Bandsaw advice

[agandb]

I am a luthier from The Netherlands and I am going to buy a new band saw. I have read lots of info about band saws on this forum and I have narrowed it down to two bandsaws:

Scheppach Basato 4
Test: http://www.woodworkersinstitute.com/page.asp?p=521

Hammer N4400
Test: http://www.woodworkersinstitute.com/page.asp?p=595

I would use the band saw mainly for resawing. About 8"(20cm) high (thick) boards into slices of 5-6 mm (3/16-1/4") boards.

The hammer is almost twice thw price (180%) but I like that you can see what the tension of the blade is. The rest seems pretty much the same.
I have a smaller scheppach from 1990 (vario 32 HBS) and I am pleased with it but need something better and more stable.

Does anybody have experience with one or preferably both of them?
Is the Hammer worth the extra money? I could buy the Scheppach now but would have to save up for a while to get to the Hammer.

 

[agandb]

:? I don't know why I cannot post the link to the test of both band saws at woodworkersinstitute dot com

 

[PowerTool]

Hello,and welcome to the forum

The spam trap blocks links until you have at least three posts to your name,so one more and they should appear.

Andrew

 

[agandb]

Thanks,
this makes three :lol:

 

[Peter T]

I don't know the Hammer but I own a Basato 4, which I use for hobby woodworking.

The review you quote gives a reasonably good impression of the saw but there are one or two things that don't come out.

Setting the squareness of the table is very hit and miss. The adjustment is via oversize holes in the mounting brackets. Unfortunately, when the fixing bolts are loosened, all rigidity in the brackets is lost so all you can do is twist the table in the direction you want to go and hope for the best, which is quite frustrating! Trying to loosen the bolts and then tap the table into position with a mallet simply doesn't work.

As the review says, there are some fixings that are pop rivets that should be screws and nuts, but these are easy to fix.

The thickest hardwood I have re-sawed is about 5 inches and this worked fine.

Good luck,

 

[agandb]

Thanks Peter T,
This is also a problem with my old small Scheppach, I would have thought they would fix this problem in the 20 years. This is valuable info.

 

[Big John]

I only have experience with the Hammer. It is very solid and will resaw easily. I'm not impressed with the dust extraction though - but this seems to be a general problem with bandsaws. Setting the tension is easy and appears fairly accurate. Blade guides are good.

 

[woodbloke]

When the Hammer was first released a couple of years ago, it received an excellent review in Furniture & Cabinetmaking magazine here in the UK...given the choice, I would much prefer it to the Bas4 - Rob

 

[John. B]

Based on what I read in the oz forums the hammer comes out best of everything.
If you google hammer 4400 and read the oz reports, that may help you make up your mind. :lol: :lol:

John. B

 

[Peter T]

Thanks Peter T,
This is also a problem with my old small Scheppach, I would have thought they would fix this problem in the 20 years. This is valuable info.

Happy to be of service

 

[trousers]

I looked at the Hammer a while ago when deciding which bandsaw, and it looked a solid bit of kit.
Sheppach was discounted when I read of various peoples problems with them across the range.
Ended up buying an Axminster in the end (local to me, cheaper at the time and recommended by others here).
The hammer is on offer at the moment I beleive.
The equivalent axminster is the AP4300, and I think a few forum members as well as myself have it's predecessor the SBW4300.
I think the fact that the 4300 has 2 dust extract ports swayed it for me, because the Hammer only has the one.
HTH

 

[John. B]

I looked on the hammer website to check the specs on the 4400 and I think it comes up short of my Axminster SBW 4300.
I like the wheels on it and the fence guide looks quite good but the table only tilts to -10 to 22.5 degrees there is no blade tension release lever.
280mm under the guides (11") Power is up slightly but I could'nt find the price.
If it's less than the AX AP4300 T3 then its worth thinking about it. If not................
1500w motor, 45 degree table tilt, blade release lever, a little over 300mm under the guides, having two dust outlets plus the customer service Aminster does it for me.

John .B

 

[agandb]

Thanks for all the info. I have decided to go for the Hammer and ordered one.

Thanks for the tip on the Axminster! It looks good too but I could not find any dealers in The Netherlands. I like the two dust outlets and the blade tension release lever can be handy.
But the Hammer has double power (3000W). Also in my case; I will never use the possibility to change the angle of the table. So I think (hope) the hammer is a good choice for my needs. (Price is about the same).