Perform bandsaw

[suprasport]

My new Perform ccbb arrived today and i can honestly say i have never spent so long setting anything up in my life. The stand was a nightmare and in the end i put it on a cupboard made of 18mm mdf with 2 layers on top and on castors.
i have been reading up on how to tension and set it all up, and it ain't easy, every time i went to set the bearing guides i would get it just the right distance and then start to to tighten the nut with the allen key and the grub screw would nudge the bearing over, then i found if i had the bearing touching the blade and then tightened it up it got nudged over just the right amount
Oh! and it had had a bang on the top casing,a scratch and a very very small dint but it had been very poorly painted over by a 2 year old with some tipex. rang them and they gave me a £5 voucher.
So first impressions was what a load of junk. :evil:

Then i would find that the back bearing when set at the lowest point (guide near the table) then lifted to its highest setting there would be a difference of 3-4mm ie. the bearing guide wasn't running parallel to the bade.

The blade has been wandering all over the place yet when i attempted a 1.5mm veneer off of some 6" oak it was damn near perfect :?

So it has been bugging me and i have just been out to get it sorted and found out that it has a hidden feature Axminster don't tell you about,
yes it has a tensioning gauge :shock: I was messing about with it when i noticed the upper casing was twisted, and at first i thought this was due to the bang it had received, so was gutted thinking it has got to be sent back and i have to start all over again. However after further messing i discovered that if i released the tension on the blade the casing came true again. So i set the tension by watching the casing and using the door pushed to in order to check it, then set up the bearing guides again and hey presto it is working like a dream :lol: after a bit of practice with the feed rate and a new dure-edge blade i think i will be onto a winner.

Now the lathe is coming tomorrow cant imagine and hoping that takes no setting up :lol:

 

[PowerTool]

Glad it sounds like you've got it working properly (I bought the AWSBS2 recently,and am pleased with it for the price) - what lathe is the Easter Bunny bringing you ?

Andrew

 

[suprasport]

Its the perform CCSL, which was within the budget and seemed highly recomended by you guys and thats good enough for me.
Should be big enough for what i want, as i only intend trying pens, and smaller suff.
I also ordered the perform chisel set and the mandrel etc.
It is yet another side of the trade i have never tried so its all very exciting at the mo.
Besides if i keep following the advice off of here on what to buy its easier to tell swmbo who to blame for my bankruptcy :lol: :lol:

 

[Sawdust]

Congratulations on getting it working.

I had a similar experience with the hold down on the Perform morticer but with a few small mods it's fine and the machine works a treat. I think at this end of the market it's best to assume the machines will need a bit of siddling to get them right and I'm happy enough to do it.

I'd be very interested in your experience with the Perform lathe and the chisels as I've been looking at taking the plunge with these for a while.

Cheers
Mike

 

[suprasport]

Congratulations on getting it working.

I had a similar experience with the hold down on the Perform morticer but with a few small mods it's fine and the machine works a treat. I think at this end of the market it's best to assume the machines will need a bit of siddling to get them right and I'm happy enough to do it.

I'd be very interested in your experience with the Perform lathe and the chisels as I've been looking at taking the plunge with these for a while.

Cheers
Mike

i agree about its worth the fiddling, i have never been one for buying the so called quality tools before in the building game as they get damaged stolen etc. but now the accuracy is generally very tight i can see why the better stuff is needed and to be honest the Perform do seem to be very good if you are prepared to set them up properly.

Having said that i bought a metabo scms the other day from the refund i got on my performance pro one which was excellent for site work, but i was absolutely amazed at the difference in quality. Straight out of the box it cut 8 perfect test mitres 7" wide. but i would class performance pro as the cheapo stuff.

I have never been one for totally believing in you get wat you pay for but in the woodworking side it seems to be very true indeed.

anyway i will certainly let you know how i get on with the lathe, there will be a picture of my first ever turning tonight so dont miss this spot if you want a laugh, and i promise i will post the very first effort :lol:

 

[PowerTool]

anyway i will certainly let you know how i get on with the lathe, there will be a picture of my first ever turning tonight so dont miss this spot if you want a laugh, and i promise i will post the very first effort :lol:

Will look forward to it - we're a very friendly lot in the turning forum,all are welcome

Andrew

 

[Vormulac]

I bought the CCBB a couple of years ago and didn't have any problem setting up the base or the guides etc, but I have been unable to get the blade to ride on bth the top and bottom tyres at the same time, it's often running on the rim of the top wheel. I do have a couple of Dure-Edge blades that I bought in an attempt to get a better set up, but I haven't fitted either of them yet

V. :lol:

 

[suprasport]

but I have been unable to get the blade to ride on bth the top and bottom tyres at the same time, it's often running on the rim of the top wheel.

V. :lol:

thats what mine was doing until i used the built in tensioner guage :lol:
the blade on the top wheel was in the middle and on the bottom it was nearly hanging off the front edge

 

[MIGNAL]

Yes, I bought the very same Bandsaw several years ago. The biggest disappointment was the bearing assembly and guides. I honestly think they would be better off just providing simple wooden dowels to use as guides. The bearings supplied with the CCBB are poor quality and the bearing assembly is poor which results in rather bad blade support. If you are prepared to sort out the little problems it's a very decent machine for the money. I even managed to get mine to run co-planar.

 

[suprasport]

I even managed to get mine to run co-planar.

did you get the top wheel off and if so how ? i got as far as taking the circlip out and fiddled with waht looked like a star nut in the centre but couldnt shift it. mine is about 5mm out at a rough measurement.
Did you make your ownd guide assembly or bearings or settle for what is on ?

cheers
shaun

 

[MIGNAL]

I actually ended up having to file some of the cast guide assembly to get things to line up correctly. Then I ditched the side roller guides and made some oil impregnated hardwood dowels, I honestly thought that the dowels were a big improvement.
I didn't need to remove the top wheel to obtain co-planar alignment, everything was aligned using the bottom 3 adjuster bolts but I did make a straightedge that straddled the casing so I could observe it touching on the 2 points of the top and bottom wheel. Actually it is about 6 years ago that I bought the bandsaw so they may have made changes to recent versions, mine does not have the tension gauge unless I missed something very obvious.