Thread: Attention Hammer bandsaw owners

Originally Posted by Pearo

I have a N4400. I am pretty happy with it and I use it a fair bit. The only thing I dont really like about it is the guides, but I believe the new ones are shipping with the ceramic guides.

Mine runs on 15A. Not sure where its made, and I am out of the country at the moment but should be home Monday or Tuesday, so will check then. I had always assumed that it was Austrian made.

Thanks for the comments mate. The new ones have ceramic as a $450 option. My amp question is now redundant as it turns out I actually have a 20amp setup - just need another plug! My understanding from Felder is they are made in Italy and assembled in Austria. The inputs and parts are made to spec in accordance with CE standards.

I have the N4400, the only faults are the guides and the tension, if you are hamfisted, DAMHIKT. Generally, if you let the machine do the work with sharp bands, everything goes smoothly. I have the 4hp, 20amp version. My "15amp" circuit has a 20Amp circuit breaker.

I have a Hammer N4400 that I have been using daily for the past four years. I did change the blade guide system to the new Hammer ceramic guides a couple of years back and have never had any issues with this machine. I mainly make dovetailed boxes and use the bandsaw to cut off the lid from the completed box either at a 90 degree std lid or often at a 25 degree angle for special display boxes. Most of this cutting has been in Jarrah or silky oak. I also do most of my slab ripping with the bandsaw rather than my Minimax SC-2 as this saves timber.
I find the Hammer is well made and accurate and compared to several other bandsaws I had it yields the best results for the work I do.
Cheers,
Paintman

I just bought the SCM 400p (MiniMax 16) and it's a beast! 4.8 hp motor. All very solid, but...requires a 240v/30 amp circuit.

The stories I have seen posted was that they were made in China, someone even posted a picture they alleged showed one saw in China but it was a very poor picture and no detail was available to support it. Italy I would believe, they seem to make a lot of BS's that get branded as needed.

I've got a Laguna 14bx and while I'm very happy with it, I'd probably go the SUV if I was to stay with that size/manufacturer because of the 1" blade capacity - which opens up a world of 3rd party blade options.

The NSW felder place is around the corner and is full of very expensive toys. That's probably the one hang-up with the Hammer. You do get a bloody big motor on it (and need to be ready for that at home) and it's probably a bit easier to use with regards to table tilt and blade change, but for the price, the Laguna was (when I bought mine) the best bang for buck - ceramic guides were standard and the foot pedal with the disc brake stops the wheels in around a second at most with only moderate foot pressure.

Money no option - go as big and high end as you can. I've never laid eyes on an SCM - I assume that with nearly 5hp behind it, it'll rip nearly anything without noticing. Circuit upgrades are probably going to cost you a bit though - standard power circuits being 20A, you're talking dedicated circuit for the install of a 30A - all the way from your sub-main board (assuming you have one and it's got the goods) or your main board. That's a bit of a downer all by itself.

I believe that Felder branded stuff is all Austrian. Hammer, being the "cheap" version, can have mixed lineage, but after talking to the Felder guys, it sounds like it's all still European - after Altendorf went through their Euro -> Chinese change in manufacturer, the word got out that although China can be cheaper to manufacture, to get everything up to standard and keep it there, the difference almost wasn't worth it - particularly because the Felder mgmt had to fly half way across the world to shout at the factory manager - through an interpreter, rather than a 2 hour flight to perform the same task, probably in their native tongue.

Hi mate - thanks for the comments - the 14BX looks extremely good and am tossing up between the N4400 and the 14BX. Unfortunately, there are none in the country at the moment.

I had a 4400 for years and used to resew a lot of salvage hardwood on it, including old ironbark and it did fine for a small saw. I gave it to a friend as I now have a 30" Wadkin DR for regular bandsaw work and an old Aggazzani 36" for resaw, it has nearly 27" of depth of cut. Obviously they are a whole different league of machine but I paid way less for the 2 of them together, $1600 total, than I paid for the Hammer.
Depending on what you are doing you might want to look at an older machine.

9586887.jpg
IMG_2176-1.jpg
Have fun,
Alli

Originally Posted by Allison74

I had a 4400 for years and used to resew a lot of salvage hardwood on it, including old ironbark and it did fine for a small saw. I gave it to a friend as I now have a 30" Wadkin DR for regular bandsaw work and an old Aggazzani 36" for resaw, it has nearly 27" of depth of cut. Obviously they are a whole different league of machine but I paid way less for the 2 of them together, $1600 total, than I paid for the Hammer.
Depending on what you are doing you might want to look at an older machine.

9586887.jpg
IMG_2176-1.jpg
Have fun,
Alli

Look like it weighs a tonne!

Both of them weigh about 900ks each.
The Wadkin is about 2.2ms tall the Agazzzani is 2.7
Neither are little machines but there are lots of the older bandsaws out there for a lot less than a new small modern one. The wadkin is direct drive so it wouldn't be easy to convert but any of the bigger old bandsaws that are not direct drive could easily be converted to single phase for a home workshop. This gives the user a chance to have a real quality machine that there is no debate about its abilities. They come up fairly regularly on the auction sites.

Have fun,
Alli

...

It seemed fitting to close this thread out. Again, thank you for those who made comments above, it was much appreciated.

Happy to report that I set up my Hammer N4400 today. It is unbelievable. I went massively O.C.D. with the process of researching and buying this thing. I tested 14 & 18 Jet, Laguna SUV/BX 14 and 18, the SCM 400, MiniMax s45, Powermatic 14 as well as the Carbatec and H&F house brand models. I even created a 6-page comparison chart. Loser.

It was at this stage I came to realisation that I needed more diverse interests - as such - after considering some life choices related to the time spent researching a bloody bandsaw...I went with the Hammer! The units above are good machines. Really good. But there was always some little thing that didn't sit right with me - either it was some cheap plastic parts or fiddley guides, tube (not solid steel) parts or other sticking points.

For the price I ended up paying, in my opinion, the only one that came close was the SCM and that was $1000+ more.

The Hammer is underpriced in my opinion. My understanding from Felder is that it is their low margin machine simply to keep the brand relevant and in circulation. As loss leader in other words. The machine is European made. The frame from ACM in Italy, the motor from an Austrian company and all assembled in Austria.

James at Felder in Melbourne was excellent to deal with.

If anybody needs to know about bandsaws. I can help!!

Well done DeeSki! You sound like a happy chap.

Incidentally, what does the N4400 cost these days? Mine was $2100 about 9 years ago. But then I paid 4x that for a K3 6 months ago. Prices must have risen somewhat?

Regards from Perth

Derek

Dee,
curious to know what you didn’t like about the SCM S400, if you looked at it..

Joe