|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 8, 2022 22:29:53 GMT -5
I've been generally pleased with my 10 inch. The price has gone up 50% since I bought it. There is a piece that a spring attaches to where the spot weld broke off. They are sending me a replacement kit for free. It has been 3 weeks and no part because the part is in China. They had a labor day sale for 5% off. Their prices include free shipping and no additional sales tax. I have some rough that is too big for the 10 inch. My Covington is a 16 that I use a 14 inch blade and that is big enough. I would need to spend about 1/2 of what the new saw cost fixing the Covington and it would still be a pos. It wouldn't surprise me if I get the 14 inch before the little part.
|
|
|
|
Post by Rockoonz on Sept 9, 2022 1:11:03 GMT -5
Is it a 14 in the HP style saw or the Lortone panther bench top copy?
It will be interesting to see how it works out, but I think you're right that either is better than a covington. Shame that they stick with such poor saw design with all the other well built tools they make.
|
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Sept 9, 2022 15:09:37 GMT -5
It is the Panther look alike. The 10 inch and 14 HP have the same design. The 10inch cuts slow and is less likely to jam. About 15 years ago, I was looking for a new slab saw. My choices were the Covington and the Panther. I heard that the Panther cut to fast so I bought the Covington. The Covington has a unique design in with the clutch which would cut fast and then slow down when needed. My problems with the Covington were the carriage drifting to the right and the clutch adjustment. Also the on off switch that is connected to a rod broke and can't be replaced. I plugged it into a power strip for on off, but.....
|
|
|
|
Post by Rockoonz on Sept 10, 2022 6:19:04 GMT -5
It is the Panther look alike. The 10 inch and 14 HP have the same design. The 10inch cuts slow and is less likely to jam. About 15 years ago, I was looking for a new slab saw. My choices were the Covington and the Panther. I heard that the Panther cut to fast so I bought the Covington. The Covington has a unique design in with the clutch which would cut fast and then slow down when needed. My problems with the Covington were the carriage drifting to the right and the clutch adjustment. Also the on off switch that is connected to a rod broke and can't be replaced. I plugged it into a power strip for on off, but..... If the HP saw has the fast 7rpm motor like the Panther, I wonder if you can ask them to put the slower 4rpm feed motor on it, they were interchangable on the lortone saws. All saws have clutches, it's the spring on the feed lever. If the rock is cutting slower than the blade is capable it just slips back on the threads. Covingtons clutch is just unworkable for the most part. Your auto off switch can be replaced, maybe not with whatever it had to begin with, but there are plenty of switch styles that can be made to fit. If I see a photo I can possibly share the best replacement IMO. HP has a "universal" switch box that may work, but will require a little fabrication. I think Cigarbox also sells something and might have directions specific to your saw. The carriage drift is my biggest gripe with Covington, their crappy carriage setup is unfortunate. best answer to that IMO is run a smaller blade on it and only cut smaller rocks that don't stress it too much. |
|
stefan
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
|
Post by stefan on Sept 11, 2022 12:26:08 GMT -5
I have the 14" hytone (panther copy) HP saw. Matter of fact it is cutting right now. THere is little I would change about the saw. It cuts wonderful for me and out of the box has not been any trouble. I'm even liking the green agate eater blade (not the smoothest finish, but I have had a couple vice poppers and the blade has emerged undamaged). At first I struggled with the vice, but after some practice and patience I have a pretty good system done and can actually get end it's arranged so I can make tumbling rough with the saw. I have cut about 25 Lbs of slabs (that's about 500 cuts so far) and have had zero binding issues, and never once stalled, or even bogged down the motor. Heck the lights don't even dim when I fire it up (dual capacitor motors are amazing!)
|
|
