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HF or Northern metal cutting bandsaw?

O

offroadordnance

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Florida
Getting ready to pull the trigger on either of these real soon. The HF is on sale for $250ish and the Northern is $280. I'm tired of my Chopsaw throwing sparks, getting debris everywhere, taking forever to cut tube, and the aweful noise it makes. I already looked at the Swag portand table but can't keep my projects on hold finding a used Milwaukee and waiting for the table to be shipped. I've read other places the gear oil should be changed as well as the blade on the Chinese units before use so I'm factoring that in.
 
The small HF one is well worth the price. We had one at a previous job, I had my doubts about it but they are rather good. It'll cut 6" wide heavy wall structural C channel in something like a minute if you think ahead and put it open side down... I would buy one any day.
 
I had the cheap HF and ran it until the bearings gave out. I now have th 7x12 with the coolant and hydraulic feed. It is a pure joy to use. Blade coolant makes all the difference in the world.
 
From HF it's the 1 HP 4" X 6" Horizontal/Vertical Metal Cutting Band Saw, Central Machinery - Item#93762. Over half the gear oil had leaked out and needed refilling. The rollers needed some adjustment, but after everything was trued, it cuts clean and square.
 
machine1960 said:
I assume that the leak didn't cause any problem. Blow it out with compressed air and refill then.
Click to expand...

I refilled it, cleaned both mounting surfaces with solvent, wiped the rubber gasket clean, cross torqued all six bolts, and it still leaks. Having puddles where ever I put this thing is a slip hazard in my crowded shop. Depending on the length of material being cut and the angle of cut it gets repositioned often and I can't have oil everywhere. My plan is to toss the supplied gasket, drill the cover for an inspection/fill plug, and seal the cover with RTV.
 
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