Hinging the doors on HF 14" Band Saw

[tfischer]

A number of years ago I bought a Harbor Freight 14" band saw on the recommendation of this forum. It has served me well so far, but one thing that really has bugged me is that the doors are not hinged like on other similar saws. Just seems to make it that much more of a PITA to change the blades or get in there and adjust something/clean up.

It doesn't seem like it would be that hard to add hinges to it, so I was wondering if anyone had ever done that.

My thought would be to eliminate the left knobs, replacing them with a nut to hold on the back blade guard and then shortening the threaded studs so that they don't interfere with the door. Then add hinges to the back of the saw, keeping the front knobs to secure the doors closed.

Thoughts?

[bmyers]

Yes, same saw, same thoughts. But then I think maybe it's nice to not have hinges perhaps. You know, people with straight hair want curly hair, grass is always greener blah blah.

It would be easy I would think to hinge the doors. It would be nice if folks with hinged BS doors chime in about any drawbacks to having them hinged.

B

[mpc]

Hinged doors on my bandsaw: biggest headache with them is uneven floors or tilted bases. Depending on the tilt angle the doors may want to swing shut when released... constantly getting in the way. Several bandsaw brands have metal tabs attached to the inside of the door; these act as springs when the door is closed to keep it from rattling. They also are darn good at snagging the blade while the door is open.

Many doors are mounted on post-style hinges so the door can be lifted straight up (once it's open) to be removed. The posts on the bandsaw body stick straight up and snag blades too.

Still, I'd rather have a hinged door that stays attached to the saw for blade changes rather than one that I have to remove and find somewhere to set down.

mpc

[LCHIEN]

BMeyers has a point.
On my Bandsaw the bottom door won't open until I remove the rip fence and the rip fence mounting bracket from the front of the table, the bracket has a protrusion that interferes with the door clearance.

[jdon]

Glad to have hinges on my Ridgid- one less thing to worry about reattaching when changing blades. Only quibble is that lower door hits the motor, so can't open wide open.

[dbhost]

I actually like the fully removable doors... follows the KISS principle. ..

[tfischer]

I actually like the fully removable doors... follows the KISS principle. ..

But what's more simple than opening a door?

You're probably right, I should probably leave well enough alone. But I love a good project...

[dbhost]

I don't recall the item number but the 32208 was replaced by a model with hinged doors. I would suspect the conversion would be easy...

[tfischer]

I don't recall the item number but the 32208 was replaced by a model with hinged doors. I would suspect the conversion would be easy...

Good to know. I'll have to stop by HF and check out how they do it.

[d_meister]

You can have the best of both with lift-off hinges and may be the solution to Loren's and jdon's lower door problem:
http://www.hardwaresource.com/hinges...+Joint+Hinges/

[dbhost]

You can have the best of both with lift-off hinges and may be the solution to Loren's and jdon's lower door problem:
http://www.hardwaresource.com/hinges...+Joint+Hinges/

Now THAT I like!

FWIW, the HF band saw that had the hinged doors was already been superceded by the new gray model. I think the hinged door model was carried from maybe 2011 to 2013...

The new saw, item #60564 appears to be almost identical to the old item #32208 except the paint colors have changed, they added ball bearing blade guides, and the location of the dust collection port has been moved to the bottom left of the lower wheel guard.

The lift off hinge though looks like a worthwhile change instead of a fixed hinge. I don't neccesarily hate the idea of a hinge, I just want to easily remove the doors if I need to... The lift off hinges look like a great solution!

[tfischer]

I like that idea also. Anyone have a good (cheap) source of lift-off hinges of an appropriate size?

[dbhost]

I would measure the depth of the doors, and where they would mount. Also distances from mounting points. I assume there should be some shimming going on here...

You may want to check your local Ace Hardware, Lowes, Home Depot, Handy Dan's, True Value or whatever your favorite local hardware store is... I bet you can source up the hinges you need there...

[tfischer]

Well I did some experimentation tonight. It's not going to be as easy as I thought. If I just put in standard hinges like I was thinking, the door won't open as the way it is formed, it will run into the main casting of the bandsaw frame. So the hinge point would have to somehow be moved forward.in order to clear this.

I'll have to go look at the Jet or other similar saws to see how they do it. My guess is that the shape of the door is just different.

As I was putting the saw back together, thinking "nope, this isn't going to be worth it", one of the knobs slipped out of my hand, hit the saw table, bounced off of a bucket, and landed behind a bunch of stuff where I couldn't find it without getting on my hands and knees with a flashlight. "This," I thought to myself, "is exactly why I want these puppies hinged"

[theophile]

What about a single spring-loaded hinge at the top, so the door flips up like gull-wing-style car doors? Same thing for the bottom one except it would flip down.