Hacksaw versus Bandsaw

My old (Taiwanese) power hacksaw is fudged. To be precise it was fudged when I bought it secondhand 16+ years ago. In theory it had coolant and hydraulic pressure relief on the back stroke, but they either never worked and/or parts were missing. It's now totally fudged as one of the main castings has fractured. It still works after a fashion but is terminally ill.

So the question is, do I replace it with another power hacksaw or a horizontal bandsaw?

In terms of specification I'd like the saw to cope with 4" plus rounds, including stainless steel, and up to 6" depth on sections. Angled cuts are also desirable. I don't care if it's single or three phase. It would be good if it cut square when set to do so! On the current hacksaw the vice twists slightly when done up tight - poor design. Budget is flexible, but let's say less than £500. If I buy new I expect it to work out of the box.

I suspect that the very small import bandsaws aren't going to cut the mustard, or the metal, so to speak. So it seems to be a choice between a larger, new, bandsaw and a secondhand power hacksaw from Ebay or a dealer. I'm a little bit limited on space, especially height, which may tend to count against a bandsaw.

I've had a look on Ebay and power hacksaws vary from cheap, ~£50, to silly money. The larger Q&S saws are good but probably too big. I'm more in the Rapidor size I think.

I don't mind waiting for the right saw, in the right place, to come up. And I don't mind giving it a clean and overhaul, but it would need to be complete and working.

Let battle commence, what does the jury think?

Andrew

Andrew,

I would recommend one of the small bandsaws. Have had mine for about 5 years and often use it. It will cut the sizes that you want and quicker than a hack saw. Recommended to use good blades. Bi-metal last much longer and reasonably priced. Mine only weighs about 20kg and easy to move and store.

See previouse posts: **LINK**

Paul.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 24/06/2017 12:23:47

I have one of Mach.Mart Clarkes ( usual disclaimer ) 6" x 4" bandsaws, does the job for me fine albeit a bit on the heavy, awkward to move size on its sheet metal legs, got it on one of their vat free days about 5 yrs ago, cost me £269.99 then, todays price is...

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/cbs45md-41-2in-x-6in-metal-cutting-ban/​ ... £269. ex vat.

​apart from a slight adjustment for square alignment it worked straight out of the box.

George.

The next size up Femi to mine would do 6" stock and probably be just about withing budget, expect Pauil has linked to teh previous discussions about them.

They do make them with auto feed if you don't want to stand there while slicing up 6" billets, for teh amount I do the hand feed is fine.

J

p.s. on the last of the 5 blades that I bought with the saw... 5 blades in 5 years aint bad, but there again never had need to put it to daily use so...

Geo.

Hi Andrew I've got a 6x4 bandsaw which I find is very good. I bought mine from Chronos ( just a customer ) you can see it going if your over this way ( not in the plane)

I suspect you'd struggle with the 4x6 bandsaw. As you probably know, they have a max round capacity of around 120mm and the workholding is pretty basic. They also take forever to cut anything approaching that. But there are any number of bandsaws above that size....

Taking Grizzly's range or those from Axeminster as representative of what comes out of China these days, you can take your pick. Even better, a proper (used?) professional machine would be a nice result if you have the space - some even come with hydraulic feed, hydraulic vise(s), auto bar feed, coolant etc.

Murray

Andrew,

​For the size of work you do I would be inclined to go for a decent used horizontal bandsaw from one of the reputable auction sites. There are bound to be sales near Cambridge to give you a chance to view before purchase.

​I have seen carefully used gear on 1st Machinery Auctions, but there are others. They operate on line auctions but with an annoying 10 minute rule which does allow a last minute bid to steal away a potential bargain and open the field again for more bidding. These are industrial sales of course but with careful judgement can be rewarding.

​My experience of the smaller hobby saws has been generally unhappy and at the sizes you quote likely to be running at maximum capacity anyway; I don't have the space for anything else however.

Regards
Brian.

I have a Rapidor. Does what it says on the tin and cuts as square as you can reasonably expect. Never measured it but probably around a thou or so per inch out on a decent chunk of solid with a new blade.

Actually I have two of nominal 6" capacity. The one I use is a later closed base version with a fixed vice and stop switch in the contactor power feed. Paid £160 for that on a package deal witha Pollard 15AY drill.

The other is an older open frame version with angle adjustable vice and mechanical clutch to disconnect the blade at the end of the cut. Cost £20. No motor and needing decent clean up out of the craziest workshop I ever saw with flat belt drive to the machines from a line shaft running in an uncovered gully on the floor immediately in front of them. I could be persuaded to part with it for £ very reasonable. Far as I know it still works fine. Only reason I've not used it is the other, complete and running, machine turned up a fortnight later before I'd sorted a motor, pulleys and belts. I went for the drill but ...

Also have an early, Alpine badged, 6 x 4 bandsaw. Less said the better.

Clive.

I own a WARCO CY90 bandsaw. I have tried cutting through 2.5" dia. mild steel but before it gets through I have to turn it of as the motor gets so hot I can smell the varnish burning on the windings - and that is with a new Starret bi-metal blade fitted supplied by Tuff Saws (and no, it is NOT to tight).

I have put up with it for a number of years though because like George, I am nowhere like a heavy user.

Rik

Andrew,

bought my SIP 12" horizontal B/saw from a place that took back the returned machines....heard Machine Mart + Clarke has such a place......just over 1/2 price of the retail......mine had a damaged starter push button box...gaffer taped it up about 10 years ago, never fixed it...still works a treat.....has a Hydraulic ? damper for the down action....cut's pretty square except when the blade starts to wear....blade about £30 and last quite well........always have a new 1 when cutting RSJ and the big rounds....it's on wheels with a coolant pump.....for really heavy jobs I pay someone to cut to order.....and a whole lot cheaper to run than the abrasive cut off saw's.....

clogs

I have the larger machine mart bandsaw & it's a good machine once set up,I would never buy their blades though, I keep my eye open for 100 ft bandsaw coils at autojumbles & make my own with a homemade jig silver soldered together, at £20 odd for a coil it works out at just over£2 a blade although I picked up a wadkin bursgreen bandsaw brazer quite a few yrs ago but my home made ones just as good, I've had a rapidor "nodding donkey" for over 40 yrs & although I have the bandsaw I wouldn't part with it,it has a central vice so you can cut really small lengths of metal, I never pay more than £2 for an eclipse blade at autojumbles,

This struck a chord with me as my ancient 4x6 Warco bandsaw motor does run very hot. I notice that the motor plate includes the wording "TEMP RISE 55 deg C". My interpetration of this is that it is permissible to run the motor at, say, 55 + 20 (room temperature) = 75 deg C. On prolonged cuts I have attempted to monitor the motor casing temperature by using a Maplin laser thermometer and have given the motor a rest when the temperature seemed too high.

I'm not sure whether the "rest" should be a switch off or continuing to run off load so that the fan can do its work. Like Rik Shaw with his much newer machine I am using one of Tuff Saws' excellent blades. I can't say I have noticed any burning smells, however.

Bought new in 1981 the machine cost me £166; this compares with £215 for the newer machine with slightly less capacity and VAT now at 20% as opposed to 15% in 1981.

I realize this is a bit OT but would be interested in the views of other owners on the hot running point.

Hi Andrew,

Regarding your search for a bandsaw,allow me to add my tuppence worth. I bought a cheap Taiwan bandsaw about 12/15 years ago [the memory is not great at this stage ] I have cut everything and anything with it,including 4" round and 6"x4" rsj and everything in between,and it does cut square. OK,the stand that came with it was crap,but I replaced that with a proper stand on wheels and later on fitted a coolant system,using a pump from an old washing machine.While I dont do production work,I do use that machine every other day,sometimes for hours at a time.Yes,the motor does get hot,hotter than I would like,but this seems to be quite in order with these motors. Mine has never given any trouble in all that time. It is rated to cut 5" round and 6x4 flat and for the price,I consider it to be one of the best machines I ever bought. A lot depends on the type of work you want to do,hobby or full time production,it,s a case of "Horses for courses" For the average small workshop,I dont think you will go too far with one of these saws. As someone else pointed out,a good blade makes all the difference. Come to think of it,I dont remember buying too many blades over the years,but I do remember cutting up a mountain of metal.

Hopes this helps.

The 6x4 bandsaw motors do indeed get silly hot but put up with it remarkably well. I once set mine to do a cut whilst I went to lunch, came back around 3/4 of an hour later to find it stalled halfway through with the motor case so hot that touching it gave em a nice little burn. It survived just fine. I think they are very inefficient on 240 volts.

Unfortunately the 6x4 saws are a severely compromised design. Blade run is too short , wheels too small and twist rate between guides and wheels excessive for the size of blade. Being made to sell at a low price doesn't help either. There is a limit to what can be done for the money. My view is the market defined price point is about £100 too low so rough edges come with the territory.

Next size up are vastly better machines. Over double the price means that most of the rough edges have been smoothed out and some of the nice extras important for a workhorse saw included. Best of all the larger wheels and larger bow are much kinder to the blade so things just work that much better. I'd never completely trust a 6x4 again but the bigger ones are approaching the Rapidor in leave it to beaver competence.

Clive.

Clive Foster:

Do the "leave it to beaver" ones get 'otter?

Thanks for all the replies. I detect a slight leaning to bandsaws. An industrial bandsaw would be great, but sadly I just don't have the room. I would admit to a hankering for a power hacksaw, but another look on Ebay raises some questions. The saws either seem to be very cheap (<£100) which probably equals doesn't work. Or "how much!" expensive which indicates that the seller is in cloud cookoo land, with just a few that are realistically priced. Of course the problem of buying online is collection, both distance and I'd need to hire a trailer for a hacksaw.

Anyway, due to a very generous offer by a forum member I will be acquiring a 6x4 bandsaw plus spare blades in due course. I just need to go and pick it up.

Andrew

Andrew, while the 6 x 4 H-V bandsaws do a great job, if I could afford one I would go next size up, I think they have a 20 mm wide blae, and will cut at least 6 x 6, and probably less than 1000 pound.

We cut all the steel for 60 of these bale feeders, plus a number of other bits and pieces with a 4x 6 saw.  Ian S C

Edited By Ian S C on 26/06/2017 03:52:44

Can we assume for the purpose of this discussion that "6 x 4" is the same thing as 4 x 6, and vice versa?

Ian S C:

Was overheating an issue for you, please?

ega, the only time it overheated (terminally), was one evening my mate was cutting a hefty lump of steel, he switched on and went and had his evening meal, when he came back an hour later expecting the job finished, he saw smoke coming out of the motor, and the saw jambed in the cut, that would have been 15 years ago, I think any motor without a thermal cut out would have done the same. Under normal use I'v never found the motor to over heat.

Ian S C