[AT] HF sawmill

Ken Knierim ken.knierim at gmail.com
Tue Aug 10 20:53:37 PDT 2010


warning... long post. delete now if you're pressed for time.

Here's my take on the HF tools: If it breaks when you need it, maybe you
need to buy a real one after you pitch it in the trash. I've toned that down
a little after helping and working with my neighbor.

My neighbor, a retired tool and die man (that designed a gyroscope that is
still in production over 40 years after introduction), bought one of their
lathes. He has very few negative things to say about the quality of the
lathe or the design. They apparently took a number of good things from
different designs and incorporated them into this design. While he would
have preferred to have a Hardinge tool room lathe, it wasn't in his budget.
He also "loaned" me (on a pretty ongoing basis; it's in my shop) his
previous pre war South Bend belt drive lathe that I retrofitted with a 3
phase drive and motor. I also purchased his adjustable belt mill/drill
machine when he upgraded from the Enco to the China built gear drive rig he
now has.

His HF lathe was in great shape when it arrived. The chip pan was crushed in
shipping and it took Harbor Freight 6 weeks to get the correct replacement.

His current mill/drill was a HF floor model. When he checked it out, he
found that the riser tube was bent like the unit had been dropped and landed
on it. He found this out after the warranty period but they worked with him
on it (and it was a floor model to boot). It just took awhile to get parts
from China.

The work he turns out on this equipment is incredible. I would point out
that he could probably turn out about anything with a hacksaw if he wanted
to... he has better than 70 years working with machines and machine tools
and has probably seen it all. He turns 90 in October and served on the West
Virginia battleship during WWII where he learned about gyros on the fire
control. An awesome bit of history and there isn't a day that goes by that I
don't learn something from him. My coffee breaks with him are nearly every
day and are usually at least half an hour minimum... in the desert heat, and
he doesn't use the A/C in his shop. Learning is fun. But I digress.

In summary, it's the operator that will make the difference. If you have
time to wait for parts from wherever, it probably means you're not using it
for production work and it'll treat you as well as can be expected. If
you're going to make your living with it, you might want something with
available parts or have a plan for dealing with it as such. Your application
and needs should drive this decision. Having a spare might work for some
folks as well.

Personally, I'm in an economic battle with manufactured stuff from China in
the businesses I run and own. I buy what I have to to get by but try to get
stuff made here in the US when we can afford it. The castings are generally
a lot more sound and will probably be in service long after I'm pushin' up
daisies. The equipment I make with this stuff is designed like I was
building it for myself (hell for stout comes to mind). Since I'm making
electro-mechanical stuff that requires the occasional machined part, we want
our tools to be ready when we ask them to do something. We use a fair amount
of stuff from Enco as well, and realize that much of it is imported as well
(China, India, eastern Europe). At the end of the day we have to use
whatever is going to get the job done... and as Jim noted, sometimes the HF
stuff is more of a kit you have to finish.

Now let me tell you about what my friend and neighbor can do with that
mill/drill when you need to rebuild the front axle of a Case DH you're
restoring. I welded the pivot bore up, he bored it out, fitted an oilite
bushing and I would say it hasn't been that tight since the factory put it
together in '39.

Awesome... :)

Ken in AZ


On Tue, Aug 10, 2010 at 7:16 PM, Larry Goss <rlgoss at insightbb.com> wrote:

> LOL!  I just ordered a power feed for mill/drill machines from HF today.
> For comparison, I looked up the same attachment at the Enco website and
> found it was nearly identical in appearance, capability, and specifications,
> but the Enco model was nearly three times as costly.
>
> Larry
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Jim & Lyn Evans <jevans at evanstoys.com>
> Date: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 21:06
> Subject: Re: [AT] HF sawmill
> To: 'Antique tractor email discussion group' <at at lists.antique-tractor.com
> >
>
> > I have a $2000 lathe and a $700 generator from HF, as well as a
> > few other
> > things.  It isn't all junk, but some of it needs a little
> > fine tuning to
> > work well.  Think of it as a kit that you may have to
> > improve.  I bet you
> > can't start to build one for $2000.
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
> > [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Rob Wilson
> > Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 8:24 PM
> > To: 'Antique tractor email discussion group'
> > Subject: Re: [AT] HF sawmill
> >
> > I've got no experience with their mills but if they're anything
> > like the
> > rest of the junk they sell you could try and take direct to the
> > junkyard to
> > see what scrap brings.
> > Rob
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
> > [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Don Bowen
> > Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 12:58 PM
> > To: Antique tractor email discussion group
> > Subject: [AT] HF sawmill
> >
> > I see int he latest flyer that Harbor Freight has two bandsaw
> > mills.
> > One of for $1999 and the other a couple hundred more.  A
> > friend is seriously
> > considering buying one.  Does anyone know of anyone with
> > experience with the
> > HF mills?
> >
> > --
> > Don
> > Bowen           KI6DIU
> >
>



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