Chris Knight
Established Member
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) .
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) .