Pimped my HF Bandsaw

[jspelbring]

I've had the HF BS for about a year and a half, and have used it on occasion. Well, at the wood show a couple of weeks ago, I sat through Michael Fortunes bandsaw class. He gave us some excellent tips on tuning, jigs, etc. Based on his info, and the articles here on BT3, I set out to see if I could 'pimp' the HF out. For those of you out there who have the saw, and want to get the most out of it, here's what I've done, and my opinion on it's effectiveness. The pimping process has allowed me to delay my eventual "big bandsaw" purchase - is that a Good Thing?

Anyway, here goes:

1. Get the riser. I wanted decent resaw capability, and this is the starting point. The riser was easy enough to install, but it's only part of the solution.

2. Fence. I picked up the AccuFence (I think that's the name). Not bad, but not that great either. I hear good things about the Kreg. I've discovered that I don't really like the pin style resaw option. Properly tuned, I have no "drift", and just use a tall piece of MDF attached to my short fence.

3. Blades: Timber Wolf. 'Nuff said. (This is part 2 to being able to resaw)

4. Blade tension hand crank. Waste of money IMHO. The stock knob is inconventient, but this gizmo doesn't really help much.

5. Quick tension handle - Carter. I love it, and actually release the tension every time I leave the saw now.

Now, having done all of this, I was still not at all happy with the resaw capability. The saw would bog down, and sometimes the lower belt would slip (no matter how I tried to tension it). So yesterday (while at WoodCraft, oggling the 18" bandsaws), I picked up 5' of link belt. This was probably the biggest bang for the buck of any of these "upgrades". Here's how I installed it:

1. Remove both belts
2. Remove the middle pulley
3. Reverse the bottom pulley (the one that's on the motor) so that the smallest pulley is closest to the motor.
4. Install the link belt (I started with 5', then removed 3 or 4 links)

Wow! Suddenly, I had a saw that would actually resaw! More power (at least it feels that way), and faster too (I read about this somewhere on this board, but I can't find it).

Two other minor things I did:
- installed a brush to clean the lower wheel belt
- cut a hole in the bottom housing and installed a 4" DC fitting.

All in all, I still want a larger bandsaw, but my souped up HF will do nicely until I can afford one.

This has been very long winded (the coffee must have kicked in), but hopefully, it will help someone, and maybe save a little frustration.

-Jon

[jackellis]

I have the crank tensioner on my 14" Ridgid and like it *much* better than the crappy knob that offers absolutely no leverage. Takes about five seconds to tension the blade or let the tension out.

$150 for the Carter quick tension handle seemed like an expensive upgrade for a saw that only cost me $300 to begin with. But then again most of my tools are used.

[TB Roye]

Thanks for the tuneup/upgrade list. With the recent addition of a Jointer to my list of tools. It has opened up the possibilities of working with rough lumber and many of the projects require us of the bandsaw. I have the Hf band saw and have been thinking about upgrading it. I have timber wolf blades and a Rockler table and fence but time time add a link belt and possibly a riser and 1/2" blade. Did you use the HF riser kit or one of the others and where did you get the carter release lever?

Tom

[jspelbring]

Tensioner

I bought the release lever at the woodworkers show. Yes, it's expensive for a cheap saw, but to me it's worth it.

Tom:
I ordered the riser kit from HF - took about a month. I understand that other risers will work as well, but I haven't seen/tried any of them. The only down side to the riser is that you'll need new (105") blades.

I use the Timber Wolf 1/2" 3tpi for resaw, and it works well for me. I've heard good reports on the WoodSlicer as well.

[TB Roye]

Thanks for the info, The Woodworkers show will be here in April will check out the tension release lever then.

Tom

[JR]

It ain't real without pics, Jon!

Nice upgrades. I did a home-brew tensioning knob people might be inerested in. I got the idea here, I think it was Ken Masingale that suggested it.

I'll try to get a pic some time today.

JR

[bthere]

That's a quite a list of upgrades. I did a lot of the same on my Jet 14". When all was said and done, I wondered if I couldn't have gotten an 18" bandsaw for about the same amount. What do you think?

[maxparot]

I've done the Carter tension lever, brushes, roller blade guide and am using a set of their blades. I have the Kreg fence and the HF riser. Haven't added a link belt yet but maybe soon. I link the saw all tricked out it works very well.

[whitecobra]

Where did you get the riser to your HF unit from?
I can't find it at Harbor Freight
Is there another one that will fit that you know of easily?

I don't use the band saw much but at $250 for the HF on sale now pus a 20% coupon it might be a good deal for the occasional user if I can get the riser

Also is it worth it to have the "4 speed unit"

Dr D

[jspelbring]

True enough

That's a quite a list of upgrades. I did a lot of the same on my Jet 14". When all was said and done, I wondered if I couldn't have gotten an 18" bandsaw for about the same amount. What do you think?

I think that you're right, but I'll console myself with what I learned about band saws and tuning. When I finally do pull the plug and get a larger bandsaw, I know exactly what to look for, and which features are most important to me. So what if I have $600 or so invested in a saw that should only be $230 -- it's the journey, right?

[jspelbring]

Where did you get the riser to your HF unit from?
I can't find it at Harbor Freight
Is there another one that will fit that you know of easily?

I don't use the band saw much but at $250 for the HF on sale now pus a 20% coupon it might be a good deal for the occasional user if I can get the riser

Also is it worth it to have the "4 speed unit"

Dr D

I got the riser from HF - mail order only, I think. The part # is: 199189, but it's not showing up on the site. I believe that the riser block from Ridgid or Delta should work - corrections anyone?

As to the 4 speed, if I had it to do over, I'd get the single speed. Part of my "upgrade" was to remove the extra pulley anyway. If you look at the specs at HF, you'll notice that the single speed actually is faster. I think it has a different motor too - one that can be wired for 220V. I just checked the site, and I don't see the single speed listed anymore. I wonder what's up with that?

[AlanWS]

I have a riser block from Grizzly. It was on sale -- designed for one of their discontinued saws. I had to remove the alignment pins and drill for new ones, and buy a different long guidepost, since the one with the kit had the wrong diameter. The rest of the stuff fit.

Another useful but simple fix is to replace with knobs the bolts used to adjust the thrust bearing and guide blocks. That makes setup faster and more pleasant. The plastic table insert is best traded out for something more rigid, like hardwood.

If you are installing brushes on the tires, the easy way to do it is to bolt on a toothbrush without worrying much about placement. Once it is attached, you can heat the handle with a torch or heat gun, and bend it to postion the brush on the tire, holding until it cools. That's a heck of a lot easier than the way I did the first one.

Under the table DC is nice, but works best if it encloses the blade with only a small blade clearance at the blade exit. But that can complicate adjustments and blade changing. I think the idea of holding the pickup in place with magnets came from this forum. I've found that a 1 liter clear plastic bottle makes a great pickup. It can be cut to fit a 4" DC hose on one end, and a slit on the other end allows it to flex fit around the blade. You can pop it on or off in seconds, but it fits around the blade with little clearance, and you can see the blade and adjustments with it in place.

[Tom Miller]

Good list of pimps, Jon!

I was surprised by this, though:

4. Blade tension hand crank. Waste of money IMHO. The stock knob is inconventient, but this gizmo doesn't really help much.

When I made a crank to replace my CTI tensioning knob (CTI = carpal tunnel inducing), I couldn't believe how much easier it was to operate. It practically gave me a whole new outlook on my saw. I'd be interested to know how the crank your talking about compares to my version, found here, with respect to its operation, leverage, etc.

One good thing about a quick release lever that many don't understand, though, is that the pointed tensioning rod won't "drill" a hole through your casting as quickly.

Regards,
Tom

[theminor]

This grizzly riser kit fits the HF bandsaw perfectly with no modifications needed. Part number H7316. I ordered it and installed it on my HF bandsaw. The only thing that doesn't match is the color, but it doesn't look that bad

I'm looking to add a quick tension release lever like the Carter, but the $150 Carter is the only one I've found. There is a DIY version here and I'm thinking of trying this one out. Has anyone else made one like that one? It would save $150 and looks quite easy to make!

I think the idea of holding the pickup in place with magnets came from this forum. I've found that a 1 liter clear plastic bottle makes a great pickup

AlanWS, can you elaborate? I'm not sure I follow what you mean as to how to do this. Is the bottle under the table or where?

3. Reverse the bottom pulley (the one that's on the motor) so that the smallest pulley is closest to the motor.

jspelbring, why reverse the bottom pulley like this - what is the reasoning for re-orienting it in this manner? I'm just wondering if I should do the same? I have the link belts, but I didn't reverse the pulley...

[jspelbring]

Pulley

This grizzly riser kit fits the HF bandsaw perfectly with no modifications needed. Part number H7316. I ordered it and installed it on my HF bandsaw. The only thing that doesn't match is the color, but it doesn't look that bad

I'm looking to add a quick tension release lever like the Carter, but the $150 Carter is the only one I've found. There is a DIY version here and I'm thinking of trying this one out. Has anyone else made one like that one? It would save $150 and looks quite easy to make!



AlanWS, can you elaborate? I'm not sure I follow what you mean as to how to do this. Is the bottle under the table or where?



jspelbring, why reverse the bottom pulley like this - what is the reasoning for re-orienting it in this manner? I'm just wondering if I should do the same? I have the link belts, but I didn't reverse the pulley...

I reversed the pulley because I wanted the wheel that drives the lower bandsaw wheel (does that make sense?) to align with the smallest pulley track at the motor - remember, I removed the middle pulley entirely - Straight from the motor to the wheel. Once the surgery was complete, there was only one belt (link) in use. I'll try to get some pics this week.

As to the earlier question on the crank, I find that it's a bit flimsy, and takes two hands - one to crank, and one to steady the rod