Choosing a chop saw?

[chumly2071]

I would pick the bandsaw over the chopsaw hands down. After I got my HF 4x6, I sold my Ryobi chop saw. Never regretted it. The only place you will still wish you might have one is if you are cutting hardened spring steel or any hardened steels. In these cases, I usually grab a 4-1/2" grinder with a cutting disc in it, or the plasma cutter.

As for the import plasma cutters,Parker metalworking gets a lot of attention on the 4x4 boards. They seem to have some initial issues, but the guys at Parker are supposed to be fairly good about backing up their equipment.

 

[canoetrpr]

Still hoping that one of you bandsaw fans will clear up for me if I will be able to cut stock that is longer than 6".

I can't believe that you guys are getting by only cutting things that are 4x6 in total.

 

[Willl]

I can't believe that you guys are getting by only cutting things that are 4x6 in total.

I think they're talking about this saw.
Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

 

[kennyd]

The 4x6 refers to height and width, not length. The max stock thickness is 4", while the max width is 6"(that's all the vise will open). Then length does not matter as long as its well supported.

Also, the blades that come with these saws are basically junk, so factor in a good bi-metal blade into the budget

 

[Bill_C]

Yep, that's the bandsaw, the red HF one. I think I caught it on sale for 159 but prices have gone up.

My vise will go out a little bigger, maybe 7 inches I think, but the cut width limit is the clearance between the sawblade guides, that's the 6 inch clearance--actually it's just a smidge more, I believe. The first blade lasted five or six months. I've got a cheapie Oldham blade from Tractor Supply on it now. (the old blade broke on Sunday and I was right in the middle of a project, so I had to get a blade from TSC). I'll see how long this blade lasts before paying more for a bimetal.

There's a Yahoo user group on these saws, with setup articles, blade comparisons, mods, and stands. Overall consensus is the saw is good but the included stand is cheap. One day I'll fab a better one...

 

[kennyd]

Kenny, any idea where I can get some of that smoke? And, how do you get it back in there?

It's only available in China...It cannot be made or purchased in the USA. It can only be installed by small Chinese people with very tiny fingers

 

[gsganzer]

If I had to do it over, I think I'd buy a Milwaukee portaband first. It has a lot more versatility for the DIY'er

 

[al3]

Bought a Makita chop a few years back. Cuts bar stock fine, but whenever doing pipe it flares out at the bottom of the cut. Must be some torque/twisting going on. At any rate, cut edge winds up being slightly less than square on the bottom portion. I致e tried slowing down, but still tapers. Doesn稚 appear to be excess play in the saw hinge?. For welding projects, if I had the floor space , I壇 prefer a band saw

 

[patrick_g]

Bought a Makita chop a few years back. Cuts bar stock fine, but whenever doing pipe it flares out at the bottom of the cut. Must be some torque/twisting going on. At any rate, cut edge winds up being slightly less than square on the bottom portion. I致e tried slowing down, but still tapers. Doesn稚 appear to be excess play in the saw hinge?. For welding projects, if I had the floor space , I壇 prefer a band saw

There is a significant overlap in the jobs you can do with a floor model band saw, hand held (electric hack saw) like the Milwaukee, and a chop saw. Each has abilities not shared by the others. Depending on your tasks, you might need only one or two of the three but to do it all well you need all three.

I have the HF hand held band saw (electric hack saw thingy) and it works but is super slow compared to a Milwaukee. I also have had Ryobi, Hf, and DeWalt chop saws with DeWalt being the clear front runner.

As to the repeated question of how long a cut can you make...

None of the three tools; floor model band saw, hand held band saw, nor the chop saw is intended to be used for "ripping." If you need to make a long cut you can use a metal cutting blade in a Skill saw. With patience you can use a SawzAll. Better would be a torch and better still a plasma.

Pat

 

[Bill_C]

I've never tried it, but I suppose if you really wanted to rip some long stock with the HF bandsaw, you could lock the bandsaw in the vertical position, then make a rip fence and infeed/outfeed rollers. It'd take a while to rip a 20 foot long stick but it could be done, in theory.