1.5 HP (HA!!) bridge tile saw from Harbor Freight

[Jim O'Dell]

Anyone have any information, good or bad, on this saw? I know that the regular style tile saw from HF has had good reviews in the past, but since April it has gone from regular price of 229.95, and sale price of 199.95, to regular price of 299.95, and not on sale at the moment. The smaller HP bridge saw with the 7" blade retails for the same now, but is on sale for 229.95. It comes with a blade and stand, but I'm not sure if it is any good. Any help you can give would be appreciated!! Jim.

[James White]

Hi Jim,

I don't know about the HF one. But Lowes has one that you can look into. I thought it was a great price for what you were getting.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=116582-1255-83200

James

[Jim O'Dell]

James, thanks. It looks just like the HF unit, except it has the shelf and a 15 hp motor. :D:D:D I bet it's essentially the same unit. HF is the same reg price, but 70.00 off on sale. Hopefully someone will have some user info on these. Thanks again!! Jim.

[Matt Meiser]

I bought one of the 7" ones at Lowes that looks like a little table saw. I used it to tile the floor in our fairly large master bedroom and then my aunt just used it to tile the floor in her kitchen. It worked well for both of us. I used a diamond blade in an angle grinder for tricky cuts, like the piece that had a heat register in the middle.

[Dan Bowman]

If you're doing small jobs around the home, the best saw for the money, imo, is the Felker tm-75. I reach for that over my much larger, heavier and pricier Felker all the time. I think it retails for around 295 but you can pick up a refurb or eBay unit for about 200. Rock solid and portable. You might want to post your question for the pros at www.johnbridge.com (http://www.johnbridge.com)

[Craig T. Smith]

Jim, I also have one of the little 7 in. saws from Lowes, and really like it . My boss has a 7 in. bench top from HF. It has a pump and you have to clean it real often or you'll burn up the pump. The one from Lowes uses the blade to pull water up on the blade(no pump) but you still need to clean often or you'll loose coolant capacity. Happy Tiling, Craig

[Bob Childress]

If you're doing small jobs around the home, the best saw for the money, imo, is the Felker tm-75. I reach for that over my much larger, heavier and pricier Felker all the time. I think it retails for around 295 but you can pick up a refurb or eBay unit for about 200. Rock solid and portable. You might want to post your question for the pros at www.johnbridge.com (http://www.johnbridge.com)

What he said. The Felkers are solid machines.:)

[Jim O'Dell]

The Felker tm-75 is a little more than I want to spend (would like to have a little starter money left in the piggy bank for the cab saw I want!!) and it's max tile size is 14". I'll be doing 18s on this room, and possibly 20s down the road in the family room/kitchen. The regular style HF unit works up to 18" which would also not work well later on, and the bridge style I'm hoping to get some infor on works up to 24", which would be ideal, if it is a decent unit. It looks a lot like the one from Lowe's that James linked to. I've got to go to Lowe's either today for paint, or by next weekend at the latest, and might see if they will match the HF price on it. I do like the shelf that it has that the HF unit doesn't have. :rolleyes:
Craig, is your 7" saw the bridge style, or the table saw style? Jim.

[Chuck Saunders]

I have the HF bridge saw and I have been happy with it.

[Jim O'Dell]

Thanks Chuck! How much have you used it? Multiple rooms or just one or two? How long have you had it? And I guess the biggest question, would you buy it again after using it? Thanks and sorry about all the questions.:) Jim.

[Eric Larsen]

My neighbor has this saw. I know for certain it will not cut 1" thick granite.

He had to bring the pieces over and let my Felker cut through them like butter. (EDIT: Felker Tilemaster XL -- about $750 used.)

My advice? Buy a used Felker on craigslist. Use it until the project is done. Then sell it for the same price you paid for it. Better than renting, and cleaner cuts.

We're about to sell ours because our tile work has been done for some time. But LOML wants to keep it a little while longer to work on a BBQ island. When we eventually sell it, I have no doubt we will get every penny back.

In addition, it's been a joy to use. Our tile floor (and shower) is the best work we've done on the house.

[Charles Krieger]

I bought the bridge type HF and returned it before I ever used it. I would have had to spend considerable time tuning it before it was useable. The test cuts revealed that the blade was not parallel with the line of travel. I got my money back, and I was later contacted by HF to determine what I was wrong. I would say that the experience was satisfactorly resolved and HF agreed that the saw should not have been out of alignment when sold.

I have the original HF tile saw and it has been excellent with a DeWalt blade. The blade makes a big difference. It was on the strength of this experience that I bought the bridge type saw.

[Jim O'Dell]

Well, Charles, I wish I had read this before I went to look at them. :eek: Actually, I looked at the HF bridge saw, and the Lowe's version that is virtually identical. I came to the conclusion that while it looked like it would work, I wasn't turned on by it. So I looked through a flier they had that wasn't on line. They had the 2 1/2 hp sliding saw on sale for the same price. So I got that. They also took the 15% off coupon I had printed, and it scanned right in, so out the door for about 212.00. I was happy.:D
I saw the DeWalt blade at Lowe's before I went to HF. Seems like it was about 35.00. If I don't find something on line that is better for the same price, or equal for a better price, I'll go back and get one.
Thanks for all the help and ideas everyone! Jim.

[Charles Krieger]

Cutting 18" tiles on the diagonal will require a different tool. I suggest the score and snap type of cutter for the long cuts. It is faster even though you need to use a stone on the sharp edges. After a couple of cuts using the scoring/snap tool it becomes quite easy. I think I only messed up 2 or 3 tiles once I got the tool. Of course the snap tool costs almost as much as the HF slider tile saw.

My HF slider has done over 2000 sq ft. with lots of cutting, bathrooms, laundry, entries, family room, kitchen etc for 2 houses. No problems once I got a DeWalt blade on it. The HF blades are way less effective. They cut slower, and rougher (more chip out) and wider kerf than the DeWalt blade.

Good luck.

[Jim O'Dell]

Charles, I'm about ready to order the DeWalt from Amazon. 38.30 right now with free shipping. The more I think about it, I think the price at HD was 39.95 plus tax, so this would be a slightly better deal, and no gas! Looking at Frozen Warrior, I see this blade was 36.something a day or two ago :(, but has been as high as 42.00 this month. Wish they hadn't dropped their price match for 30 days deal. That has worked out great for me in the past. I was also looking at a MK blade that is 28.49, also with free shipping, but I can't even find that model on MK's website, so it must be a lower quality blade. Maybe someone else's with the MK brand on it? The DeWalt has a pretty high score. Guess I'll watch the price for a couple of days since I have 2 weeks before the earliest I will need it.
Thanks again! Good information about the blade!! Jim.

[Ben Franz]

I also bought the HF bridge saw and had the same problem - bridge track not perpendicular to end fence and guides. I kept the saw as I needed to finish a floor for a client and fought with adjustments. I'll keep it and get it dialed in better before the next time I use it. This saw CAN be a suitable light duty tool for occasional work but it isn"t sturdy enough for regular use. Best feature was the $199 sale price. You get what you pay for.

[Charles Krieger]

At the time I bought the HF bridge saw I was under some time constraints to get the tile set in a rental home I own. I just didn't want to spend the time adjusting and dealing with the saw. I was disappointed that it didn't function well right out of the box and I knew that some of the problems could be corrected but due to the time constraints I made the decision to return it rather than fight the problems.

It would seem that HF quality control is lacking on this particular product. Sometimes it pays to spend more and get the solution to the problem without the hassle. If the DeWalt bridge saw had been readily available I would have purchased it, but since it wasn't I went with the score and snap tool which worked out well when combined with the sliding table HF saw I already owned. The job got done and I was happy with the results.

I have purchased several items from HF and for the most part, for my intended use, the tools have been adequate and I did get what I paid for. For some items which I use rarely, I feel it is better to have a tool to do the job than to wish for a top of the line tool. Taken in that context, HF does a pretty good job.

[Homer Faucett]

My neighbor has this saw. I know for certain it will not cut 1" thick granite.

Sorry, this just is not true. The HF Bridge cutting tile saw (Chicago electric brand, "1.5 hp") has done a great job for me over the last 3 years. Even after cutting slate tiles for our porch, for the 1000 square foot upstairs tiling job, ceramic and granite tiles for the kitchen backsplash, and three granite tile countertops, I just squared up three 1.25"+ granite slabs that I am using for our pass-through breakfast bar. The slabs would just barely fit under the blade and motor, but it cut just fine.

Yeah, and that's still using the stock blade that came with it. So, I will have to respectfully disagree with you, Eric. To anyone looking for a saw that performs well for the money, this is a solid performing saw at a very good price. I was able to pick this one up on sale at $189 plus 20% off. It has paid for itself many times over.

I know this thread is old, but others searching out tile saws should get the straight scoop. Let me be clear, I am using ITEM 97360-5VGA, not another model, and I have used it to cut 24" deep pieces of uba tuba granite slabs that are over 1.25" thick. If it fits under the saw, it will cut it. I am about to replace the blade, though, and I think a better blade will increase performance and decrease chip-out.