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Howdy and welcome. Hopefully some more knowledgeable and practical
types will join up and help give this group some members and more
interesting content. In the mean time check the bookmarks for a list
of links on mods, using, a FAQ, and links to vendors.

The Asian-made 4x6 Metal cutting Bandsaw

Many folks who need a low cost metal saw turn to this unit since it's
a reasonable price. It's much like many import tools, decent, but
with some work can be quite nice. There are several vendors of this
model, and a couple of variations available as well. The basic unit
is a three speed, 1HP single phase, horizontal/vertical, 4x6" metal
cutting bandsaw. The stand for the unit varies a bit for some of the
manufacturers (the Jet, most notably) and Grizzly's 2002 catalog has a
model with a swivel base. The Enco model has the option of a UL
listed, or even US-made, UL listed motor. Some of the specs vary
slightly by manufacturer (IE, enco now lists it as a 5x6 saw).
The unit weighs a bit over 100 pounds, and comes in a box disassembled
in all cases I've read, and will take 20 minutes to an hour to setup,
depending on breaks and personal diligence. The manual for the Harbor
Freight version, is somewhat fractured and incorrect in the pictures
accompanying the text, so watch out for that. Enco has the manual
available online.
There are three speeds you can select from. It's belt driven, and
there is a low-tech but effective belt tension bolt that is between
the motor and gearbox in a knuckle busting location. The speeds are
80 fpm, 120 fpm, and 200 fpm. Roughly translates to Steel, Brass,
and Aluminum speeds.
The stand that's included with the unit is a pair of sheet metal
legs. They suck. A number of links on the bookmarks page have info
on how they made a new stand. I used some 2x4's and a piece or two of
plywood, and some cheap casters for mine.

Blades:
This unit uses 64.5" x 1/4" x .025" blades. Most bandsaw blade
manufacturers will have a premade set of blades available for it. One
of the first things you should do is purchase a bimetal saw blade for
your saw. This can dramatically help cut times and will last
significantly longer than hard back or carbon steel blades. Enco and
Grizzly have a fair selection of Bi-Metal blades for the saw,
including a 6-10 varitooth up to a 20-24 varitooth. Most of the
BiMetal blades are about $20 (plus shipping). Lenox makes the
DieMaster 2 bimetal blade which comes highly recommended, and Starret
also manufactures a bimetal blade for our saws. Any feedback
regarding any of the aftermarket blades available would be greatly
appreciated.

Hi, My name is Jim and I just today received my HF bandsaw via UPS. It's still in the box, hope to have it up and running this weekend. Looking forward to hear from others who have already made the upgrades to this saw. thanks, Jim

Hi, My name is Jim and I just today received my HF bandsaw via UPS. It's still in the box, hope to have it up and running this weekend. Looking forward to hear from others who have already made the upgrades to this saw. thanks, Jim

Hi Jim,

Not too many folks here yet, but hopefully there will be more. Sorry
for the delay in responding. Hope you got it set up and are cutting
away like mad. Let us know if you have any other questions!

--- In 4x6bandsaw@y..., "threehrtour53" <threehrtour@w...> wrote:

Hi, My name is Jim and I just today received my HF bandsaw via

UPS. It's still in the box, hope to have it up and running this
weekend. Looking forward to hear from others who have already made
the upgrades to this saw. thanks, Jim

Hi,

I picked up a Starrett bi-metal vari-tooth blade today at Grainger
($23). I haven't used it yet, but I'll post a report when I do.
Starrett 5' 4 1/2" PowerBand Matrix 2 High speed steel bandsaw blade,
10-14 TPI, 1/2 wide, .025 thick. Grainger P/N:2GM79, $22.22

they are on page 1578 in Catalog 392.

When I purchased my saw, I also bought a 10tpi and 24tpi blade at the
same time. HF had them for $4.99...forget the part numbers right
now, since I got them in-store.

If anyone out there has used any other blades, besides the stock
ones, please post a report or a comparison vs. stock! thanks.

Sned1

I'm glad I found this board and hope to learn a lot here.

I just bought my 4 x 6 saw and have yet to even make a cut with it.
I like to poke around a little and get familiar with how things are
put together first before I put it to use. Anyway, a visit to my
sister and her family made an excellent excuse for me to get close to
Grizzly in Williamsport, PA. It is hard to describe the Grizzly
showroom other than it is absolutely spectacular. Gleaming, new,
awesome. This was what I would expect the Rolls-Royce dealership in
Beverly Hills to look like, not the Yugo tool store. All of their
equipment is on display for touch and feel. Fantastic. Plus, if
you're into the outdoors, there's a brand new Gander Mountain store
next door.

I got the saw home and the first thing I did was to find the manual.
There are good ones and there are bad ones. This one is so bad that
it becomes funny. Quote: "Turn on the switch, and change the blade
speed..." With the V-belt pulleys? Not!!! Or this wonderful
direction that "#53 Hexagon Head Screw should be adjusted in accurate
height when machine in cutting after finished off cutting then
magnetic Switch can be lost." The topper though is this one in the
section on guide bearing adjustment. "Loosen the nut while holding
the bolt with an alien wrench." That's the same wrench that fits the
alien holes which were obviously lost along with with the magnetic
switch. The Grizzly manual has no section whatsoever on assembly so
you're on your own there.

So far, I'm fairly impressed with the quality of the machine itself,
considering the price and think it will do very well for my
applications. The first "modification" I am making is to replace all
of the "metrinch" fasteners. SAE threads with metric heads. It's
just a lot easier to find inch tools than metric. There are some
other things I can see to be improved and I'll post them as I go
along.

I have one question at this point. When the moving jaw of the vise
is clamped, it still can rock a bit. It clamps to the nut which
sticks up just a bit from the vise base. I would think that the jaw
should clamp down to the base. Is this the way it should be? Should
I grind down the top of the nut or was this the way it is designed?
Am I missing something obvious here?

I hope we can liven up this board and look forward to all the helpful
things I'll learn here.

Tom

Howdy All,

I am glad I found this group. I haven't bought a saw yet and am
looking for advice. Any suggestions?

Robert

Hi Robert,

I'll give you a couple of recommendations. If you are dirt cheap
like me, order the Harbor Freight one for $139 if there's no store
near you. Otherwise go to the local store with a printout of the web
page (see links on the 4x6 home page) and get it for that price.
Second, if you have a Grizzly near you, go down and check one of the
saws out at their store. If it's got the flimsy sheet steel legs
like the HF model, then just get the HF one instead and save a few
dollarts.
Oh yeah...HF has Carbon steel blades (64.5") for $5.99. Might want
to get a couple if you order online at the same time just in case.
After you've had the saw and used it for a while get a Bimetal blade
to use instead.

I actually got a second Starett blade for my birthday so now I have 2
of the same blade.
In any case I got around to using the blade. For Aluminum, it cuts
about the same as the regular blade with wd40. With wd40 it cuts a
bit smoother.
On steel it's more noticeable that the blade cuts cleaner than the
standard carbon blades. Definate improvement. I didn't get any
pics, sorry.

Victor Machinery Exchange sells custom length blades at decent prices
of the Powerband matrix2 blades, 6-10 tooth, 10-14, and 14-18
varitooth styles as well as fixed tooth styles. Enco also sells
bimetal 10-14 tooth blades for $15/ea., along with 10 and 14 fixed.
Check their sale flyer, page 68 for April.

If I get into more cutting, I'll probably end up getting a 6-10 and
14-18 tooth blades as well. We'll see.

--- In 4x6bandsaw@y..., I wrote:

Hi,

I picked up a Starrett bi-metal vari-tooth blade today at Grainger
($23). I haven't used it yet, but I'll post a report when I do.
Starrett 5' 4 1/2" PowerBand Matrix 2 High speed steel bandsaw

blade,

10-14 TPI, 1/2 wide, .025 thick. Grainger P/N:2GM79, $22.22

they are on page 1578 in Catalog 392.

When I purchased my saw, I also bought a 10tpi and 24tpi blade at

the

same time. HF had them for $4.99...forget the part numbers right
now, since I got them in-store.

If anyone out there has used any other blades, besides the stock
ones, please post a report or a comparison vs. stock! thanks.

Sned1

Thanks for the post. I'm not sure about the vise, I'll have to look
at mine when I get home.

As for the assembly steps, i posted my assembly (check the links
section at the 4x6 home page or go to
to see). I bet yours is now done
but just for future refence of anyone who needs a hand.
The Enco manual is also online at
3150.pdf that may have some assembly instructions, not sure.

I hope it livens up a bit too. Share the site with anyone you can
hopefully we'll get some more gurus out here to join us.


--- In 4x6bandsaw@y..., "tomin130" <tomin130@y...> wrote:

I'm glad I found this board and hope to learn a lot here.

I just bought my 4 x 6 saw and have yet to even make a cut with it.
I like to poke around a little and get familiar with how things are
put together first before I put it to use. Anyway, a visit to my
sister and her family made an excellent excuse for me to get close

to

Grizzly in Williamsport, PA. It is hard to describe the Grizzly
showroom other than it is absolutely spectacular. Gleaming, new,
awesome. This was what I would expect the Rolls-Royce dealership in
Beverly Hills to look like, not the Yugo tool store. All of their
equipment is on display for touch and feel. Fantastic. Plus, if
you're into the outdoors, there's a brand new Gander Mountain store
next door.

I got the saw home and the first thing I did was to find the

manual.

There are good ones and there are bad ones. This one is so bad that
it becomes funny. Quote: "Turn on the switch, and change the blade
speed..." With the V-belt pulleys? Not!!! Or this wonderful
direction that "#53 Hexagon Head Screw should be adjusted in

accurate

height when machine in cutting after finished off cutting then
magnetic Switch can be lost." The topper though is this one in the
section on guide bearing adjustment. "Loosen the nut while holding
the bolt with an alien wrench." That's the same wrench that fits

the

alien holes which were obviously lost along with with the magnetic
switch. The Grizzly manual has no section whatsoever on assembly so
you're on your own there.

So far, I'm fairly impressed with the quality of the machine

itself,

considering the price and think it will do very well for my
applications. The first "modification" I am making is to replace

all

of the "metrinch" fasteners. SAE threads with metric heads. It's
just a lot easier to find inch tools than metric. There are some
other things I can see to be improved and I'll post them as I go
along.

I have one question at this point. When the moving jaw of the vise
is clamped, it still can rock a bit. It clamps to the nut which
sticks up just a bit from the vise base. I would think that the jaw
should clamp down to the base. Is this the way it should be? Should
I grind down the top of the nut or was this the way it is designed?
Am I missing something obvious here?

I hope we can liven up this board and look forward to all the

helpful

things I'll learn here.

Tom

fellows glad there is a group that we can share infromation on these
saw, I am Joe Guidry, Southwest, La. the bayou country, I bought a
Harbor Freigh saw about two years ago, the first time I used it the
motor burnt and went down hill after that, a flea market motor for
five dollars works great and have made a lot of modifications since
will post some when I get It cleaned up again, my last one was a
hydraulic cylinder off of a John Deere combine steering, works great,
still getting it to cut at 90 degree is still in question, you all
have a good week, Joe.

Just joined the group. Look forward to swapping ideas. Got a HF 4x6
last week. I had a wood blade made for it as I will use it in the
upright mode mostly right now, but do plan to cut metal in the future.
Paul in OKC

Hi all.

Most everyone agrees the vise definitely needs to be improved.
Here's something I did. The pivot bolt which attaches directly to
the bed was a very sloppy fit in the hole of the fixed vise jaw. I
took a piece of thin wall brass tubing, 1/4" ID ('cause that's what
was handy), cut off about 3/8" , slotted it, and pushed it onto the
bolt. After a little trimming on a belt sander it fit snuggly into
the hole in the vise jaw. The bolt was reinstalled and snugged just
until the lock washer was fully compressed. Then I put a lock nut on
the other end of the bolt to keep it from turning. The fixed jaw now
can be adjusted without loosening the bolt and there's no slop around
the pivot point. Next, I replaced the sliding nut and washer under
the other end of the vise jaw with a t-slot nut (Grizzly G9510). The
wide part of the nut doesn't span the slot, but bears against one
side of the slot. Now, adjusting the vise requires loosening just
one bolt (and one wrench, no need to hold the lower nut). This has
made the fixed jaw of the vise much easier to adjust and I don't have
to worry that clamping work tightly in the vise will shift the pivot
end of the jaw. More to come.

Tom

Howdy Joe,

Glad to have ya. I don't know if you have a digital camera or access
to one. I would love to see anything on the hydraulic mod for one of
these saws! Much nicer than the spring contraption i'd imagine.
Thanks for coming, hope to hear more from you!

--- In 4x6bandsaw@y..., "snookjr70546" <snookjr@c...> wrote:

fellows glad there is a group that we can share infromation on

these

saw, I am Joe Guidry, Southwest, La. the bayou country, I bought a
Harbor Freigh saw about two years ago, the first time I used it the
motor burnt and went down hill after that, a flea market motor for
five dollars works great and have made a lot of modifications since
will post some when I get It cleaned up again, my last one was a
hydraulic cylinder off of a John Deere combine steering, works

great,

still getting it to cut at 90 degree is still in question, you all
have a good week, Joe.

Enter your vote today! A new poll has been created for the
4x6bandsaw group:

I bought my 4x6 bandsaw from:

o Harbor Freight
o Grizzly
o Enco
o Homier
o Jet
o other


To vote, please visit the following web page:



Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are
not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the Yahoo! Groups
web site listed above.

Thanks!

---I do have a digital camera,I will get some pic's and explain how I
did it,yes,the hydraulic clyinder works great, gettting ready to take
it apart agian and make some more changes, I will post them, Joe. In

Hi All!

I am the proud owner of a 4x6 bandsaw. Until I bought mine, I used a jig
saw and a hand hack saw for all my cutting. Needless to say, my projects
were few and far between, if they involved much sawing. 8-)

My saw was bought from REX supply in Houston. It carries the brand name;
ACRA, and was made in Taiwan. I looked at the saws at Harbor Freight and
Wholesale Tools. The saw from Rex seems to have a better finish than the
others. It has cast iron blade guides. The upper frame is also heavier
than the one at Harbor Freight.

I bought extra blades from H.F. (carbon) and Enco (bi-metal). Did the
usual check for sand in gear box, and it was clean. The saw cuts true
with just the slightest mis-alignment from 90 degrees.

I keep a 24 tooth blade in the saw, as I cut a lot of small 1/4 to 1/2
inch round stock. (the other blades are 10, 14, and 18 teeth [per inch
of course 8-) ])

Leo (in pearland, home of fig trees)

BTW: the instruction book was written in the same strange lingo as most
imported tools.

Hi,
I'm new to the list, having acquired an Enco 4x6 band saw on Sunday.
It's in pretty good shape but the motor needs new bearings. The end
caps (bells ?) have been removed but the shaft, front bearing and
bell are stuck together. I'd appreciate any advice on how to get
these items apart without damaging the bell. The assembly is being
treated with liberal amounts of kroil while I wait for advice.

--- In 4x6bandsaw@y..., "makull2002" <makull1@a...> wrote:

Hi,
I'm new to the list, having acquired an Enco 4x6 band saw on

Sunday.

It's in pretty good shape but the motor needs new bearings. The

end

caps (bells ?) have been removed but the shaft, front bearing and
bell are stuck together. I'd appreciate any advice on how to get
these items apart without damaging the bell. The assembly is being
treated with liberal amounts of kroil while I wait for advice.

Got them apart by supporting the rim on two sides of the bell
housing, applying a little heat and one sharp rap on the end of the
shaft with a plastic faced hammer. Used a puller to remove the
bearing from the shaft.