Thread: Power Hacksaws V's Bandsaws

Hi all,

I have been thinking for a while how nice it would be to own something to cut large pieces of metal stock (other than my rough & ready cut off saw)

I'm thinking of a secondhand old thing that will suite my purposes such as Parkanson Power Hack SAW 6 Inch CUT | eBay or
Classic Antique Power Hack SAW | eBay or

Power Hacksaw "Little Giant" | eBay or

POWER HACKSAW | Miscellaneous Goods | Gumtree Australia Mitchell Area - Wallan

What are the advantages of a bandsaw over a power hacksaw? I assume the band will last a bit longer since each tooth is not cutting as often with a bandsaw?

If both can cut say 6" then what is the main difference? Perhaps the time taken for each cut? If so then it's not a big deal since I'm not in production. What about accuracy or straightness of cut?

Who has a metal bandsaw?
Who has a power hacksaw?

Info and feedback on these machines would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Simon

The bandsaw is quick, the hacksaw is slow. I use my bandsaw nearly daily for all types of things.

If you can get a hacksaw for $50-$100 grab it, but if your paying more than that get a bandsaw.

Dave

Simon, this is one of those tired old debates. I did a forum search for 'power hacksaw bandsaw' and got a heap of threads. Here is just one. http://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/po...solete-140261/

If you're not in a hurry and like reciprocal retro, go the hacksaw. Otherwise, get a bandy. Lots of people love em. Of the links you posted the Parkanson looks a beaut, but is pricey. The rest look antique and cool, but may or may not need work.

I've got both. A beautiful little Lotze hacksaw and a chintzy Chinese 4x6 bandsaw that Pete F "forced" me to buy. Guess which one I use? The chintzy Chinese.

Bob.

I'm the opposite to Dave, I love my hacksaw and use it nearly daily, And my bandsaw just sits in the corner doing nothing.
My hacksaw is a Parkanson almost the same as the one you linked to, The accuracy of the cut is so damn good you don't really even need to do a face cut on the lathe, Even though I do....
I suppose it's each to their own, I cut alot of really big steel billet 4" plus, And I don't think my bandsaw would like it much, Where as the big fella loves it.....
Matt

When I made my small forge from I wanted it to have a square flat door way so I needed a square to hemispherical transition. I didn't think it would do it but I cut the curved sections of this doorway from 1/4" mm steel plate with my $100 cheap Chinese bandsaw.

Doorx.jpg

There isn't a right answer as it depends on what you cut.

For big (150mm+) rounds, hacksaw.

For 100mm or less solids, RHS etc, bandsaw.

If you want to do lots of mitre cuts, swivelling head bandsaw.

I bought a cheap $360 Chinese swivelling head bandsaw. I've flogged it for 4 years cutting up steel, stainless and aluminium. So far the only thing it didn't like was cutting 100mm dia stainless mystery metal. As I was using an old and totally unsuitable blade WRT tooth count, this wasn't surprising.

If it died I'd buy another.

If I needed to cut some of the 150 to 200mm dia solid rounds lying on my floor I'd take them to a mate with a 12" hacksaw.

So - what do you cut, mostly?

PDW

I agree with PDW, I have a servian power hacksaw and a little chinko bandsaw and a brobo.

If you want to cut 6" stuff with a bandsaw then I think that you will need to go up to this size
Metal Cutting Band SAW BS 7L 305x178mm 240V B006 | eBay

I hardly ever use my power hacksaw anymore, the blades don't cut as much as the bandsaw blades and the bandsaw blades are cheeper

Simon this is fairly close to you and might be worth a phone call or a look ?

Heska Metal Cutter, Saw | Other Parts & Accessories | Gumtree Australia Kingston Area - Mordialloc

Originally Posted by shedhappens

Simon this is fairly close to you and might be worth a phone call or a look ?

Heska Metal Cutter, Saw | Other Parts & Accessories | Gumtree Australia Kingston Area - Mordialloc

Ha! I know where that is. I was born in Mordialloc!

Never heard of "Heska" but then again I probably never heard of 90% of machine tool brands out there. Anyway, I decided to edumacate myself. Turns out it's a German brand, may be worth a look for sure.

Thanks for that!

Simon

Originally Posted by simonl

Ha! I know where that is. I was born in Mordialloc!

Never heard of "Heska" but then again I probably never heard of 90% of machine tool brands out there. Anyway, I decided to edumacate myself. Turns out it's a German brand, may be worth a look for sure.

Thanks for that!

Simon

That looks a darn nice fixer-upper Simon. 1.5kW three phase means you can run it on a VFD. Would run coolant too. Go for it!

Michael

Hi all. Well thank you all so much for your fast replies!

Dave, your reply put a smile on my dial. Glad to hear from you my friend, your opinion is highly regarded.

I had a feeling people would say "what do I want to cut?" My best answer to that is: "Stuff". There have been times when my metal cut off saw has struggled and I clearly needed something more suited to the job. I also have some large chuncks of steel that would be useful for many projects but are and next to useless to me because I cannot cut them!

I also like the idea of spending my precious time doing other stuff in the shed while the hacksaw/bandsaw happily cuts away without my supervision. Especially if many items are needed to be made.

I kind of figured that the band saw would cut quicker than a hacksaw, stands to reason but I was wondering if the hacksaw has a specific job different to the bandsaw OR if like the shaper (sorry shaper fans) that it has mostly been replaced by other items of machinery such as the bandsaw. Can power hacksaws do mitre cuts?

If I can get a power hacksaw (really) cheap then I may buy one anyway. I assume that the power feed (on the hacksaw) works by an adjustable weight that slides up or down to produce downforce while it cuts whereas the bandsaws have a gear or hydraulic power feed system?

Cheers,

Simon

Originally Posted by Michael G

That looks a darn nice fixer-upper Simon. 1.5kW three phase means you can run it on a VFD. Would run coolant too. Go for it!

Michael

Hi Michael, Yep I was thinking the same thing! If it's not already sold then its been there since early April. I may be able to beat him down. Being a good brand, I tend to think most things can be repairable. I assume a lathe and mill will be able to make a good percentage of any of the parts that may need fixing? How complex are these machines?

I'm thinking of having a looksie tomorrow. Wife works tomorrow so I can have a good man look!

Simon

Edit: I had a look on gumtree today and it never came up! Just goes to show that you really need to know what you're looking for, especially on gumtree. It's search engine does not seem to be anywhere near as elaborate or refined as that on ebay.

Here's my two cents , I have a 4x6 bandsaw with homemade coolant pump and to be honest I couldn't imagine building anything without it and the blades last ages. At work we use a power hack saw and that thing is a workhorse at have cut 250 mm diameter 4140 no problem we even use a chain binders to cut stock down the middle to take samples out of the middle of the bar, If I had to buy one I would choose the bandsaw any day.

The more industrial type machines (both sorts) feed down with gravity but have a hydraulic damper that will slow the decent. Too much down feed and the blade can twist, which means (on a cheap Chinese anyway) a non-square cut. The Heska takes a 27mm deep blade, so I can't see it twisting easily.
You are right that horizontal bandsaws are a relative new comer compared to power hacksaws. The only thing that they have over bandsaws is that relaxing reciprocating motion.

I would be very surprised if you can't get it going with lathe and mill. There may be some sheet metal work to do, but my guess would be things like seized up bearings, maybe a broken switch, the down feed needs cleaning or some moving parts have rusted together. Imagine a motor driving a pulley with a belt on it and another pulley the same size on the other end. That's basically it. Then there's a vice and (probably) the hydraulic down feed - normally a piston with a tap to control the rate fluid leaves the cylinder

Michael