[TheForge] Cutting Stainless

[Steve Bloom]

At 12:01 AM 4/5/2002 -0500, Bill Wooley wrote:
>Can anyone suggest a decent band saw that will make nice precise cuts
>without putting me in the poorhouse?  Are these Chinese and Taiwanese
>saws that Enco etc. sell worth looking into?  I would much rather buy
>American or German.  Better yet, does anyone know where there is a good
>used one driving distance from Phila. area?  Any and all help greatly
>appreciated.

I've been using the Harbor Freight ~$170 saw (sometimes as cheap as
$150 on sale) for 10 years or so.  With a good bimetal blade, it does a
reasonable job -- a cut on a 3" x 6" piece of mild steel may be off be
< 1/8" over the 3" dimension.  Since you can adjust the angle of the
blade on the horizontal dimension, you just have to set up a good 90
degree cut (and then mark the table).  It isn't high precision, but it's
adequate.  After 10 years of use, my saw is getting cranky - but for
$17/a year, I can't complain.

Steve

Steve Bloom, IronFlower Forge. Archer, FL
     Webmaster for the FABA web site:
	www.blacksmithing.org