HF Bandsaw can make cuts!

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Duh - I know, everyone knows that.But, my saw was terrible!  I bought it about a year ago, I made a few "decently" straight cuts, then something went crazy and the thing wouldn't cut a pipe straight at all.  It would scallop the cut like the letter C.  If cutting a 1" piece of pipe off, the top would be 1", the middle would be like 3/4" and the bottom would be like 7/8" thick.  Terrible!  I spent so much time on a grinder to straighten out tubing for an exhaust job.I finally picked up a set of machinist squares:B&S Squares by Jon Kensy, on FlickrAnd went to town for about 2 hours last night aligning the saw.  I used a twisted wire cup brush wheel for my grinder and cleaned up the table deck and all clamp surfaces.  That alone made a huge improvement in how the saw clamp traveled.After aligning the blade I am FINALLY able to make decent cuts!Band Saw Dialed In by Jon Kensy, on FlickrWoo!Miller Diversion 180Hobart Handler 140 (Soon to be replaced with Miller 211?)Miller Spectrum 625 Extreme
Reply:Great cut!Can you add some detail to the adjustments you made and how you did them? I have a similar saw that could use some fine tuning
Reply:Originally Posted by sanddan52Great cut!Can you add some detail to the adjustments you made and how you did them? I have a similar saw that could use some fine tuning
Reply:A couple of things that require basically nothing are:1) My HF instructions say to NOT tension the blade like a gorilla, rather just enough to keep it from slipping on the drive wheel.  Oddly, that seemed to help some, although I can't bring myself to not give it a little more tension than "just enough".2) A "real" blade.  When I first got my HF 4x6, they were out of spare blades, so I went to N. Tool and got their stock repalcement blade.  Jeez, louise, huge difference in how fast it cuts and therefore, I believe, less time to wander.3) Spring tension.  My first inclination was to feed as slowly as possible to help prevent wandering, but a faster feed rate seems to help.4) Eyeball your upper and lower guide rollers and adjust them so the blade just barely touches the rollers.Still not PERFECT but much better.  All this on 1/8" thick square tubing and in some 3/16" plate.My next job is to grind out the imperfections in the work surface and clamps and MAYBE replace the hinge on the spring tension feed rate side with a good pillow block bearing.  I saw a guy's report on doing the pillow block where he sawzalled the existing bearing off and drilled/tapped holes for the PBB.  He did this because he claims the spring tensioner force increases as the saw lowers and this can slowly pull harder on the factory bearing and that pulls the saw off line a smidge.  Not sure if that's really true, but the little bit of play I definitely can feel.Time will tell.
Reply:I bought my 4x6, assembled it, and have been using it for 12yrs..  havent worked on it since,  I do clean it from time to time.. I only use Olson bi-metal blades.. probably one of the better tool purchases a guy could make for the money..tackleexperts.comwww.necessityjigs.comhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/mach...dingequipment/
Reply:Originally Posted by brucerI bought my 4x6, assembled it, and have been using it for 12yrs..  havent worked on it since,  I do clean it from time to time.. I only use Olson bi-metal blades.. probably one of the better tool purchases a guy could make for the money..
Reply:mine could probably stand to be gone through..  I really need to clean the gear box out and regrease it, I also have a new set of guide bearings to put on it, the ones on it are still good, I ordered some extra 608rs bearings for my plasma table and those happen to be the same bearings for the saw guides, which happen to be the metal shielded skate bearingstackleexperts.comwww.necessityjigs.comhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/mach...dingequipment/
Reply:Anything brass-safe is fine to use as gear oil, no? And it doesn't have to be completely full, right?Hobart EZ-Tig newbie.
Reply:Guys on 4x6 are using standard like Mobile 1 gear oil, or shell gear oil.Miller Diversion 180Hobart Handler 140 (Soon to be replaced with Miller 211?)Miller Spectrum 625 Extreme
Reply:Originally Posted by Jon KGuys on 4x6 are using standard like Mobile 1 gear oil, or shell gear oil.
Reply:heres the other discussion about the HF 4x6 saw http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=108361tackleexperts.comwww.necessityjigs.comhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/mach...dingequipment/
Reply:Bought mine off a guy on craigslist about 10 months ago for $50, and love this thing. I like being able tocut at midnight (if need be), and not bother the neighbors. I have not used my chop saw since. After watching that video, I will be doing a complete overhaul and making this little jem even better, and building a solid stand. Thats the one bad about it. The stand is junk.Miller Synchrowave 180 SDLincoln PowerMig 255Hypertherm Powermax 45Torchmate 2x2Victor O/A
Reply:Originally Posted by umahunterjoin the yahoo 4x6 band saw group  there's a full tutorial how to get it perfect with pics
Reply:Originally Posted by sanddan52Great cut!Can you add some detail to the adjustments you made and how you did them? I have a similar saw that could use some fine tuning