Biggish bandsaw recommendations?

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Chris Knight

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I am rather seriously thinking about getting a bandsaw with a greater depth of cut than my trusty Kity 613. The Kity is an excellent machine and I have no serious complaints but I do need a greater resaw capacity. The Kity has 7 inches under the guides and I would like 12 inches or at a push, not less than 10 inches.

The thing is, that I don't want a machine with a large footprint as the workshop is already very crowded and any more intrusions on floor space are unwelcome as they are likely to make it impossible to assemble the bigger things a larger bandsaw would enable me to make. (Classic trade off here!)

I do want a good machine - and at the size I am contemplating it seems only serious stuff is in the running anyway. I am not concerned about table size - on a bandsaw, it always seems a bit pointless to have a very big table anyway - but I would like it to tilt as much as possible in both directions (which implies a preference for a small table I suppose) as I get fed up with making angled tables for jobs that need an angled cut that my table won't accommodate ( no negative angles in Kity's case).

I would like an easy to adjust guide system above and below the table and one that can happily accommodate both the widest and the narrowest blades the saw can handle.

Good dust collection would be nice, as would a reasonably accurate tension indicator, a brake and a good tall fence.

So many of the machines on the market at present are clones or semi-clones which start from the same basic Chaiwanese or Italian machine and then may or may not get some special treatment to earn somebody's badge. I am completely confused by now as to what may or may not be good stuff,

Apart from the huge footprint, I have been put off the Basato by the experiences of a much respected member and am inclining to either a Jet type or a Minimax type (read Chaiwanese and Italian clones) .

I am happy to consider any machine within the parameters I have mentioned and should be very grateful for any advice from folk that may have travelled this path before.

I do need something in a hurry! My second chair is presently halted at the (modified) headrest that needs to be cut on a machine with at least 9 inches resaw capability) .
 
Chris,

I like my Jet/APTC lots, but it doesn't have a brake and I'm not sure I'd call the tension indicator "accurate". It's basically a bit of metal painted red and a scale of sorts just far enough away to make life tricky. On the other hand it is built like a brick privvy and I rather like the fence despite negative comments I've read elsewhere on the face of the web. One thing you might want to consider is quick release for the blade tension; it's the only feature I've really wished was present and it's not.

I can see I've got to make me one of these chairs. The opportunities for new tool buying are tremendous. :lol:

Cheers, Alf
 
Howdy Chris....I can back Alf up on this as I have the 8" Jet/APTC based on Alfs recommendation and it is a beast...very happy with it and the table tilts both ways. But I still have to get round to getting some good blades :oops:

SimonA
 
hi Chris
i was in a similar situation earlier this year (looking for a largish band saw)
other than the jet machine ,there is also the elektra b machine which is a little cheaper on the wallet but you gets what you pay for and imho it shows in that case.
i finally settled on the besato 5, the main reason being for its larger foot print stand being less likely to be overbalanced when resawing large timbers, imo. i thaught the jet machine was of good quality in design and construction but to ensure safety from toppling would need to be bolted to the floor. the besato with its larger foot print is solidy free standing and movable in my workshop/garage (swmbo refers to that place as my playroom).
there are many clones of the largish machines out there i came across look alikes of the lecky beck and others.
but i was fortunate to come across a supplier who had the jet ,e/b,and besato machines set up side by side in their show room.
best of luck
Dave W
 
Thank you for the feedback everybody. I now have to plan a route between various retailers to look at the things. It is amazing what a paucity of information is offered on most sellers' websites!
 
Chris, I've got the Axminster SBW4300, which I can thoroughly recommend. 300mm depth of cut is very handy, the only slight problem if you want an all purpose saw is that the smallest blade they recommend is 10mm.

I spent a lot of time last year going round dealers and shows till I found this saw, it's definately worth a look.

Keith
 
Hi Chris

waterhead37":1d1uk94j said:
It is amazing what a paucity of information is offered on most sellers' websites!

I couldn't agree more. Strangely enough, when I was doing my table saw research I found that Woodford (Xcalibur) had the best information about their products available on-line.

When I was looking at the Jet jointer Aragrorn kindly sent me a line drawing to ensure it would fit where I wanted to place it.

It seems to me that manufacturers/importers could do a lot more in terms of making available technical and dimensional details on their web sites.

Cheers
Neil
 
AP,

I have the JBS180L, and yes I do use it to resaw. It does a good job, especially with the Dure-Edge blade.

Funnily enough I considered the SBW4300 myself, or rather the "Europac" version, but I didn't feel it had quite the same "brick privvy" build that the Jet/APTC had. The 12" depth was tempting though. I was a little put off by the review in F&C too, although it was such a poorly done review anyway I dunno why I took any notice of it. :roll: Any chance of expanding your thoughts on it, Keith?

Cheers, Alf
 
Sorry Chris - I can't help much. There is a review of a Meber large bandsaw in GWW this month - but it doesn't seem to have much praise for it.

I'm still after a bandsaw myself. At the moment the Axminster 3501 at £500 is top of my list. But Keith has got me thinking ... Any chance of a review of the 4300 Keith? It seems a lot more future proof for not a lot more money? (Sorry Chris - not trying to highjack your thread!)

Cheers

Gidon
 
I went to Axminster at the weekend to have a look at bandsaws. Only confused me further - but think I may end up saving for a large bandsaw. The chap at axminster said he used the 3501 a lot and didn't like it. Also said that although height under guides was 8" he didn't think it had 8" resaw capability at all. I had been a little worried by the .75 hp motor.

Anyway Chris, back to topic. Looked at the 3501, 1801 and the 5301 (they didn't have the 4300 but very similiar apparently). They also had the Basato 5 reduced to £800 - a customer return. Crikey - that's a large machine!

Of course I couldn't try the machines out, but I really liked the 5301. I thought it was very solid and in my opinion the fence was far superior to the 1801's. The table was nicely finished and the rise and fall mechanism was smooth. Would have been nice to have heard it ... Alf - why did the 4300 get a bad review?

Cheers

Gidon
 
Keith, Gidon,

Thanks for your replies - I did not pick them up earlier, my four day absence from the forum and an "iffy" flag system on the new posts caused me to miss them.

Keith, yes I would be very interested in a review of your saw. I am getting increasingly frustrated by lack of cutting depth on mine. At present I am doing it the hard way!

com_small.jpg


Yes folks - carved by hand from the solid - with the trinity of woodworking - Sweat, tears and blood. ( I had to remove no less than one inch of thickness here - I left it thick because I thought I would be sawing it - fool that I am) However, a combination of mallet, gouges and barked knuckles that bled profusely all over the work, followed by coronary inducing planing with the compass plane ( a recent eBay catch) and I am almost there.
 
gidon":28f4f8sv said:
Alf - why did the 4300 get a bad review?
It wasn't a bad review for the saw exactly, but it was badly written review. Or rather, the reviewer seemed to have zero experience with bandsaws, so it was a bit pointless I thought. The only major problem with it seemed to be that the table had warped where the slot for the blade had been machined. I dunno why I dismissed it really. It was on the list for a good long time, but when I came to look at it I just wasn't impressed with the overall build, especially compared with the Jet ones. I'm not 100% it's just a smaller version of the larger ones in Axminster's range; something about that is nudging the back of my mind, but it's just long enough ago for me to have forgotten. :roll:

waterhead37":28f4f8sv said:
However, a combination of mallet, gouges and barked knuckles that bled profusely all over the work, followed by coronary inducing planing with the compass plane ( a recent eBay catch) and I am almost there.
Ah, but you can feel it doing you the power of good, eh? :wink:

Cheers, Alf
 
Hi Chris,

I don't know if you are still looking for a big bandsaw or not, but local company to me sell all the Rojek machinery and I've just found them online!!

The Rojek gear is pretty nice stuff and is all cast iron.....Here is their website:

http://www.woodmachinery.co.uk/rojek/

They also sell second hand machinery and can do refits and refurbs for you.

Thought this might be on some use...

SimonA
 
Simon,
Thank you for the link _ I had not considered them. They look nice but rather expensive!

The urgency has gone away for a while since I completed the job that had spurred my present immediate interest by hand. Still If I can persuade LOML that it is really needed, I might just be getting a bigger bandsaw before too long.
 
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