Thread: New Band Saw - Hammer 4400 vs Minimaw S45

G'day Foulsbaine,

Go the Hammer. There are plenty of very happy Hammer owners in here and you can't go wrong with one.

Have a look in the bandsaws section and you'll read of very happy blokes with them, namely AlexS, NewLou and others.

If I could afford one and didn't already have a b/saw I'd buy a Hammer no questions.

Dont know much about the Minimax but I can highly recommend the Hammer. A little under a year ago I swapped from a HAFCO 14inch BS to the Hammer and havent looked back. It takes what ever I have chucked at it (still with the original blades too) with no complaints.

So far I have used it to cut turning blanks from largish green logs, resawn lenghts of dry hardwood, cut 3mm veneers and pretty much anything in between. I cant fault it so far. The thing I most notice with the hammer over my old BS (besides the extra grunt and better build quality )is how easy it is to set up and get working properly.

As I said I dont know anything about the minimax but if you decide to go with Hammer I dont think you will be disapointed.


If you havent already seen it here is link to the Hammer thread in the Bandsaw forum....basically a bunch of guys saying how much they love their BS
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ad.php?t=41544


cheers
BD

Haven't tried the Minimax, but am extremely happy with the Hammer. I've recently been cutting veneers off 8" jarrah with no problems. The veneers have an even thickness, the machine has plenty of grunt, vibration is minimal, set up and adjustment is quick and easy.

Havent tried the minimax

Havent tried the Hammer but really liked it.

Hi foulsbaine,

I've got a Hammer N4400 as a light commercial machine.

It works well.

The SCM machine was a slightly better built in my eyes, but the price difference was worth it at the time ($2200- vs $3500-)

Cheers,

eddie

G'day foulsbaine,

I bought a Hammer N4400 bandsaw last year at the WWW show in Canberra and took delivery of it in January. This is my first bandsaw so I have nothing to compare it to, however I do have a copy of Mark Duginske's Bandsaw DVD. The DVD makes a big deal out of setting up and maintaining the settings for bandsaws; the Hammer worked splendidly "out of the box" and has continued to do so with no real attention to anything other than blade tension.

I have used it for many things including cutting Studley's hardwood into veneers, cutting veneers and tenons of Australian Cedar and veneers off a 250mm wide/high block of Myrtle. I expect to run 200 mm thick Pacific Maple through it to make a bench top without any trouble. All of the cutting so far has been accurate and effortless as the machine is well made with good guides and has sufficient power for its size.

I have been using just two blades with it, one is a 6 mm blade that came with the saw, the other I got from Henry Bros and is a 25 mm savage looking blade with bimetal teeth that cuts hardwood like a hot knife through butter.

The saw does not standardly come with a mitre gauge and I haven't felt the need for one yet, but you may have a need for one in which case you will need to order it as well.

I expect that either of the saws you are considering will do an excellent job, it just seems that you can't get a recommendation for the Hammer's competitor.