My harbor freight bandsaw try it again?

[Tom Hassad]

I gave up on this saw and it is collecting dust. I was reading how others modified this saw with a riser block, better tension coil, better guides, etc.

I estimate this would cost under $200 to make changes. I know with my saw I cranked the tension as far as possible and I still got blade drift and a horrible screeching noise whenever I used it and forget about trying to do any resawing.

Should I try the mod or would I throw good money after bad. I have asked some people who have done the mods and said they got mediocre results so I guess I am looking for an opinion that is based on trying to mod this or seen others mod this bandsaw.... Tom

[Paul Symchych]

I will share my experience with an antique car that could bear on your situation.
I the '70s I had a 1925 Dodge Brothers sedan that was in excellent condition. On a whim I took it in to a restorer thinking it would be an easy restoration into a show car. He told me it would take almost as much trouble to restore as it would a Rolls Royce and "in the end you'd still only have a Dodge".

[glenn bradley]

Paul hit the nail on the head to my way of thinking. I have had "throwing good money after bad" experiences myself. These experiences usually teach a lesson that is well learned but, better learned through someone else's experience ;-)

[Myk Rian]

You bought cheap. Tossing money at it won't change that.
My BIL gave me one when he moved to an apartment. I wound up giving it away free on CL.

[Curt Harms]

IMO it depends on whether you have some mechanical inclination and spare time. You might back all the guides away from the blade, turn the saw on and see it it still screeches. Check the wheels to see if they're coplanar. I took a piece of 1/4" plywood about a foot wide with one good straight edge. Cut away enough so that it'll fit over the table & frame and the straight edge will touch and top and bottom of each wheel. Adjust until they all do; you might have to shim one wheel or adjust the tilt on the bottom wheel. One of the downsides of harbor freight machines is the documentation can be rather........sketchy hence the need for mechanical inclination. So far your only cost is time and perhaps a scrap of plywood.

If you can get it to run smooth and quiet, then consider investing in a good blade or two. The blade that came with it is probably crap. Personally I'd look at somebody like Timberwolf (www.suffolkmachinery.com), Louis Iturra or www.woodcraftbands.com.

[Mike Harrison]

I've had my HF saw for nearly 20 years and its been a very good tool. I bought a riser kit, installed a 3HP motor, put some ball bearing guides on it, and built a simple resaw fence from some laminated MDF. I use it quite a lot re-sawing flat panels.

[david brum]

My first bandsaw was a HF 14". It wasn't a terrible saw, not worse than many other generic import 14" saws. It had limitations which are common to all of those saws. Blade guides are useless, tension spring is useless, drive belt is lumpy, tension knob is difficult to use, dust collection is useless, motor is too small, etc. There are also myriad other details that are omitted on the HF saws, such as not having hinges on the doors and awkward location of the switch.

I added a riser block, new Iturra spring, better guides, Fenner link belt and used 1.5hp motor to mine. It worked great. It passed the nickel test, no problem. It took a lot of effort to get it there, though.

After I did all the work, I happened to see a Shop Fox (Grizzly) 14" saw at a retailer. I slapped myself on the forehead because it already had most of the improvements plus lots of other details I'd wished for. Aside from the dozens of hours involved, I could have bought the nicer saw for less money than the HF saw plus improvements. That was a lesson learned, for sure.

I eventually got a 17" saw which has far more capabilty and worked out of the box. There is no comparison. Such saws are getting really affordable these days. My advice would be to put your $200 toward one of those rather than sinking it into a 14" saw. You can always keep the HF saw for cutting curves,etc. I agree that the screeching noise is probably because you're trying to cut wood with the cheap metal cutting blade that comes stock on these.

[Bill Huber]

I know with my saw I cranked the tension as far as possible and I still got blade drift and a horrible screeching noise whenever I used it and forget about trying to do any resawing.

You can tension the blade until the cows come home and it will do nothing for the draft. If you have a bad blade or it is not centered on the wheels then it will draft.
If you want to stay with the same size band saw then get a good blade and if you can not get it working right you will still have a good blade for when you get a new saw. As Curt said check the wheels out and make sure they are fine. The screeching come from the back bearing in most cases so make sure you have a good bearing there and the blade is adjusted so that it is not touching it when you are not cutting.

[Joseph Tarantino]

i'd try contacting iturra design. they don't have a website but can be reached here:

http://www.manta.com/c/mmc3znn/iturra-design

lou iturra can review what you have and suggest what you would need to improve the functioning of your saw. but lou will also not just sell you stuff that "might" help. if he thinks you're just gong to be throwing good money after bad, he'll tell you so beforehand. he is great guy to know for ANYTHING band saw related.

[Alan Schwabacher]

The main problem with HF stuff is not that it's all terrible, but that it's quite variable so you can't be sure whether it will be decent. If yours is halfway decent, it should not take anywhere near $200 to make it work well. It will take a good blade, careful alignment (of guides, pulleys, and wheels,) and functional guide blocks (which can be hardwood). You'd need to check the support to make sure it's solid, and perhaps add weatherstripping or something to eliminate rattles that can contribute to screeching. But it should not require a stronger spring or motor to work well (which is not saying these won't do something once it does.)

If you like tinkering with machinery, you can likely get this saw to work fine without investing a lot of money. If you don't enjoy tinkering, your time can probably be more profitably spent elsewhere. If you want a saw you can use without tinkering, buy something else.

[Neil Brooks]

The phrase "lipstick on a pig" comes to mind

If you WERE one of the lucky ones -- whose HF band saw really IS a decent, if limited, machine -- then ... yeah ... okay ... why not put a few bucks into upgrades.

But ... GM once took a Chevy Cavalier, put leather seats in it, and called it a Cadillac Catera.

And it really wasn't a better car, after all

Used 14" Delta. Watch CraigsList in your area.....

[Phil Thien]

I think the main question is: Why did you give up on the saw to begin with?

Bandsaws are deceptively simple, but can be amazingly aggravating to the new user.

Buying a different one won't necessarily solve any problems if the underlying problem was inexperience in setting up and using the tool to being with. And even if someone delivers the perfect saw to your doorstep, things do go wrong. Knowing how to troubleshoot problems will prevent you from having to buy a new saw each time you encounter a new issue.

I'd try to identify the problem(s) you're having, and address those. Then determine where upgrades are necessary.

[Tom Hassad]

Thanks for the suggestions. Since they discontinued the riser Kit I would have to get the grizzly and I added it up to around $150 for new blade, riser, new coil spring, cool blocks, a longer tensioner,etc. I have the stock motor which is rated at 1 hp, I believe. I did buy timber wolf blades at one time and I knew enough to throw out the stock blade when I started. The blades did not seem to help. The screeching noise was probably the back bearing because it was horrible as I pushed the wood through the blade. Since my goal is to resawing maybe I should not waste my money with a bandsaw with a weak motor? I thought my bandsaw would be equivalent to the setup of Michael fortune's but maybe that extra hp makes all the difference as well as the better parts I need.

To answer the question from Phil, I never had a good experience cutting wood. I would get major drift or would feel like I was pushing too hard and making too little progress with the feed rate so I got to the point I felt scared to use it because I knew it should not be this hard to get a decent cut. I would think getting a bigger motor might be expensive so seems like maybe I should wait and buy a bigger machine.

[Mike Harrison]

I think Alan and Phil have given you some sound advise, and I guess Neil never had a good BBQ Ham Sandwich.

All those items in your $150 upgrade package, you'd have to buy for any 14" saw, as none come with a risers or cool blocks. I agree with Alan about the spring, I think its a non issue.

I too think buying more expensive tools doesn't equal success. Go to the library and leaf through two or three band saw books, look past all the disguised sales pitches, and note what they all have in common. Those are the salient issues with a band saw. Phil is correct when he says band saws are deceptively simple.

[Tom Hassad]

Thanks again for all who replied. I just wanted to give an update. I took the bandsaw apart and figured that the belts needed tightening and things adjusted and then I proceeded to try cutting a thick block of wood and I got a lot of blade drift, partly due to the mediocre guides and the fact that I tensioned the blade to the max I could turn and new it still was not enough. I figured I wanted to see if I could get to close enough because that would give me confidence to make all the replacements. However, I can see I would have to do a lot of tinkering and I think I will skip all that and buy a new saw. After researching all the parts I would need to add, and after spending the day in the garage breaking down and putting the bandsaw together, I decided I did not want to do that again and I want to buy something that will only need minor adjustments. Now, gathering the funds will be a whole different topic. Thanks again, Jake.