Thread: carba-tec 10" bandsaw

Honestly I have a 12" bandsaw and the only reason is because it was free. I wouldn't buy anything less than 14" and evn then would still buy bigger if I could afford it.

However if money was not an issue and I had unlimited space, actually I still don't think I would get one.

get a bigger one

Look at the Hafco from Hare & Forbes. The BP16A is a great saw and reasonably priced at $769 at the Melb www show. I think the original blade is a peice of shyte but with a quality blade mine cant be faulted.

It is big enought to resaw over 8" thick with ease

i am realy after sompthing to cut hard wood turning blanks and cut some veneers from softwood.

say 100mm blanks and 200mm veneers if i can aford it.

well just keep saving till you can afford decent quality. dont buy under what you need especially because you sell timber

I have been thinking about buying a band saw for a while. The little 10 inch Carbatech is now about 60% of its normal retail price. would it be any good for cutting small pieces of timber - tenons in say 30 by 90 mm pine ? It would take up very little space.
Then buy a larger band saw - 17 or 19 inch later.
What I am trying to say is if you own a large bandsaw do you ever wish that you had a small bandsaw as well for finer work ?

Originally Posted by weisyboy

i am realy after sompthing to cut hard wood turning blanks and cut some veneers from softwood.

say 100mm blanks and 200mm veneers if i can aford it.

With all respect to you mate...yoiu are trying to do a man's job with a modelmakers bandsaw. The 10" bandsaws have hobby blades which are thin in order for them to withstand the tight radius of the 10" wheels.
It sounds like you are into some commercial woodcutting. The minimum bandsaw would be a 14" like the Carbatec BAS-350 with 1.5 hp motor, large table and 200 mm depth of cut. It"s Australia's best selling 14" bandsaw.
A 10" bandsaw blade would probably not cut one 100 mm blank before breaking. I'm happy to bet that one of those hobby blades will not last any number of 100 mm thick blanks. Its a bit like carrying a truck load on a ute....can be done, very slowly and in little bits BUTprobably distruct the ute in the end.
I would recommend the BAS-350 as minimum , but you'll be better off buying one of the bigger saws like the 17" or 19". It is customary to use wide blades to cut verneer because they cut a lot straighter than the maximum 10 mm wide hobby blade.
The hobby BAS-250 ( 10" ) is an excellent hobby saw and should be used for modelling work. There is no ways that one can cut 200 mm wide veneer on a 10" saw, minimum is a BAS-350, not a standard 14" with cast stand as they have a max depth of 150 mm.
BAS-350 is max 200 mm and the 17"and up from Carbatec has a 300 mm clearance capacity. Like with all machines buy the best and largest ou can afford. Buy wise, buy once!

What they said. If you're a model-maker cutting templates from sheets of balsa, then go for it.

But for any other woodwork, forget it. Even if you only plan to cut pen-blanks, unless you're only cutting down pre-thicknessed 18mm boards (yeah, sure!), you'll really want at least a 14" job.

hello all,

i own a BAS-250 and although it is only a 10" bandsaw it does a good job. i cut bandsaw boxes and i used the full capacity of the saw (just under 5" stock) and it cut just fine. i am very happy with it. the blades i used are the same thickness as those for a 14" bandsaw, with the exception of the 1/8" blade. any blades i have snapped was a result of impatience.

having said that, all the arguments above are valid. this saw will make the cuts you need but you have to be aware of its limitations. the saw will cut slow and because the blade length is so short you will have a problem with choking up the blade. if you are cutting all day then you will be frustrated with the saw. i am a weekend woodworker so its fine for my needs.

if i had the money and space i would have bought a larger saw. if you have both these things i would say go for at least a 14". if you dont have either of these things and accept the BAS-250 for what it is, then go ahead.

Originally Posted by barn

What I am trying to say is if you own a large bandsaw do you ever wish that you had a small bandsaw as well for finer work ?

Well I only have a 14" model, but no, I wouldn't go any smaller. All large bandsaws can do finer work too... comes down to blade choice mostly for the fine stuff

Thanks Dean, Changing blades on a bandsaw SEEMS to be a hassle. I have only read books and never actualy done it. Haveing a small band saw with small blade for small work and a large bandsaw with large blade etc seems like it could be a good idea > the little Carbatec is only a few hundred dollars( the cost of a small Quality drill), has built in dust extraction a ? novel mitre system and is going cheap.

Sorry Wiesboy, Im not trying to overtake your thread, Thought you would be interested in these questions / answers as well.

Originally Posted by barn

Thanks Dean, Changing blades on a bandsaw SEEMS to be a hassle. I have only read books and never actualy done it. Haveing a small band saw with small blade for small work and a large bandsaw with large blade etc seems like it could be a good idea > the little Carbatec is only a few hundred dollars( the cost of a small Quality drill), has built in dust extraction a ? novel mitre system and is going cheap.

Changing blades is not a real hassle, unless you are changing them many times a day... could get boring real quick.

The problem with those little 10 inch machines is that generally, when you try and cut anything harder than pine, or bigger than a couple inches, the blades start to bend, twist, shake, rattle and roll (not necessarily all in that order, and not all of them all the time!) and the motor may not cope too well. That is why 14" machines are often recommended as minimum by most bandsaw owners here. Many have owned a 10" machine and upgraded to something that does the job better. However, I believe there are some 10" bandsaw owners here who are happy with their smaller saws, so this is not to say they are all rubbish, but there would be more of the former users (10" owners who upgraded) than the latter I suspect. If I had the $$ and space, I'd have a 14" saw and maybe a 20"+ one too (or one of those Hitachi 3" blade resaws!) but for now the 14" does what I need it to.

Perhaps the 10" are on special because they can't seem to sell too many

Yes, This 10 inch Carbatech saw has droped in price twice. The Carbatec guys in Melbourne told me that they are getting out of this particular line which includes 2 thicknessers, 3 or 4 sanders and this band saw. The interesting thing is that some fairly new Triton products are almost identical to this Carbatec line. Possibly Carbatec do not want to sell the same products as Triton.

I have mostly made up my mind that when I do buy a band saw it will be a 17 inch aprox + dust extraction = Around $2000, I still dont know if the money justifies the return ?

Originally Posted by barn

I have mostly made up my mind that when I do buy a band saw it will be a 17 inch aprox + dust extraction = Around $2000, I still dont know if the money justifies the return ?

Oh dear barn, if I applied that criteria to my tool selection I would be a lot richer and my shed a lot emptier (and I would probably be bored sh*tless)