Harbour Freight Band saw - Woodworking Talk

Gerry KIERNAN · 11-04-2008, 12:04 PM

I was looking at the e-mail notice from Harbour Freight yesterday, and noticed they have a lumber milling bandsaw for sale for $1799.

Going through the PDF manual, it doesn't look half bad. I was wondering if anyone has one, or having a look at the flyer, what your thoughts are on this machine.

Gerry

dbhost · 11-04-2008, 04:15 PM

Gerry,

If it's half as good as the 32208 I have, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it. Don't expect Caddilac features, but they sure do cut well once you put a real blade on them... And there are lots of guys and gals using their stuff day in and day out with no problem. It seems HF stuff is either good out of the box, or complete junk... You'll know before the return period is up...

I just looked at the specs. Looks interesting, if not small... I think you are talking about item #97445-3VGA http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=97445

16" log capacity This could use to be bigger.

6.5 HP Briggs & Stratton engine Not bad. Same engine as my old Craftsman high wheel mower. Plenty of power, keeps chugging along...

Two 6 ft. track sections can be bolted together to make a 12 foot track for cutting longer logs Pretty decent.

Easy-to-read measuring system Nice...

Easy hand adjustment for board thickness Nice

Lightweight and easy to handle, move, and store Lightweight, does that mean light duty and cheapo metals?

Centrifugal clutch used for blade engagement Good thing...

Standard 1-1/4" blade, replacement blades available separately Good thing...

Comes with two log holding clamps Good thing...

Gerry KIERNAN · 11-05-2008, 10:46 AM

Hi dbhost

The machine in the e-mail flyer is a Central Machinery model 99990, with a Robin 7 HP engine. It looks like it will cut a 12 foot log , up to 20 inches wide. The specs are prety similar to the one you have shown.

This seems like a pretty good price to me. I haven't gotten the details on what freight and exchange etc. will bring it up to.

Gerry

dbhost · 11-05-2008, 10:51 AM

That 20" capacity sounds a bit nicer...

The Robin engine is built by Subaru, and while I don't like their cars from a style stand point. They do hold up every bit as well as Honda. I would assume, maybe incorrectly that the quality transfers over to their small engines as well...

Like I said about the 32208 band saw, generally speaking, HF stuff works well for what it is. Just don't expect top end features. Then again, this might just be a well featured, well built machine.

It lacks the hydraulic loaders and such, so I would have to say the capacity it can cut is most likely beyond anything I would want to manually move with less than 4 other guys or better, a fork lift.

Tony B · 11-05-2008, 12:11 PM

Others have had good luck with their purchases. The only thing I would recommend would be to buy their extended warranty. HF is really good about exchanges with pretty much no questions asked.
Just about everything I have bought in the way of woodworking tools turned out to be not such a bargain in the long run.
I personally would not make a serious ($1800) purchase from them.
Maybe you will get lucky and someone with that particular BS will be on here to give more specific info.

Tony B · 11-05-2008, 02:19 PM

the specs and price are very tempting and for that price, I could probably get some good use out of it.
Wish they had one in a store for me too look at and probe.

Then I would have to build a small solar kiln/dryer.
And......that would take care of my wood turning stock for life.

Tony B · 11-06-2008, 11:42 AM

If I bought the band saw mill for under $2K, what else would I need?
Trailer? Cant Hooks? Chains, cables, ropes, etc?

What would be the smallest diameter trees that are practical for making good lumber for furniture say in the 6" to 10" wide board size?

How much can actually be wrestled around by one man? And, an old man at that.

I have often thought about a portable saw mill like this mainly for woodturning blanks. I was thinking that it would be a good time saver as opposed to using a chain saw to make my blanks. For turning, I have used wood at every stage of drying including 1 hour after the live tree was felled. I would make my blanks from 3 to 5 inches thick, with and without a natural edge. I avoid the center of the tree when turning.
I also dont think that a regular band saw would be practical for this.

I would also cut some up into lumber.

Obviously I dont know anything about being a sawyer.

Daren and other sawyers.........is this even practical for a one man show?

**Daren** · 11-06-2008, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony B

If I bought the band saw mill for under $2K, what else would I need?
Trailer? Cant Hooks? Chains, cables, ropes, etc? cant hook for sure, metal detector would not be a bad idea either, at least be able to borrow a trailer every once in awhile.

What would be the smallest diameter trees that are practical for making good lumber for furniture say in the 6" to 10" wide board size? An 8 1/2" log will make 6 1X6s (if it is dead straight) A 14" log will make 9 1x10s (again a straight one)

How much can actually be wrestled around by one man? And, an old man at that. How strong are you ? Being an old man may be to your advantage...I have found some old men work smarter A 14" x 8' red oak log only weighs 486 lbs. You are not lifting it over your head, it's round you are rolling it.

I have often thought about a portable saw mill like this mainly for woodturning blanks. I was thinking that it would be a good time saver as opposed to using a chain saw to make my blanks. For turning, I have used wood at every stage of drying including 1 hour after the live tree was felled. I would make my blanks from 3 to 5 inches thick, with and without a natural edge. I avoid the center of the tree when turning.
I also dont think that a regular band saw would be practical for this.

I would also cut some up into lumber.

Obviously I dont know anything about being a sawyer. Didn't stop me from buying a mill...now look at me

Daren and other sawyers.........is this even practical for a one man show? I can't review the product not being familiar with it. But if you honestly only want to mill little logs (never appealed to me, I like them big) and just every once in awhile $2K seems pretty cheap (some of us sawmill guys have $1000 chainsaws just to get logs to our mill)

Material handling will be your biggest hurdle, it is for most. It about takes a tractor/skidsteer if you plan on doing very much of it. It just seems when you get a mill, even a baby one like you are looking at, logs just show up. Some dude may pull up with a car trailer/hay wagon loaded to give you...gotta get them off there some how and move them around.

Gerry KIERNAN · 11-07-2008, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daren

Material handling will be your biggest hurdle, it is for most. It about takes a tractor/skidsteer if you plan on doing very much of it. It just seems when you get a mill, even a baby one like you are looking at, logs just show up. Some dude may pull up with a car trailer/hay wagon loaded to give you...gotta get them off there some how and move them around.

It is the material handling aspect that I find most daunting. I was looking at the Harbour Freight bandsaw as perhaps being suitable for resawing.
Handling logs would be a challenge without the additional equipment.

Gerry

Tony B · 11-07-2008, 04:25 PM

I would think that you would probably need some kind of permanent trailer for the mill. Have you noticed that in all the ads the mill and the log are on perfectly flat ground? Very rarely will the log be on a nice flat grassy field or next to a concrete slab.
The big boys have hydraulic lifts on the mill in addition to tractors and skidders.

So, if i bought a mill, i would need a trailer for the mill or spend some time leveling the track and also a used fork lift of sorts.

I still havent given up on the idea, just thinking on a practical level as to how much $$$$ will it cost to get started on a small scale.

**Daren** · 11-07-2008, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony B

I would think that you would probably need some kind of permanent trailer for the mill.

So, if i bought a mill, i would need a trailer for the mill or spend some time leveling the track and also a used fork lift of sorts.

A trailer just makes it that much farther to have to move the log...and up is not as easy as over. My mill is stationary, sets right on the ground (more or less) makes for easy log loading for one thing. And it keeps all the things that like to come flying out of the dust shoot (rocks, bark, broken blades...) at 200 mph below knee height instead of about vital organ height. All you would need to level the mill even in the grass would be some timbers (that you have cut yourself) and maybe a few shims. It is a misconception the deck has to be perfectly level. I will try to explain, as long as it is sturdy and the log is in the same place on the next cut it was the last one the board will be flat. Make sense ?

Tony B · 11-08-2008, 12:14 PM

Whe u say your mill is stationary on the ground, can I asume that you bring all of your logs home to the mill?
If so, how practical is a portable mill?

thanks in advance

**Daren** · 11-08-2008, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony B

Whe u say your mill is stationary on the ground, can I asume that you bring all of your logs home to the mill?
If so, how practical is a portable mill?

I don't understand the question Tony. TexasTimbers also runs a "portable mill"...never leaves the yard (Wood-Mizer LT40HDD42 Super Hydraulic with a 42 HP Kubota turbocharged diesel). I would venture to say 75% of the portable mills on trailer packages in service today, a couple other members here have them too, also never leave the yard. If you want to get into "portable milling" that is where you go to the logs/customer with your rig and mill on site...big PITA. It is just much easier to bring the logs to the mill and do your work in a more controlled environment. It is actually much less handling, move the logs once then move the milled lumber once. Milling on site and bringing the lumber home you are double handling the lumber (at least). Or in my case have logs delivered...I have not fetched a log in over 2 years (over 3?). They get dropped off here. I just have to move them around the yard.

My mill is set up so the track is running out of a big sliding door on my drying shed (the deck is just on timbers I milled and backfilled with rock) There is a couple feet of track inside the shed so I can push the head back in the shed at night and close the door on it to protect it from the weather. I have 2 more overhead doors. As I mill lumber I stack it on the pallet forks of my skidsteer, once done I just drive the lumber into one of the other doors and stack it for drying.

I am only in for lunch, I snapped a couple pictures just now. I am working on some walnut today. That is a 22" x 8' walnut log on the deck (I made the deck). My skidsteer is not in the picture. But you can see the farthest overhead door is open, that is where I am stacking the 1000+ bft of walnut I am milling right now.

Tony B · 11-09-2008, 12:13 PM

You have confirmed what i suspected about the 'portability' of these mils. Looks like a sizable investment that I am too old to want to get into.
Thanks again, You have answered all of my questions including the ones I havent asked yet.

Tony B · 11-09-2008, 01:06 PM

put this idea to bed.........I found this: lumbersmith.com
By the time you buy the motor and shipping, it may be a tad more than HF, but the wheels idea eliminates the problem of wrestling the log by yourself onto the track. Now its starting to sound good again for a part-time hobby of wood hunting.

**Daren** · 11-09-2008, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony B

but the wheels idea eliminates the problem of wrestling the log by yourself onto the track.

First things first, the logs. Where are you going to get logs to saw ? Someones yard or property. Are they going to even let you mill on site and leave the mess ?...99% won't. Are you really going to be able to just go out and mill downed logs ? Or have them delivered somehow ? Or do you have your own timber ground ?

I will start there, but have more to say later. (most of which is knocks on that last contraption, don't like it

)

Tony B · 11-10-2008, 07:56 AM

I'm giving up on the whole idea. No matter how I look at it, for me personally, it would be a lose/lose situation. If I put any value to my time, no matter how little, it would still be much cheaper for me to buy my wood at a high dollar lumber yard.
It would also not be as much fun to me as woodworking or sailing, which milling would take away that time.
Also not knowing anything about milling, I can see some major faults with the last mill I looked at on the internet, the one with the wheels.
If the boards are not perfectly flat and level, which could take hours on rough ground, one could actually mill the boards with a twist in them.
Anyway, it was something I thought I might want to do, but now I'm convinced that it is not for me.
Daren, thanks again for all of your help. You have confirmed all the doubts that I had. So, now I'm back to buying a planer and other wood working machines