Thread: 14" Bandsaw Hafco BP-360 VS Carbatec BS-345H

My Men’s Shed has the model before what you mentioned Carbatec unit. Essentially it looks really close to what I see in the online Carbatec catalogue. While it is a reasonable unit, I would suggest it isn’t built like a tank.

The biggest issue everyone has with that band saw is the fence, basically it is a bit of a Mickey Mouse unit that requires you to slide the fence along, then screw in a big plastic wingnut thingy. Really a pain to use and nobody likes it. It is also a bit hard to get correct and/or repeatable fence positions.

For lowering or raising the upper blade guide, you undo a plastic wingnut, then slide up or down to your preferred height, then do the wingnut up. Not really an issue, but having a rack and pinion gear would be nice.

Pretty much the biggest blade that works well is 12.7mm, we have tried larger, but the machine doesn’t seem to like them. I translate this to mean that pushing the machine to the largest sized blade, is making it work just a tad too hard. Nothing anyone can put a word to, but it has never felt right with the largest blade.

I used it today with a 9.5mm fine tooth blade (don’t know how many teeth per inch, but it is quite a few) cutting some 15mm high quality plywood. Some long straights finishing with some gentle curves. It did a very good job. With a change to a 12.7mm blade with 3 TPI, it was then used to cut the corners of some chain sawed timber for bowl turning, worked very well for that as well. Used the maximum cut possible, not an issue.

I myself have a Hafco unit, which is more or less the Hafco version of the Carbatec BS-345H. It has some features that make life easier and as far as I can work out, the robustness of the Hafco isn’t that much different than the Carbatec unit; there are some differences that make life easier though.

First and foremost, the Hafco fence is heaps better. I am not saying it is brilliant, it just works far more simply. Essentially you can slide it one handed, align up on the correctly adjusted line window, then push the lever down to lock. To lift it off, one simply lifts the lever then you lift the lever end first, then take it away. The Carbatec unit requires you to slide the either end to release the fence before you can remove it, very fiddly.

My Hafco unit has a rack and pinion gear unit for the raising and lowering, it feels more rigid when locked, but that could be me just liking my unit better.

Looking at that Hafco unit in the online brochure you referred to, it seems to be, essentially, a different machine. In fact, to me, it looks more like a model upgrade and a model further down the track, than the Carbatec unit. So I’m not really sure if you are comparing apples with apples.

Looking at the online brochures, I would pretty much take the Hafco unit. Essentially it appears to be a far better unit. It has a light, which is pretty much essential for super accurate freehand work; with my older eyes that is essential.

Probably one of the most interesting things, is the bottom dust drawer. I think I would replace that with a big gulp type bottom and run a dust extraction hose directly from underneath. Collection of dust from bandsaws is a bit of a pain, I have found. My way to extract as much stuff as possible; so far...


Dust_Extraction_Bandsaw_web.jpg


Great accessory, works a treat. Soooo easy to move.


Mobile_Base_002_web.jpg


Some food for thought.

Mick.

I think if you like a more solid machine then go the extra 200 or so bucks and get the BP355. About the same cut size but more power to do it and 30kgs more solid. Had one about 7 years now and no regrets.
Regards
John

Hi Mick,

Thanks for all that info. That is what I suspected from looking at both machines As I have noticed that the Hafco seemed like a better build and as you pointed out the fence is better quality as well as the rack an pinion blade guide. I think for the budget I am looking at the Hafco is the best value for money.
Its interesting to read that you have used both, I also noticed the over all fit and finish of the Hafco seems better than the Carbatec. I have also considered the mobile base as you have done with yours. As well as a Bucket style dust extractor I really like the set up you have just bellow the table as it would save a whole lot of clean up.

Had a bit of a look at what John suggested, which is the slightly heavier duty model with a bigger throat for a slightly higher cut. I think that is what I would be going for if I was on the market for a new unit. Maybe John can answer this question. The BP355 band saw sits atop a solid cabinet, does that front section open, if so, does it collect dust, or is it for storage? Just curious.

As for a mobile base. I picked up my mobile base only a couple of weeks ago from a forum member. I looked at picking up either the Hafco version or the Carbatec version; both light steel units. Not in stock, however I had looked at them closely.

Then the unit I did pick up is the Carbatec semi finished product, just add wood (or steel) I can tell you that the Carbatec unit weighs 7.52Kg for posting, it is not a light unit. One advantage I didn't forsee, was the possibility to remove the front lift wheel. If you look closely (enlarge it) you will note that the front centre wheel with the foot lever, has two finger/wingnuts. The idea is that you can slip the front centre wheel affair out, by simply undoing the bolts by hand, then slide it out; leaving you with an unhindered front rail.

Another issue I have noticed with regard to Hafco, they sell and most importantly, they seem to stock spare parts. That is the good news, the bad news, all parts are stocked in Sydney and require freight to wherever; although I assume one could pick up in Sydney. Every time our Men's Shed has required spare parts for any of our Hafco sourced machines, they have had parts in stock ex-Sydney.

Mick.

Ps: keep us informed of what you eventually do end up with, aaaaaand, what you think of it after owning it for a while.

Originally Posted by orraloon

go the extra 200 or so bucks and get the BP355. About the same cut size but more power to do it and 30kgs more solid.

John

I second this. I bought a secondhand one recently and it is a pretty solid saw for the money with a good sized motor.

Originally Posted by Optimark

Had a bit of a look at what John suggested, which is the slightly heavier duty model with a bigger throat for a slightly higher cut. I think that is what I would be going for if I was on the market for a new unit. Maybe John can answer this question. The BP355 band saw sits atop a solid cabinet, does that front section open, if so, does it collect dust, or is it for storage? Just curious.

As for a mobile base. I picked up my mobile base only a couple of weeks ago from a forum member. I looked at picking up either the Hafco version or the Carbatec version; both light steel units. Not in stock, however I had looked at them closely.

Then the unit I did pick up is the Carbatec semi finished product, just add wood (or steel) I can tell you that the Carbatec unit weighs 7.52Kg for posting, it is not a light unit. One advantage I didn't forsee, was the possibility to remove the front lift wheel. If you look closely (enlarge it) you will note that the front centre wheel with the foot lever, has two finger/wingnuts. The idea is that you can slip the front centre wheel affair out, by simply undoing the bolts by hand, then slide it out; leaving you with an unhindered front rail.

Another issue I have noticed with regard to Hafco, they sell and most importantly, they seem to stock spare parts. That is the good news, the bad news, all parts are stocked in Sydney and require freight to wherever; although I assume one could pick up in Sydney. Every time our Men's Shed has required spare parts for any of our Hafco sourced machines, they have had parts in stock ex-Sydney.

Mick.

Ps: keep us informed of what you eventually do end up with, aaaaaand, what you think of it after owning it for a while.

Mick
The lower cabinet is storage so I keep spare blades and some tools for adjusting the saw in there.
It stays reasonably dust free. The dust extraction port is in the space for the lower wheel.
Regards
John

In a bandsaw, weight is your friend. It means that there will be more rigidity and stability which are really important in a bandsaw. The other thing that is important is motor horsepower, especially if you are going to be re-sawing big chunks into boards or whatever. Re-saw blades take power to work properly. Those big teeth take some dragging to get through a lump of hardwood which means that any flex in the frame will be certain to show up when you don't want it to. There was a reason behind the way the old saws were made. Cast iron was heavy, stable and pretty rigid. You don't want the saw to wobble when you start pushing a big lump of hardwood through. Most "saw fences" are a joke, best consigned to the scrap bin and something better fabricated in the workshop.
As an aside, my workshop and house were destroyed in a bushfire back in February. I had a steel fabricated bandsaw which was unrecognisable after the fire yet the cast iron bed of the wood lathe was still sitting on it's cast iron legs. Pitty about all the aluminum pulleys, casting and other bits.

I just took possession of the BP355 ...just got it out of the box tonight. I'm really impressed with the build quality, the only slight niggle is the 5/8 mitre slots, but i can live with that. I looked at both the Carbatec BS-345H and the leda 14 inch model but was more impressed with a halco 14 inch of a relative so decided with the Halco BP355. It will have to wait until Saturday to put together and set up.

halco BP355.jpg

I just ordered the Sherwood 18inch Bandsaw. https://www.timbecon.com.au/sawing/b...s/18in-bandsaw

Prefly,Hafco machines have a good reputation so you should have years of enjoyment ahead of you with this machine. Good luck and happy sawing!

planemaker, that's a pretty good machine. If it will take 32mm blades then resawing should be no problem and the 4 pole motor is certain to give you better torque, which you will need for resaw work. If you intend to do a lot of resaw work then perhaps you need to consider either a blade sharpening machine or going to tungsten tipped blades. If the wood is reclaimed or from suburban trees then you need to watch for embedded, hidden metal that does really nasty things to bandsaw blades. A metal detector may be in your future! Good luck!

I'm somewhat amused by some of Timbecon's machinery descriptions and in the case of their 18" bandsaw it's . . . .

Upgraded 4-pole (1400rpm) motor that has twice the torque of standard 2-pole motors (2800rpm) to deal with any resawing

The number of motor poles is meaningless as nearly all bandsaws use pulleys to achieve the desired band speeds and it's band speed that determines optimum cutting speed. When a 2800 rpm motor is used these are geared down to suit the required cutting speed and this naturally results in an increase in torque. It's almost like Timbecon are trying to find something to fill up the space on the product description.

FWIW Most WW bandsaws operate at significantly below the band speeds needed for optimum cutting speeds but I understand why they do it. Optimum cuttings speeds can be a bit frightening especially for newbies and if something goes wrong it can really result in a serious stuff up.

Wow. Perfect thread to stumble across.
I was comparing 4 bandsaws - Carbatech BS-345H ($849) & BS-345C ($1159) & Hafco BP-360 ($792) & BP-355 ($1023)

You guys have convinced me to get the bigger Hafco unit. ($136 cheaper and 1/2 HP more grunt) I'm in no hurry so I'll sit tight until one of their sales come up.

Thanks for the input everybody.