Welcome to Education by Design's Online store. We have brought to you a selection of products like Tools : Jet 414458 HVBS 56M 5 by 6 Inch 1/2 HP Horizontal/Vertical Bandsaw along with it's reviews, pictures and related products. All sales from these pages goes towards the creation and maintenance of our educational online activities, articles and resources. We have over 40,000 online stories submitted by kids around the world.

2005-12-26
2004-03-25I compared several different Asian made 5x6 bandsaws. Don't believe it when someone tells you they're all the same.
The Jet was very easy to assemble and use. Very solid base. UL approved motor that is bigger than some other bandsaws have. Nice fit-and-finish.
Some other ones I checked on needed to have additional bracing added due to a flimsy base. I had read about some of the others having motors prone to overheating and meltdown.
Bought mine locally for $249.99. Don't understand how Amazon can charge a $70 premium. Around $250 seems to be everyone's prices except Amazon. $319.99! Ridiculous!
Could be better
2004-01-04
Problems on assembly:
1) Center hole on cast iron base @ both ends was not centered + did not line up to the leg cross brace. Fix: used air grinder to grind cross brace hole wider.
2) Instructions for the installing the adust. feet were vague. Just says use "provided hardware". Fix: used my incredible powers of observation and deduction to determine what goes where.
3) The leg cross brace opposite of motor has an interference problem w/switch box. Fix: ground the cross brace to form a notch to clear switch box.
Usage:
1) table for vertical cuts is flimsy. Only single support underneath - needs 2. could not level table since there is no adjustment.
2) Adjustment of eccentric bearing requires a thin wrench to fit between bearing + support casting.
3) The blade covering has to be put on "just right" otherwise interference with the stop bolt occurs.
4) When moving the miter vise plate, the hold down bolt interferes w/the screw that holds the scale strip. Loosening the bolt enough will get past the interference unless the angle you want is right where the interference occurs.
In general:
The motor has enough power for cuts. I've been cutting 4130 .125 steel and the motor never bogged down. Horizontal cuts is this machines best use. vertical cutting leaves a lot to be desired but this could be because the blade's tooth pitch did not match up to the metal type. But,as stated above, the table doesn't help.
Great little tool
2002-01-09
This is a great tool for cutting metal. Works as well as expected. Requires few adjustments. Just setup and go. I really like mine.