sale for upright use.


Just thought I'd share that in case anyone else might be looking for the same capability.

Tim

[bogstandard]

If someone is quick, maybe you can get yourself a bargain.

Kindly ripped off from John Stevenson's site

http://www.homeworkshop.org.uk/latest.html

Also note that the Arc Euro hacksaw is much cheaper than the Axminster offering

http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Machines-Accessories/Saws

http://www.axminster.co.uk/sessionID/QOL/product-Axminster-SIEG-Axminster-SIEG-G1-Powered-Hacksaw-366124.htm


Bogs

[spuddevans]

Thanks for posting that Bogs 

If someone is quick, maybe you can get yourself a bargain.

Someone was quicker than me, I did email and phone but I was too late unfortunately 

Tim

[bogstandard]

That's the problem with very popular sites like John's.

When bargains come up, you gotta be quick.

It was most probably sold before I even put it on here, but you've got to try.


John

[jgroom]

Hi all, heres some pics of the saw I've been using.  It was made close to 30 years ago from plans in Pop Mechanics. 





Not sure about the rusty chisel 





No pickup on the backstroke, but that doesn't seem to hurt anything.  It's a little rough but it gets the job done. 

Jeff

[sbwhart]

That looks a nice honest bit of kit. I really like it


It's a little rough but it gets the job done.  Sounds just like me:- have we met   


Thanks for showing

Stew

[bogstandard]

Enough of all this talk about bandsaws and hacksaws, just get a machine in that will cope with anything that is liable to crop up in the future.


BTW, a very nice 'home mader' there Jeff.


Bogs