Bandsaw

[Tonyhaz]

Decided to look out for a used Bandsaw, what are good ones to look out for, I'm just doing home projects,
Seen a dewalt dw100 £55, but knowing nothing about these saws, I'm after some advice of what makes to look out for.
Thanks

 

[sunnybob]

buy the biggest you can possibly fit into your workshop.
You can cut small stuff on a big bandsaw. You cant cut big stuff on a small one.

 

[Tonyhaz]

Very true and didn't think about that, thank for the reply,

 

[sunnybob]

By the way, my two most used tools are the bandsaw and the router table, with the bandsaw just about at number one position.

 

[Lons]

Hi Tony

The DeWalt 100 is a very small hobby saw, I owned one nearly 30 years ago and it's quite limited with small motor, only 4" depth of cut and 3 wheel type which means thin and narrow blades only which also tend to break easily as they flex a lot around small wheels.

That said however, it very much depends what you are going to do with it and might well suit your needs, if you decide not then you'll get most if not all your investment of £55 back when you sell it and upgrade. You will of course eventually do that when you realise just how useful a decent bandsaw can be.

cheers
Bob

 

[dickm]

Bite the bullet, save some cash and get a secondhand Startrite 352. Your descendants will thank you for it in a few decades!

 

[Lons]

Bite the bullet, save some cash and get a secondhand Startrite 352. Your descendants will thank you for it in a few decades!

I agree 100% with that Dick, especially because that's exactly what I have but they aren't suitable for everyone. e.g. I have 2 mates who both work out of 8 x 6 sheds and neither would have the space available, in fact one of them bought my DeWalt 3501 which is about as big as he can accommodate.

Bob

 

[undergroundhunter]

I was in your situation a couple of years back, after reading the advice repeated above I saved my cash and bought a record power BS400. What a brilliant bit of kit, well worth the wait. I use it all the time on every project, when I started woodworking I only used hand tools so ripping and resawing stock was labor intensive, not any more takes mere seconds. I would strongly advise you to buy the biggest machine you can for the reasons stated above, you may find with a smaller saw you get frustrated due to its limitations.

Matt

 

[memzey]

Another vote for the Startrite 352 here. You just can't buy that sort of quality anymore, not without spending silly money anyway.

 

[Tonyhaz]

Thanks guys, appreciate the comments, I'll keep a look out for bigger machine,
Startrite or record

 

[heimlaga]

That decision makes a lot of sence.

When I was in your situation I decided to make do with no bandsaw at all using hand tools instead until I had enough needs to justify and enough money to enable the purchase of a full size industrial one. Enough need occured before enough money. Hence my first bandsaw is a 100 years old 24" E.V.Beronius which I rebuilt and modernized.

This is certainly not the best route for everyone.
I just want to point out that there are other ways to go than upgrade after upgrade after upgrade.

 

[Tonyhaz]

just picked up a Axminster HBS350N 4 years old £100 on eBay

 

[Alexam]

just picked up a Axminster HBS350N 4 years old £100 on eBay

Excellent and on the way to some interesting times. Now you need to get it working well and the following may help:-

GET THE BEST TUNING FROM A BANDSAW 'Alex Snodgrass of Carter Industries has an excellent video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGbZqWac0jU on a tune up method that works well.

Tuning is only that and nothing else. If you really want to get the very best use of your bandsaw on an ongoing basis, then the Steve Maskery DVD's will show you far more and they are a real investment that you should own. http://www.workshopessentials.com/shop/ '.

CHECKING BLADE TENSION - Flutter test Video's -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chyo9chuwJs and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8zZuDosSy0

BUY BEST BLADES FROM ..... http://www.tuffsaws.co.uk/

Whenever you have put a blade on a bandsaw, ask yourself the following questions:-
....... are you managing to get the blade running freely and central on the top wheel ( without guides or rear bearing near the blade ) with the gullet of the teeth in the centre of the top wheel ? That's the first priority before closing in guides and thrust bearings.
Is the blade running vertical 90° to the table alignment, front and back as well as side to side?
Once the guides and bearings have been brought to the correct position, (not touching when the blade runs freely) is the blade remaining where it should be when run under power and switched on and off checking several times ?

Are you sure that the tension is correct, or as near as it can be. Each blade could be different, even if it is the same depth, so needs to be checked whenever changing blades.

If all these things are correct, then you should get a true cut unless you are trying to cut the wood too fast and it's filling the teeth with sawdust and pushing the blade out of line and see if teeth are damaged in any way.
Finally, if you have used the blade before, make sure the teeth are clean, as sawdust will stick in the teeth gullet. Cleaning with a wire brush will result in a far better cut before starting a new job, but certainly on a regular basis.
Hope it helps and you have fun making lots of interesting woodwork. Dont forget to take photos and post them on this site.
Malcolm

 

[Tonyhaz]

Many thanks for replys and info, just picked it up, a lot heavier than I thought, but it fitted into me car without taking it apart.

 

[Tonyhaz]

Need to rearrange my garage now

 

[Tonyhaz]

Anyone know what other brands my saw was sold under, been looking for video on my one but nothing about

 

[Tonyhaz]

I'm new to these but It wasn't set up very well in my eyes lol

 

[sunnybob]

That wasnt set up at all!

get the blade running so that the gullet between the teeth are either centre, or slightly forward of centre on the wheel.
Then adjust the side bearings so they are ALMOST touching the blade (a cigarette paper away) and have space between the front of the bearings and the teeth.

Set the rear bearings slightly behind the blade, but close enough that when the blade is pushed back under pressure, the blade is stopped by the rear bearing before the teeth are squeezed between the front rollers.

 

[Tonyhaz]

I've done the Alex snodgrass setting now,watched it a few times, so as soon as i opened it up I knew it was bad, even the top baring plate bit wasn't level, I'll take some pix to show what I did. And if anything wrong please advise.

 

[sunnybob]

The only thing that the snodgrass video dosnt mention is about the teeth gullet. He's using a very thin blade so it can ride central on the wheel. If you are using any blade over a 3/8" then you have to bring the teeth forwards a bit other wise the blade just keeps running off the back of the wheel.