Anyone have a northern tool band saw?

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After using the 3 different band saws at work I can never look at my dewalt chop saw the same ever again. And I have ALOT  of production work coming up in my shop. And the last thing I want to do is clean burs from abrasive cuts. And while the saws running I can be doing something else too instead of pushing a chop saw down. So here's my question is this northern tool bandsaw worth it or should I eat the extra 200$ and get the jet.
Reply:I have an old HF version of the same saw. It works fine if you put some work into it to make it cut straight and not throw blades.I do other things while mine cuts but don't go far because when the blade comes off you need to be near to cut power.With that said, I don't know if the Jet is better than the HF or NT versions. They are all 3 based on the same design.GravelThe difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference.
Reply:I have the Northern Tool 5x6 pivot head saw and for its size it does a very good job. The pivot head makes miter cuts real easy without moving the vise. It also has a nice hydraulic downfeed cylinder.I was cutting some 4" solid steel bar and went a little too fast and stripped the cast iron gears in the gearbox. Other than that, I feel it is worth the extra $ vs the 4x6. Use good blades and it will cut real nice.TOO MANY TOOLS & NO MORE SPACE
Reply:I spent several months looking and comparing builds on the saws you are looking at ( while using a loud, miserable, chop saw). They are not all built the same. Hardware is different, motors are different. Some of them wouldn't even work without hours of messing around with them, missing or broken parts, etc. Others had sloppy castings and no hope of a straight cut  . I settled on a Jet 7x12 with wet pump. Purchased online from home depot (400.00 off- online sale) and had it delivered to a local store. No shipping charges or sales tax. It was on a pallet and they loaded it. After cleaning it up and checking run out (spot on). Turned it on and never looked back. It has worked flawlessly with over a 100 cuts with original blade. You can always find something cheaper. But the saying goes- If the price is cheap, its for a reason.  A Little more than i wanted to spend- I had about 40 seconds of buyer remorse. I have earned the purchase price back in two months of use and no babysitting it. Smartest purchase I've made other than my miller 251.Last edited by kize; 09-18-2014 at 04:46 PM.
Reply:Originally Posted by kizeI spent several months looking and comparing builds on the saws you are looking at ( while using a loud, miserable, chop saw). They are not all built the same. Hardware is different, motors are different. Some of them wouldn't even work without hours of messing around with them, missing or broken parts, etc. Others had sloppy castings and no hope of a straight cut  . I settled on a Jet 7x12 with wet pump. Purchased online from home depot (400.00 off- online sale) and had it delivered to a local store. No shipping charges or sales tax. It was on a pallet and they loaded it. After cleaning it up and checking run out (spot on). Turned it on and never looked back. It has worked flawlessly with over a 100 cuts with original blade. You can always find something cheaper. But the saying goes- If the price is cheap, its for a reason.  A Little more than i wanted to spend- I had about 40 seconds of buyer remorse. I have earned the purchase price back in two months of use and no babysitting it. Smartest purchase I've made other than my miller 251.
Reply:Not a bad price on the jet saw and even nicer for you if you can pay for it with 2days work ! Your gonna have that engine drive in no time brother, what do you have coming up if you don't mind me asking
Reply:Originally Posted by Firemanmike69Not a bad price on the jet saw and even nicer for you if you can pay for it with 2days work ! Your gonna have that engine drive in no time brother, what do you have coming up if you don't mind me asking
Reply:Remember the Christmas break trailer builds? Well its those with 2 more decks on top lol
Reply:Keep an eye on Craigslist too.  I saw a nice horizontal bandsaw for sale in Williston a few weeks ago for $125.  Was sold before I could get to it.
Reply:Originally Posted by swampwelder13Remember the Christmas break trailer builds? Well its those with 2 more decks on top lol
Reply:Originally Posted by Chris T.I have the Northern Tool 5x6 pivot head saw and for its size it does a very good job. The pivot head makes miter cuts real easy without moving the vise. It also has a nice hydraulic downfeed cylinder.I was cutting some 4" solid steel bar and went a little too fast and stripped the cast iron gears in the gearbox. Other than that, I feel it is worth the extra $ vs the 4x6. Use good blades and it will cut real nice.
Reply:I had the same saw from harbor freight. Broke the stock blade in two so don't even bother with it. I spent a lot of time getting it to cut straight. I cut a piece of 1" aluminum solid square stock that was .009 on one end and .012. That was straight enough for me. Best part was how quiet it was and I can set it to cut and walk away. Now my stupid $1000 kama saw can't even do that. What I liked the best was how quiet it was.Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:Originally Posted by NicheFabHow are the cut times of your saw vs the 4x6? I imagine a fair amount faster with the wider blade. I like that saw and others in that class a LOT.Back to the topic, I have the aforementioned NT 4x6 bandsaw. I must say that it aint bad. I have used cold chop saws, cold bands saws, abrasive chop saws, and I gotta say.. for the money, the NT 4x6 ain't half bad. I have built a small handful of jobs so far with it and do like the fact that I can go take a sip of beer, oops, I mean tend to other functions while it does its thing. I keep a can of WD-40 near by to keep the blade lubed, tried using gear oil for the last job but too goopy. With the WD-40, I have been getting a fair number of cuts out of  each blade all things considered, no fuss/no muss easy broom clean-up and a generally precise cut assuming I use a protractor to set the blade.Thumbs up for the $$ in my opinion.-Niche