Kity 413 - the hunt for a precision bandsaw

[condeesteso]

Well, I think it's a Kity. No branding anywhere I can find, but the rating plate says type: 0413, date 1999.
I found this by accident and was planning getting an Inca, but this came up so I went to see it (better than buying blind on ebay).
Basically it's a cast ali main frame, and in fact every significant component is aluminium. The main cover is thick vac-formed plastic. Table is cast ali, ribbed under.

The wheels are ali again, factory balanced (note small drill indents at perimiter) and fixed to shafts very nicely - without stripping down (no intention) I guess an interference fit on shaft, maybe with a flat or splines, and a beefy circlip to retain. There is no play at all in either bearing and the wheels spin very smoothly indeed.

Drive is indirect via a vee belt, tension can be adjusted by shifting the motor mount plate.

Guides are all tool-free adjustment, with solid sides and roller rear (same top and bottom). The side guides were replaced instantly with Lignum (8mm square) and when I got it it had some old beech guides in anyway. The lignum zero-clearance guides work brilliantly, in firm contact to the blade, self-lubricating, almost no wear.

Table tilts and the trunnion assembly is solid enough:

With a new blade fitted (Tuff premium 1/2" 4tpi) a quick test - 6" sawn oak:

Speed of cut was very impressive (complements to the blade, with an impeccable weld). So this is right on its capacity limits, no problems at all. The offcut is uneven only because the stock was rough sawn and not squared up - the cut is flat and clean.
The fence slightly puzzles me - the measure on the fence support has indications for an L section fence, but this one looks very like a fence I saw on a bigger 613. The underside fouled the table slightly so was filed to clear. The lock-down slide is a bit graunchy along the mount rail - I think aluminium bearing on aluminium is often not good - it needs a tune to get it smoother.

Dust extraction is the main issue - it isn't good enough and dust gathers inside, finding its way onto the lower wheel band quite quickly.
I've seen 4" ports cut into the plastic cover, but before I go that far I am going to tune what is there already... just to see if it can be improved enough. here it is with the shute removed

I am in the process of fitting a rubber zero-clearance gate under the table, fixed to the plastic frame where it surrounds the blade. Made from thin rubber sheet, bonded on. I will then file the inside of the extract shute, as it has a crude flat plate where the internal weld is, and that must restrict flow but more importantly cause a lot of turbulence, which is the airflow equivalent of friction.

I'll report back on extraction, but I'm keen to get the smaller hose size working well as I plan to use the smaller vac on this, which shifts plenty enough air to do this job (in theory).
One final note - the slot in the table infeed is fixed by a countersunk allen bolt. When I checked the machine before buying, table was concave on the infeed but dead flat on outfeed. Turned out the screw was over-tightened, causing distortion in the infeed. Once that was slackened to just tight, the table returned to dead flat all over. And I need to not lose that bolt!
Early impressions - very good indeed, got me interested in an early 613 now!

 

[yetloh]

Douglas,

It certainly looks like a Kity. I had a 613 for some years. It was OK for the price but the guide assembly was a bit lightweight, the fence was as you say, graunchy and you had to allow for the fact that it would move slightly when you tightened the locking lever. The fence wasn't adjustable for drift, and there always was some, so it was necessary to improvise. These are all things you get with a relatively cheap bandsaw and my current Felder suffers from none of them, but it was twice the price. Many people look askance at ali tables but that was one aspect of the Kity which I never thought to be a problem.

Jim

 

[jimi43]

Nice to see it at last Douglas...I think it was well worth what you paid for it and the day trip to the M25 :mrgreen:

As I said on the phone...INCA make loads of aluminium frame mouldings for all sorts of industries as well as their own power tool machinery of distinction. Often...these saws have these frames...check all around for a small stamp.

Ian's blades are sublime. I bought some more for my tiny Burgess after bugg3ring up the last one on a small piece of brass I missed when cutting perspex. I tell you...the blade was almost a year old and had I not damaged it then it would still be cutting strongly now. I only mucked up the set not the sharpness!

Must get over to see your new pet Kity sometime soon!

Cheers mate -nice one!

Jim

 

[condeesteso]

Aha! - I overlooked one key word - SMALL. Basically there is a good role for a smaller bandsaw, and I don't think anyone is making one these days (if I have missed one please tell me).
I have a Record 500 for the big stuff and that is fine (actually excellent when set up well), but I didn't intend to have the small Kity compared with a Felder as they have never made small bandsaws to my knowledge. And if I ever see one for a mere twice the price of this I'll just join the queue.
So, onto tune-ups:
Dust extraction isn't great, but it has now improved considerably. A rubber sheet stuck to the door where the blade aperture is - an idea nicked from the Record, and I think it helps quite a bit:

The lower wheel brush was soft and distorted, so I cut about 10mm off, and repositioned closer. I may replace with something firmer anyway, a stencil brush springs to mind):

Lignum guides top and bottom working a treat - in moderately firm contact, I take them forward to just touch the set of the teeth, let the blade then make its clearance. But the main part of the guide is in full contact with the side of blade:

The fence is working very well now, just a clean-up of the tracks, and a lignum spacer under the outfeed end so the fence doesn't touch the ali table (less than half a mil proud). I have none of the setting problems Jim mentions, at all:

And on the issue of blade drift, this scrap and a screw tells me the blade alignment relative to reference. So I set the blade first (same position top and bottom wheels, which happens to be about 1/3 back), then align table to blade (bolts on trunnion), then square fence to table and blade.
The thing in the foreground is a 'hand tool'... sorry for any confusion

And I use it on the big one too - way quicker than cutting a straight line freehand every time:

Basically I reckon this early Kity is right up there as a very fine well-engineered small bandsaw. I would be wary of the later ones, but worth noting many luthiers swear by their 613s.