HF Electric hacksaw (hand held band saw)

[Pat]

After having borrowed a Milwaukee hand held band saw, AKA electric hacksaw, I was motivated to get the el cheapo HF version. It was on sale for $69 and a buddy was going to OKC (location of nearest HF) and picked one up for me plus a set of 3 spare blades (American made.) I figured the saw would be considerably less robust than the Milwaukee which is a TANK like most all Milwaukee tools.

Some assy was required. I had to back out two loose screws and place a guide and retighten. No big deal, about 90 sec. The unit weighs about 1/3 as much as the Milwaukee since it uses a lot of plastic where the M uses steel.

The M is single speed where the HF is variable with trigger pull (0 to max) and there is a little speed adjust wheel so you can set the top spped and pulling the triger will not exceed that speed. I figure that is mostly not needed as my use was full speed after sometimes using just a bare min speed to get the blade situated and them pedal to the metal.

It works. I made 6 cuts through 1 inch black iron pipe but the 6th cut was darned hard. The furnished blade was a POS and had NO TEETH left after the 6th cut.

I changed the blade and went back to cutting. I made a few dozen cuts of the 1 inch pipe with the new blade and it is still sharp. The unit cuts at best 1/2 as aggressively as the Milwaukee but a fair test was not performed, i.e. I did not have the same blade type on both saws. It may actually cut 1/3 as fast in some situations but with a quality blade like the M had it might do better.

Other than being slower and being initially furnished with a poor blade, the unit does its job. It is a terrific alternative to a hacksaw and for some jobs beats my Milwaukee Sawzall by a fair margin with less vibration and control difficulty.

How long it lasts is an issue. I don't think it would be prudent to drop it or bang it about too vigorously given the plastic components but it seems to be worth $70. It came with a spare set of brushes and an allen wrench. Although clearly not as robust, powerful, or capable as the Milwaukee it is way easier to hold in various positions due to its light weight. I'm not a little guy (6'2" 245 lbs) but the weight of the Milwaukee can be a negative in awkward positions. The HF unit is way easier to handle due to its light weight. Even though it can take longer to make a cut, it is so much easier to hold that I think, on ballance, it may be less tiring to use.

Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[QRTRHRS]

Thanks for the evaluation. A portable bandsaw is on my list of tools to purchase some day.

There was a time when I would do without rather than buy HF over Milwaukee or one of the other high end brands. These days, my economic situation has me reconsidering that way of thinking.

Realizing that HF tools won't hold up to contracting (although a friend uses them almost exclusively), for casual home use, HF tools do just fine.

By the way, a friends Porter Cable saw works well and holds up to job site demands just fine.

[Pat]

I evaluated the price vs quality, expected longevity, and performance of a clearly inferior but much less expensive tool. The Milwaukee is $300 vs the HF at $70. I hope that for my own personal once in a while use at reduced performance (which only costs you a little time in making a cut) will not make me crazy. (Crazier?) Hopefully the gamble will work, in my case. If it does I am a wise steward of my tool budget. If not then I am a short sighted easily led astray poor manager. Over time we'll see. Another take is that I can buy the Milwaukee if I find I actually use the dickens out of the HF unit and it just isn't sufficiently powerful, fast, and robust for my evolved requirements. On the other hand if it is a dust catcher used every couple years (not likely) I saved $230 finding out I didn't really need it anyway. I guess it could be thought of like the $100 banjo. I tried it but preferred the guitar so was happy I didn't buy the $1000 banjo to find out I didn't really have a long term interest.

Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Pat]

HF Hacksaw UPDATE. You can install the band backward. It still cuts just not as well. I had to take it off, turn it inside out, and reinstall. Boosted performance quite a bit. Still not as aggressive as Milwaukee but not as slow as I thought. I cut off 5 each 1 inch bolts (not mild steel) and it was way better than a hand held saw or thin cutoff wheels on a 4 1/2 inch angle grinder. (couldn't fit assy into chopsaw.)

Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]