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Harbor Freight cut off saw

Melensdad

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
Well I hope I don't regret this, but I just stopped in at the local Harbor Freight store. They had a 14" abrasive wheel cut off saw on sale for $49.99
(regular price $99.99). I'm not a big fan of cheap tools, but for $49.99 I figure that I can't be throwing away too much money?

Am I just asking for trouble with this?
 

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Like you said for 49 bucks you won't be throwing away much money if it quits. I think for the occasional user it will work fine. If you were using it every day and for heavy duty work I'd say no. Enjoy the tool and use safety glasses and ear protection.
HarryG
 
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Seriously, I have one that I bought a few years ago that I'll give you free. It has only been used twice. I used it once and gave it to my dad. He used it once and gave it back. :o I know that you realize that I don't care for HF. However, that cut off saw was one of the first items that got me really going against them. I bought it to cut some rebar when building the foundation to my pool house. It would not cut 1/2" rebar. I took it back thinking it had to be defective. Wrong. The new one was exactly the same way. It has less power than a Dremel tool!

The good thing about HF is that they will likely take it back if you find that you need to cut anything larger than a pencil. C'mon, try it...try it! I want to hear how you like it. :yum:
 
If you recall, the last time you and I talked about HF saws. I had just purchased a HF sliding compound miter saw. Normally $200, it was on sale for $100. I bought it because I was installing HardiPlank on my former commercial building, and I needed to cut the approximately 8" wide, fiber-cement planks. HardiPlank creates a cementious dust when cut and can gum up and ruin the bearings in a power tool in no time. I hoped it would last until I finished that job.

It did. And, then, cut enough more planks for a major addition on my daughter's house. I''ve since used it to cut the planks for laminate floors in 3 rooms, for some custom picture frames, and for a satellite receiver shelf in my RV, all precision miter cuts. I did change the blade after all the HardiPlank work, but that's it. I'm beginning to think that saw will outlast me, and I'm surely glad I didn't spend $600+ on some "name" brand.

HF has always been good for me.
 
Well Don, I honestly cannot comment on their miter saw because I have never bought one of those. I have bought several things from HF over the years and have found that most are not worth carrying home, but some things can be a bargain. I bought a set of digital calipers there a couple of years ago and they work well. I bought a half a dozen claw hammers one time there when they were $1 and they are actually better to use than any other hammers I own or have used. About the only powered thing I've bought there that made it past the first couple of uses is a portable band saw. It's bearings are rough, it growls and makes all sorts of odd noises, but it does still work.

On the cut off saws though, I can show a pic of the one I still have on a shelf in my barn. What I said about it is no exaggeration. As weak as it is, all it does is transfer metal from what you are cutting to the abrasive wheel. Then the wheel will not cut. For an abrasive wheel to cut you must have enough power to have the cutting wheel spin enough to actually wear away as it cuts through steel. Unless you are cutting something 1/16" or smaller, the HF cut off saw just doesn't have enough umph.

Besides that, the cheap China and Russian wheels they sell actually explode if you use them on a cut off saw that has any power. I bought several spare cut off wheels with the saw when I bought it. After I bought a DeWalt DW871-R chop saw I ended up trying those cheap wheels and had 3 explode while using them. Fortunately I do always wear safety gear when using metal cutting equipment and was not injured any of those times. However, I feel that 3 for 3 exploding when no other quality wheel has ever exploded on me is enough proof for me. The remaining cheap wheels got tossed.

I do quite a bit of metal cutting. I have an oxygen/acetelyne torch, an oxygen/propane torch, a Hypertherm 1250 plasma cutter, and the DeWalt chop saw. I probably use the chop saw the most because it does such a great job on just cutting steel. I basically do not ever cut anything small enough (seriously, about the size of a pencil is all the HF will competently cut) to ever use the HF saw. Besides, instead of $350 to $400 for a high quality DeWalt saw, one can now be had for under $150. Here is an example DeWalt DW871-R
 
Yep, you have a lot of cutting tools. I have an oxy/acetylene torch, a propane tip for that cutting torch that makes it into an oxy/propane torch, a Daytona Mig plasma cutter, a non-sliding 10" compound miter saw (unknown brand; I bought it used for $75about 15 years ago), a 14" cutoff saw (unknown brand, Home Depot special) and the 10" sliding compound miter saw from HF. I also have a 110V Century wire feed Mig with gas and a Lincoln Square Wave 175 Tig (which also does stick). I've used the Lincoln with cutting sticks to cut some very thick steel.

You also have to be careful about which model you choose at Harbor Freight. For example, they have 4 different 14" cutoff saws ranging from $60 to $130. I would most likely not buy the $60 model; carefully consider the 2 models at $100, and probably buy the $130 model because I'll bet it compares favorably to the $150 Dewalt, which likely comes from China to sell for that price. If I don't have an immediate need, I'll wait for the $130 model to go on sale.

Unfortunately, I can no longer use the electric welders and cutters, and have to be careful not to get too close when I use larger power tools, because of my implanted defibrillator. My son-in-law is not yet showing any real aptitude for welding. I'm hanging on to the tools until our barn is constructed; I suspect I'll have no shortage of "friends" who will do a little cutting or welding for me in return for them being able to use the tools for themselves.
 
ROUND 1 : goes to Dargo

I take the saw out of the box and set it on an open spot on the bench just to see it. The sticker on the side is totally askew, I fix that. OK that is sort of picky. I open a packet of abrasive blades and install one. No problem. I plug it in and just tap the trigger to test it. HORRIBLE screeching ensues. :mad: The guard is bent and the wobbly. It was an easy fix. But so far I am not impressed with the "out of the box quality"

ROUND 2 : goes to OkeeDon
In fact it will cut a pencil. :D Once I got it adjusted I tossed an old carriage bolt into the clamp just to see. No problems at all. At very least, this thing works, and for my modest needs, I think (at least based on the carriage bolt test) it will be fine for me.
​
I suppose time and usage will determine who wins ROUND 3 and if I got my $49.99 worth of an investment.
 

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How often do you cut carriage bolts will determine the life expectancy of the tool.... Junk....
 
Just an update on the Harbor Freight saw.

I'm officially impressed with a cheap Chinese tool!

 We're working at the warehouse this morning and we have some 12' tall pallet racks that we need to fit into an 11' tall freezer! One of my guys gets the bright idea that he should use a sawsall to cut them down, I knew better and hopped in the car to drive home to get the Harbor Freight cut off saw and also my Porter-Cable portable band saw. An hour later I'm back at work and the guy who decided to use the sawsall has broken 5 blades and made 1 complete cut.

I drop the Harbor Freight saw on the floor and zip right through the first cut. About 40 minutes and 20 cuts later we are done, and the saw never even flinched, it worked without hesitation. To say I am happy with my $49 investment is an understatement. Heck, it probably saved my company $100 in labor & sawsall blades!
 
Bob! You are a day late!! I could have sent you another if you would have mentioned this yesterday. No kidding, the one I bought (and gave to my dad who gave it back) went out with the trash yesterday. I took some of your advice from my "junk" post and pitched it since I knew I would never use it. You should have posted this before yesterday morning. I could have sent you one that was only used once. Remember, I mentioned that the first one I bought burned up trying to get to cut some angle so I got a replacement? It was that replacement I gave my dad, but he gave it back after only one use. Oh well, don't say I didn't offer...

BTW, they are on sale again I see. :thumb:

*edit again*
I forgot to mention, the magnet (shaped like an arrow) I got from HF is still working, so I can't say everything I bought from HF has broken. :tiphat:
 
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