When did elektra beckum stop making stuff in Germany?

[disco_monkey79]

Hi, as per title, any idea how to tell if an EB product was built in Germany or China. New stuff is painted blue, rather than green - is that the giveaway?
I'm interested in a Bas 315, but not if it was made in China, but I can't see a "made in..." label on there.
Also, the motor is marked as 550w, but replacements are advertised as 800w (1hp). Did they change the spec or am I being dense?
Much obliged

 

[Phil Pascoe]

In the course of restructuring measures, the Metabo group acquired Elektra Beckum in 1999, a company from Meppen in Northern Germany. In 2004, Metabo restructured the production and a plant in Shanghai was established.[3] The full integration of Elektra Beckum took place in 2006. In 2010, the disposal of the plant in Meppen marked the end of the restructuring process of the production plants.[4]

March 1, 2016 Metabo was acquired by Hitachi Koki, part of Hitachi Group.[5]

From Wiki.

 

[disco_monkey79]

Thanks for the info. Anyone have any clue as to how to ID if something is pre or post shanghai?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The County of manufacture is usually on the rating plate.

 

[Ttrees]

What difference does it make if it was made in China ?
The guides are terrible terrible quality castings and you will have to sort them out ..might not be a problem if you have guides or plan to make them.
I made guides and posted them here.
The frame is however pretty heavy ..nearly as thick gauge as my 24" saw.
The aluminum guidepost doubles up as the blade cover that is just a sliding fit held by a wingnut...works ok I suppose. :|
there is two piddly self tapping screws holding the upper guides to the alu guidepost ...
I made blocks that hold the guide bearing rollers a friction fit ..Constant adjustment might strip these two guidepost screws.
Cant say anything about the bottom guides ...they were made by previous owner ..dont have thrust guide on bottom anymore...
Did I mention the guides are pants :lol: ..
Also the previous owner done some welding to the jacking screws ...thumbs up , tracks great
I have seen this saw with aluminum table ..mines cast iron .
Some things missing from this saw would be a decent tensioning threadbar, cast iron wheels and rack and pinon guide post .
A saw for small jobs all in all

 

[woodpig]

The best thing to sort out a BAS 315 is to buy yourself a nice milling machine. You can then make all the new bits you want for it! :lol:

 

[Ttrees]

 

[BigBertie]

I've had a BAS315 since new and personally wouldn't worry about China. Mine was definitely made in Germany and although it's OK, there are plenty of things that the Germans didn't get right! If the Chinese can do those things better, then all well and good.

Just some specific points. As someone has said, the guides are pretty poor, as is the vertical blade cover. I've recently upgraded mine and it makes a big difference. If you look at the Bedford Saws website here...
https://www.bedfordsaw.co.uk/blade-guid ... 6-bandsaws
You will see that for £65, they do an upgrade kit for this Saw. Fitting this has made a huge difference to the Saw...partly the use of bearings throughout at top and bottom, but the new guard is far superior to the original German and with this upgrade, you can get to the lock screws for all the various bearings/settings without breaking your wrist or dismantling the Saw. The instructions are pretty good although weren't quite right for my saw. There was a small area of fouling but I was able to remove that area of metal using a Fein Multimaster and a metal cutting blade. The results of this upgrade have changed the BAS315 into a far more competent machine and for £65 and a few hours work, I'd thoroughly recommend it.
Given that I'm very careful with all my machinery and tools and never overload anything, I'd also say that the original German motor failed. It was fun getting that replaced and of course it wasn't cheap.
So regardless of where the machine was made, I'd say that if you accept where that machine fits in the overall scale of things for these machines, you can pretty easily fettle the machine and make real tangible improvements.

BigBertie

 

[Ttrees]

Are you sure it wasn't the capacitors fault ?
The motor is a .55KW on mine and the cap has been changed .
I think you can buy these for about 3 or 4 quid

 

[BigBertie]

No, sadly not the capacitor...bang, sparks from inside and smelly smoke! I did look inside and also took it to a motor specialist locally...somewhere on the coils of wire a short had occurred and it did need a rewind...which was more expensive than a new motor!

 

[MikeJhn]

Ah once they let out the magic smoke they are toast. #-o

Mike