Saving up for a band saw- is this one good?

[Ives]

I'm saving up for a band saw, and was thinking of the Jet one from Axminster for £150. Do band saws sometimes come with variable speed and should I really pay extra for that? I want to get the cheapest possible, but good quality, which is why I'm thinking of this one. Any thoughts?

 

[theartfulbodger]

Edit.

I'd be interested in the answer

 

[Ives]

I first had a scroll saw with only one speed, and took it back and got one with variable and now I couldn't do without that feature. So I'm wondering if it's the same with band saws. The other thing I did when buying a scroll saw was buy THE cheapest I could find. Turns out that's a bad idea. I got the cheap Jet one and it seems good so I thought I'd aim for the cheapest Jet band saw.

Thank you theartfulbodger. You know what I'm referring to!

 

[RogerP]

I first had a scroll saw with only one speed, and took it back and got one with variable and couldn't do without that feature. So I'm wondering if it's the same with band saws.
Thank you theartfulbodger. You know what I'm referring to!

The lower/mid price band saws usually have two speeds mainly to cater for cutting wood or metal.

 

[theartfulbodger]

My mistake, I've sent you a pm..

I'm not sure if you need a certain number of posts in order to read pm's or just send them

 

[condeesteso]

I think most will say you don't need more than one speed, unless you will cut metals on it - then 2 speed. I can't recall ever seeing variable speed on a band saw and would not see the point.
The Jet should be OK within it's capacity limits, but I would say look out for a second-hand one as you will get a lot more machine for the money. Names that spring to mind for a bench top small bandsaw would be Elektra Beckum, Scheppach, Inca (much loved here but not common); Record Power, a bigger Jet or maybe Axminster... hope that helps a bit. Oh yes, and everyone will say invest in a really good blade (then they will say contact Tuff Saws !) - but the supplied blades are almost always poor and let you down from the off.

 

[cmwatt]

I have the Jet JWBS-9 from Axminster. It's not bad, but I've found a few issues with it. The supplied rip and mitre fences are the biggest problem, the rip fence still wobbles about when tightened, the ends of which are of thin aluminium which flexes when applying pressure. The mitre fence slot on the table is too wide for the runner that slots into it. Another problem is the tension adjustment, which has no measurement scale, just a wee adjusting knob.

I managed to fit a 6tpi premium tuffsaw blade to it, but it was a struggle to get it on (even though I got the 1510mm one) due to the lack of proper adjustment in the wheels. However once I did get it on, it cuts great and gives a good finish. I currently use a clamping guide rail which is ok, but not ideal as it requires checking for square and distance to blade.

If you can, I'd suggest what others have said and try and get either a second hand good quality bandsaw, or save up a little more and get the cheaper axminster one as it would be better quality than the Jet. I would have gone second hand, but it's not easy to find second hand machines up in the highlands and delivery costs are not great.

Hope this helps.
Craig.