Thread: Carbatec SBW4300CE 17in bandsaw unboxing

Hi All,

This is for anyone that is interested or may be buying one of these 17in bandsaws in the future.

I spotted a bargain SBW4300CE on ebay the other day...only one problem it was in Sydney(I live in Geelong). Anyway I made a plan to buy it and collect it over the xmas holidays so off I went and did some research to make sure these things weren't duds. So of course i started on my favorite forum site but the latest mention of this bandsaw that came up in a search was years old and didn't have a lot of detail. So i went looking on the Hare and Forbes site and the Carbatec sites since they sell the same thing in slightly different guise. I noticed that Carbatec had the things on sale at $1459 which is better than what machinery warehouse had. Considering the cost of travelling to Sydney and motel costs and the cost of the second hand bandsaw this looked like a pretty good deal.

Anyway fast forward to a week later and I've brought home a crated up bandsaw and I'm keen as mustard to get it set up and tested out. Here are some pics of my adventures this weekend.

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So the first thing I made was a mobile base using some 90x35 pine that was previously a saw horse. First impressions:
- Saw is well made and sturdy
- Runs very smooth and very quiet
- The stock blade is rubbish, needed to clean up the weld as it was rubbing on the guides as it came around, the cut is less than perfect when ripping, slightly better on cross cuts
- Miter gauge is pretty average but is serviceable for most things, i plan on getting an INcra v27 anyway.
- definitely need to get myself a dust extractor next, building the base made quite a mess and that was a smallish job.
- The blade guides are pretty average and could be better but they will suffice for now. The side guide adjustment is sucky, when you tighten the bolt they tend to move a little. I should note that the manual shows different guides so i think this may vary from one saw to another as these are generics that are made for a number of companies to rebrand (carbatec and hafco are two of the local ones here).

I used this video (bandsaw clinic with Alex Snodgrass) as a guide to setting up the saw since the generic manual is pretty sucky in terms of detail.
Band Saw Clinic with Alex Snodgrass - YouTube