Thread: Panel saw - steps for buying a used one

You won’t have any problem with that. Just ring up Leuco or one of the other quality blade vendors. There are plenty of 30 year old saws still in commercial use judging from what you see in the auctions.

I was almost thinking about getting a 1970’s saw but I don’t really need another rebuild project, and my personality would require me to do a total restoration including paint. Its why I can’t have nice things.

If you use one of the new diamond blades available you won't need a saw with a scoring blade if my experience is anything to go by. Mind you they are eye watering expensive but it is an option to keep in mind.

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

If you use one of the new diamond blades available you won't need a saw with a scoring blade if my experience is anything to go by. Mind you they are eye watering expensive but it is an option to keep in mind.

Chris tell us more. I have two Felders, one a keeper. I was going to transplant the scriber into my keeper machine, but it would be frankly less frustrating to get a blade for my melamine projects.

On edit…but not for $700 including the new riving knife.

On edit…none of my projects involve edge banding, so I only need one good edge with proper planning. (Cabs will be assembled with spacers to allow a 50mm face frame to end up flush with the inside edges.)

Greg

Originally Posted by Greg Q

Chris tell us more. I have two Felders, one a keeper. I was going to transplant the scriber into my keeper machine, but it would be frankly less frustrating to get a blade for my melamine projects.

On edit…but not for $700 including the new riving knife.

On edit…none of my projects involve edge banding, so I only need one good edge with proper planning. (Cabs will be assembled with spacers to allow a 50mm face frame to end up flush with the inside edges.)

Greg

It was cheaper than adding a scoring blade to my K3 and I was curious to find out just how good they are. Mine was about $850 so they have come down a bit. I think Leuco are the manufacturers but I bought mine through Felder. One thing they are not good at is bevel cutting as the blade flexes like crazy. Swapping blades with different thickness kerfs is a proper PIA as all the stop calibration goes out the door.

Nah, Felder must still be $850+, because that’s what it is from the US store plus shipping. I was pricing an AKE from Sautershop. Their shipping is €99.00 which, with the riving knife gets it up to $700.

They also sell 96 tooth blades they advertise as chip free without scoring, about €100 ex VAT. They sell many things, so there is always temptation to overspend on other things to make the shipping a better deal.

Allow me to pass on my experiences going down the same route.
I began an owner-build a couple of years ago and, knowing there would be a lot of cabinetry needed, I wanted to purchase my own panel saw and set it up in the shed downstairs. The plan was to keep it about three years then sell it.

So I watched eBay and gumtree and even went out and looked at a few units. Got close to buying one but eventually my wife talked sense into me.

Talking about it, we realised these negatives -
any unit I could buy in my budget would involve some risk of catastrophe (major work needed)
Maintenance of the (not particularly new) machine would eat into building time and budget
The space required was substantial and could be useful for other things
I had no wish to be manhandling 8x4 sheets all day

And don’t forget - cutting is one thing, but putting decent ABS edging on still requires another machine. One that is definitely not cheap and much harder to find.

So I gave up and searched for a good Cut To Size outfit.

The people I found have been excellent. It costs me less to get a sheet of melamine cut up by them then it would cost me to buy it and cut at home. They wil cut a sheet to any configuration at the same cost. Their work is sub-millimeter accurate. I get them to edge as well and their edging is just as good.

I have my own table saw with melamine blade which does a reasonable job when I need to make quick adjustments.

So my advice - cheaper, easier and arguably a better result using a cut to size service. Just do some shopping around - their prices vary greatly.

So far for this house I have built over 100 drawers, 70 cupboards and many other bits and pieces. This house has 2 kitchens, 4 bathrooms and 2 WIRs so no small job. Very nearly finished.

Below is photo of my Ute in driveway with a stack of plain melamine cut to size which, from memory, cost $800.

Cheers

F53624ED-81F9-467F-AA3F-1C34D300CD65.jpg

That would be my choice also, handling heavy boards and getting accurate cuts is not fun and not having a large saw allows more working space to build the cabs in.

Originally Posted by Arron

Allow me to pass on my experiences going down the same route.
I began an owner-build a couple of years ago and, knowing there would be a lot of cabinetry needed, I wanted to purchase my own panel saw and set it up in the shed downstairs. The plan was to keep it about three years then sell it.

So I watched eBay and gumtree and even went out and looked at a few units. Got close to buying one but eventually my wife talked sense into me.

Talking about it, we realised these negatives -
any unit I could buy in my budget would involve some risk of catastrophe (major work needed)
Maintenance of the (not particularly new) machine would eat into building time and budget
The space required was substantial and could be useful for other things
I had no wish to be manhandling 8x4 sheets all day

And don’t forget - cutting is one thing, but putting decent ABS edging on still requires another machine. One that is definitely not cheap and much harder to find.

So I gave up and searched for a good Cut To Size outfit.

The people I found have been excellent. It costs me less to get a sheet of melamine cut up by them then it would cost me to buy it and cut at home. They wil cut a sheet to any configuration at the same cost. Their work is sub-millimeter accurate. I get them to edge as well and their edging is just as good.

I have my own table saw with melamine blade which does a reasonable job when I need to make quick adjustments.

So my advice - cheaper, easier and arguably a better result using a cut to size service. Just do some shopping around - their prices vary greatly.

So far for this house I have built over 100 drawers, 70 cupboards and many other bits and pieces. This house has 2 kitchens, 4 bathrooms and 2 WIRs so no small job. Very nearly finished.

Below is photo of my Ute in driveway with a stack of plain melamine cut to size which, from memory, cost $800.

Cheers

F53624ED-81F9-467F-AA3F-1C34D300CD65.jpg

Thanks for the reply, I am definitely considering this path also. My concern is that if I make a mistake with the cut list, but I will definitely run my numbers when the time comes. I have 4 walk-in robes, two kitchens, 3 bathroom vanities and a laundry benchtop to build. So a fair amount of work. My partner is also great at changing her mind half way through things lol. I have huge amounts of space to work in, so that's not an issue.

Another option is to buy the carcases from bunnings or ikea and trim them down as required. Then the doors can be just be plain MDF and then vinyl wrapped or 2pac painted for a nice finish.

There's no chance I am buying an industrial edgebander. Those machines have alot of moving parts and if something breaks, it would probably be a nightmare to fix.

However I have used benchtop edgebanders in the past and they seem to do a decent job (like this one). However I'm not sure what the storey is after 10 years. Is the adhesive durable? Or does the edging eventually fall off?

Just looked at an invoice. Our cut-to-size supplier charges $42 per sheet for basic hmr melamine pineboard. Each sheet is $15 for cutting regardless of how many cuts required. Edge banding is $1.50 per metre for 1mm abs. All ex gst.

The cheapest I can buy melamine for is $46 (gst incl) per sheet from the rabbits but it is not as good product as the cut to size guy provides.

I hope that provides some perspective.

Forgot to add. Avoid IKEA and Bunnings flatpacks and kitchens. Flatpacks are designed to maximize efficiencies in transport and storage - making robust and reliable cabinets is a distant secondary consideration.

I also want to say. In the past I have done quite a few kitchens and cabinetry and have always done drawer fronts, doors and cover boards by getting satin melamine mdf cut, routing an edge for aesthetic purposes, and then sending off for 2pak poly by a spray painter. Usually the colour chosen is just the spray painters’s “stock white”. This time, with so many to do I looked for a cheaper and quicker route. I got the cut-to-size guy to cut the boards from gloss alpine white mdf and edge with alpine white edge banding. At home I spent a short while detailing the edges with a plane blade and then they were ready to be fitted. Obviously the price is much lower and time much less as no spray painting. The result is really very attractive - a kind of squared off look which is not that bad as the current fashion seems to be for sharp edges and smooth minimalism. The transition from board flat surface to applied edge is barely noticeable. I used this for the ensuites and WIRs and limited the 2pak to the kitchens, butlers pantry and main bathroom. The alpine white gloss mdf is relatively cheap because it’s a volume product, unlike the coloured versions.

Unfortunately it didn’t work so well when I wanted some brown wood grain versions. He uses white glue which led to a visible glue line which was very hard to minimise. So be aware and check your source uses a compatible glue.