A couple of small newbie questions

[ByronBlack]

Hi Guy's

As you can tell, i'm new to the forum after reading for a while. I'm relatively new to woodworking and have a couple of questions for you.

1. I'm looking to buy a bandsaw with a budget of £400, looking through the other forum, Elektra Beckum (316) and the Scheppach Basato 3 seem to be the best choices, now i've read almost everything on this forum about the two machines, but I would like to know in general which is the better company for support, warrenty, general quality etc?

2. I have a budget of £200 for a circular saw or table saw setup, which i'll be using for sizing ply for cabinets and ripping, any suggestions on which route I should go?

3. I'm going on a cabinet making course in october with Bruce Luckhurst, i'm hoping to eventually gain employment, can you recommend ways of finding these jobs, i'm happy to start at stage 0 sweeping floors!

Sorry if this post is too long, I didn't want to mess up the forum with too many seperate posts.

BB

 

[wizer]

if u can stretch another £100 then you can have the Triton 2000 Workcentre

 

[Noel]

Personally I'd not go anywhere near an EB 316. I've the the German built 315 (same in all but colour). It's just adequate and the nonsense of trying to adjust the lower guides make me reluctant to change blades sizes too often. Upper guide adjustments aren't much better. Fence is a total waste of time.Bought mine 2nd hand for little money so I'm glad I didn't buy new.
Basato 3, I've a friend who has one and regrets buying it, mainly because of upper guide problems and rubbish electrics. Haven't said that I've read one or two good opinions on it.
What to buy for £400? Not a baldy. Personally I'd try and up the budget a bit and have a look at Jet etc.

Noel

 

[PaulH]

Welcome to the forum, you'll find it a useful place.

I too would recommend the Triton for a beginner, but please note that the £300 only includes the Workcentre - you'll need a circular saw on top of that.

As a newbie myself, I can't really comment on the Bandsaw - indeed I'm looking out for one myself!

Regards,
Paul.

 

[wizer]

] but please note that the £300 only includes the Workcentre - you'll need a circular saw on top of that.
]

You can pick the workstation up on eBay for £199 and then £100 on a saw. You have to keep your eyes peeled on eBay foe the bargains tho.

 

[ByronBlack]

Thanks for the initial information chaps. How much on top of a £400 budget would I need to add for a similar specced Jet?

I'm quite aware of not wanting to buy something that i'll regret buying later (i've done that already with a SIP bandsaw).

I'll look into the triton, seems a good idea, but with the cost of that and a good circular saw, would I not be better off buying something like the scheppach 10" induction table saw?

 

[philpolish]

Hi there if you are going on a course with Bruce I would look more into hand tools to start with. Not sure of you r experience so far but I have been one one of Bruces courses and hand tools are a must.
Kind regard Phil.

 

[ByronBlack]

Hi there if you are going on a course with Bruce I would look more into hand tools to start with. Not sure of you r experience so far but I have been one one of Bruces courses and hand tools are a must.
Kind regard Phil.

Hi Phil, i've already purchased most of the hand tools required, i've been slowly collecting tools over the last year, only need a few more to really complete my collection.

Off-top, but how did you find the course with bruce? Worth the time and money? is he friendly, a good tutor etc?

 

[philpolish]

Have a look here http://www.festoolusa.com/category.aspx?ID=9

 

[ByronBlack]

Have a look here http://www.festoolusa.com/category.aspx?ID=9

Is this for use as a table-saw replacement ? (excuse my ignorance)

 

[Chris Knight]

Byron,

I have taken a couple of short courses with Bruce. He is a friendly guy with a good sense of humour and an excellent teacher. Do take a notebook and make copious notes, I found that his printed stuff was a bit thin on details you need after the course.

If I were you, I would delay any tool purchases until after the course. Chances are, you will reform your opinions of what you need.

 

[ByronBlack]

Byron,

I have taken a couple of short courses with Bruce. He is a friendly guy with a good sense of humour and an excellent teacher. Do take a notebook and make copious notes, I found that his printed stuff was a bit thin on details you need after the course.

If I were you, I would delay any tool purchases until after the course. Chances are, you will reform your opinions of what you need.

Cheers for the headsup regarding tools (and notepad). Glad you found his courses good, I was a little aprehensive parting with that much cash (could spend it on tools otherwise

I agree with you about not buying anything till after the course, although I do need a bandsaw, as I'm making guitars, and although my 10" SIP is a complete donkey it has proved to be useful.

 

[SVB]

I picked up an older Axminster badged Jet 14" bandsaw on eBay. I have found it excellent and have just received the 6" riser block kit to give it 12" under the guides (not that I will ever need that much really but it never hurts!)

As for the T/S I can't really help other than a general observation that your budget is not really enough for a quality machine so if I were you I would wait and make to with a circular saw (or a hand saw - how much do you have to do??) and let the budget swell a little.

 

[ByronBlack]

Thanks for the feedback simon. I've actually placed an order for the Jet 14" after some good reviews, the main reason I went for the Jet is because it has an extended warrenty.

I've also done what you suggested, i've left the table saw for another day and have bought an Hitachi CS - It will be mostly used for sizing sheet material.

 

[Chris72]

Hi,
I would recomend the record BS350 I bought mine for £380 plus vat if memory serves from Paskins of Wolverhampton.Its a great bandsaw and I cant fault it.Not sure if you will get it at the same price but a friend of mine used to work there
Chris.

 

[ByronBlack]

Thanks for the recommendation on the record machine, I have wondered how good they were as they always seemed pretty cheap for their impressive specs.

I have decided to go for the Jet 14" but thanks for the suggestion.

 

[devonwoody]

I would not buy any new bandsaw out of a box unseen.
My BS350 is being collected today by Record.

The next time I buy it will have to be up and running in a showroom and it has got to be perfect and then arrange delivery of same somehow.

Had my Triton outfit 3 years and did over 50 projects, never let me down, made a change recently just to spend some money!!

 

[ByronBlack]

I agree about using the machines before you use them, unfortunatly i'm not in a position where I can get to use them beforehand, so i've spent the best part of the last 2 months researching, and the Jet has by far and away got the best feedback, reputation etc. So fingers crossed it will be as good as I hope it will be.

The more I look into the Triton system the more I feel like breaking out the credit-card, its looks a superb bit of kit, and now I have ordered a Hitachi C/S a triton would make a lovely partner to it - shame there aren't more on ebay though ;(