Thread: Meber P400 help

That new shed is filling fast.

Ross

Yeah it doesn’t take long, although there’s still some room left yet Ross. Wouldn’t mind finding a small edge bander to squeeze in.

Here is a parts diagram for the Meber P400 although it must be a slightly later model (1995+?) as it has a rack and pinion guide lift and an external tension gauge.



I emailed Meber in Italy and they said parts are still available.

I foolishly rang Carbatec asking if they could get parts for the old Laguna LT-16 being the AU distributor. The person I spoke to didn’t even know Laguna made a 16” bandsaw...

That modification that was done might be practical, if the post is still solid,
if not parallel with the blade, and adjustable only with the absent section present, then it might make sense to weld a bit on .

Instead of acquiring an expensive part, or welding, it might it be worth seeing if you could just modify a sliding
portion of the guard to accommodate the extra travel, like on Centauro machines with telescopic guards.
(Presuming that the guard is lowered fully in the picture.)

If you're not going to use the machine for curve cutting with a wee blade, then you might not adjust the guard a lot of the time,
It looks about the right height for my liking/use with a stout 3/4" blade on permanently, nice to see the line if your saw can handle it
(i.e, not needing to have all guides super close on a smaller machine)

The section cut out could be cleaned up a bit though, looks like it was done on the quick.
Nice saw
Good luck

Tom

Thanks for the reply Tom

Yeah the cut out does give it some extra height (about 30mm). But as you say it was done in a hurry, which really annoys me. I like things tidy.

The cutout does make the post flex more than it would have, I am not sure if this matters though.

I am leaning towards purchasing the rack and pinion assembly, new post and guard from Meber as the parts are reasonably priced. If this fits with the cut out I may just tidy it up and leave, but if not I will weld it back up to return it to original.

My brother is a fitter and their workshop does blasting and painting so it may even get new paint yet as well.

Can you explain what the idea behind the lower guide being only a thrust bearing?

Cheers

Looks like this is a P400CE the P400 has greater vertical sawing height.

Looks like your machine is now a P400
I don't know if there is closer distributors, if you want a gl345 type system, Scott&Sargeant in the UK sells parts, expensive for those guides though.
I would imagine the mounting shaft is standard on all the Italian machines, does it match with the top ones, I'd bet it would.

What are you using the saw for, if its resawing or ripping, then a good 3/4" blade is all that's needed aswell as a thrust guide,
a saw like that shouldn't really need side rollers, if a suitable blade is chosen which the saw can honestly tension well.
I wouldn't go past a 3/4" blade, tensioned correctly it would have enough 'beam strength' not to need anything else than a thrust guide or two to keep the blade from getting pushed off the wheels.

I reckon it might be worth, if not testing the machine anyway, to get the panel gauge out and mark a nice line on a long length of timber, get a suitable lamp to shine where the cut is, and feed it along the fence, you don't have to cut anything.
You might also rig up a bit or timber for a feather board at the front of the table to o keep long stock against the fence...
(a bit of wood with countersunk magnets to stick under the table makes for easier clamping)

Just see what you might think of having the guidepost any lower obstructing the view of the line.

Understand that you'd want to make it good also,
Looks like some of that cut away part had some sort of set screws of guidepost adjustment.
I'd be keen to get the saw running nice and smooth without any guides, the bear bones if you will.
before going at the lesser important things later.
Just to see if the guidepost moves parallel with the blade as is.

All the best
Tom

Originally Posted by Tom trees

I reckon it might be worth, if not testing the machine anyway, to get the panel gauge out and mark a nice line on a long length of timber, get a suitable lamp to shine where the cut is, and feed it along the fence, you don't have to cut anything.
Tom

Hi Tom

I’ve never owned a bandsaw before but knowing myself it will be need to cut curves and rip.

Can you please explain the above in more detail as I don’t quite understand.

Cheers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry, don't have a good pic of what I've described, and I have my machine in bits at the moment so can't give you an example.
I just meant it can be a nice thing to see a bit past the cut whilst ripping, if something is important then a line might be a good idea, if the timber moves after the cut and you cut past your line.
This is why many utilize a short fence.

A good chuck of a dimensioned offcut with squared end, to keep the stock pressed against the fence is nice to have.
The magnetic block underneath to clear the webbing so you can clamp easier.
A wee length of timber for a pushstick to do the last bit, no need for getting hands anywhere near the blade.

If you're curve cutting all the time, then you might want the guidepost lower for supporting the blade, and possibly for guards...
And regarding the lower guides, depending on how tight a carter stabilizer could even be used, but I guess that you have flat tires on your machine, so I'd not personally be intending to be cutting 'very' tight curves to avoid damaging them.

You likely would make do with the one set of guides for curve cutting, likely no need to look for expensive replacements.
Some folk have a smaller saw for curve cutting, if they have enough throat for their work,
On the other spectrum a saw that size could be used for doing sweeping curves on something for the ship Tally ho
Then it may be a good idea to go shopping if test cuts could be improved upon.
It's likely the last owner of the machine was primarily concerned with having a good ripping/resawing saw, which looks fine to put to work.

You might just decide to have one ripping blade on permanently, and not risk damaging the set on the blade,
i.e cut the waste from curves in series of diagonal rips and crosscuts afterwards, if you're not planning on using the other side of the cut for anything.

Tom