Hitachi CB6Y 10-inch Tilting Head Bandsaw with Dust Collection

by Hitachi

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Hitachi Power Tools introduces the all new CB6YI 10-inch tilt head band saw with on-board dust collection. The head tilts from 90- to 45-degrees to provide a safe, horizontal work table while making angle cuts. A miter-gauge is also included for making chamfer and bevel cuts. The on-board dust collection system effectively reduces airborne sawdust and clean up, so you can spend more time woodworking and less time shop cleaning. The dust collection system features internal ductwork, an impeller, and a 30 micron dust bag with zipper for easy sawdust disposal. The 4.0 amp induction motor is quiet and powerful - it cleanly cuts through hard and soft woods, even plastics. This band saw also features a powerful LED work light (9-volt battery included). The head is tilted using a crank handle, then locked securely in place - a pointer and scale on the unit shows the angle of cut; precision-machined, cast iron work table is 11-3/4-inch x 11-3/4-inch Blade is 63.5-inch long, throat dept is 9-3/8-inchat 90-degrees. A thrust bearing helps keep the blade tracking accurate with minimal deflection. -footprint (inches): 16 width x 11.5 depth

Product Description

Tilt Head Band Saw

10 IN tilt head band saw is ideal for small projects like cross cutting, ripping, resawing stock, wide radius curves, and other common woodworking applications. Its patented tilting head allows the workpiece and base to remain flat while the entire head of the saw tilts back 90 to 45 to accomodate angled cuts. motor delivers 1725 RPM and 3600 FPM for plenty of power. Built-in dust collection system provides simple and efficient reduction of airborne debris and to keep the work area clean. Constructed with a solid cast-iron base to help withstand vibration. Cast-iron table measures 13-1/2 IN x 11-1/2 IN for generous workspace and includes miter gauge slots. Accepts a 63.5 x .014 IN blade from 1/4 IN to 3/8 IN wide. maximum cut of 5 IN at 90. LED worklight installed above the blade to improve cut line visibility and aid in set up. Included miter gauge proves useful when ripping resawing, cross cutting, and for precision cuts.

Your are ordering Part # CB6Y1

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 80 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B000SMA8T8
• Item model number: CB6Y
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #197,820 in Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Home Improvement)
  • #89 in Home Improvement > Power & Hand Tools > Power Tools > Saws > Band Saws

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars poor design, poor implementation, November 24, 2007

By 

wheeeeee - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hitachi CB6Y 10-inch Tilting Head Bandsaw with Dust Collection (Tools & Home Improvement)

This saw seems to be designed around the desire for marketing to have something "different," and that feature is the tilting head. When I read about the saw I thought, yeah, that is a nice feature to have and smartly done.

However, in use it is far less appealing than it seems on paper.

The first problem is that the fit and finish of this saw seems like typical cheap Chinese junk. A lot of the time with tools you get what you pay for... a cheaply sold tool tends to be cheaply made. I thought a Japanese company would avoid this but I was wrong.

The fit and finish shows itself when you attempt to square up the blade to the table. The first problem I encountered after squaring it up was that all my cuts were slightly off 90 degrees. I couldn't understand it, until I got around to checking the angle of the blade on either side. The table is either warped or milled poorly, meaning that there is roughly 1 degree bend in it centered around the slot cut for the blade. So if you are square on one side, you are not square on the other side. You can work around this by letting the kerf get the "bad" side, but it's just poor craftsmanship.

The second problem is that the head will shift with the vibration of the saw. So you have to really crank it down to lock it into place. And unfortunately, the way the clamp interfaces with the head, cranking it down causes the head to slightly shift. So even after you get it perfectly square, tightening the head can give you a half a degree change.

I spend so much time checking for the blade being square, adjusting the head, and tightening/loosening the thing that the saw is a net time waster for me. I can cut more accurately and quicker with just a hand miter saw, without ruining any cuts.

This for me is the biggest problem with the saw, if you can't rely on the accuracy of the tool it's hard to justify owning it.

The dust collection is not bad but not great. A lot of dust ejects out the back of the saw rather than gets pulled into the dust bag. I hook up a vacuum underneath the saw as a result, still can't catch it all but it does better than using the dust port for a vacuum.

I echo the comments of the other reviewer about the lamp. First, it is battery powered because this was cheaper than running a wire and running the lamp off of A/C power. It seems to do nothing much as well, the brightest point of the lamp when everything is adjusted correctly falls about one inch to the right of the cut. Just sloppy implementation, which means it is a feature for the marketing checklist and nobody cared about getting it right for the people actually using the saw.

The lack of a fence is one way of keeping the price point cheap, but not putting any mounting holes in place so you can add a third party fence I find has no excuse. Again, it shows that the saw is not really planned out for serious use.

Overall I would have to say avoid this tool. The money is better spent on something that has a better design, that is accurate, and has useful features (a fence) instead of silly features (tilting head).

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good band saw - but watch out, October 28, 2007

By 

J. P. Alterman (Reno, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hitachi CB6Y 10-inch Tilting Head Bandsaw with Dust Collection (Tools & Home Improvement)

Saw works well, and the tilting head (vice table) works really well. BUT - can't find any blades for it!!! 63.5 inch blade is on nobody's list and local stores (Home Despot and Lowes) don't have anything close. Light for blade seems like an after thought as it does not shine on the cutting area, and there is no provision for attaching a fence to the table. Other than that it works and the dust collection works pretty good, but I'm going to hook it up to my big dust collector.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Decent Saw, October 30, 2007

By 

J. Johnson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hitachi CB6Y 10-inch Tilting Head Bandsaw with Dust Collection (Tools & Home Improvement)

It's a good saw for the money. You have to shop around for blades and keep spares on hand because you're not going to find them at the Big Box.

Even though it's a "bench top" saw it's heavy. Mine is mounted on a fixed base. It tracks straight and has decent power. The cast iron table is a nice thing to have one a budget saw. It is a three wheel saw but I don't think it'll be a problem. The blade tensioner is a nice touch, too.

The tilting head feature is great. I never cared for tilting the table on a band saw because it just seemed awkward. I would like the saw to tilt maybe 15 degrees in the opposite direction so I could cut dove tails.