Thread: Looking for a bandsaw...

that one with the "350" name probably shares heritage with the BAS350's of the world. EG Carbatec 14" (345mm) Two Speed Bandsaw | Carbatec | Carbatec - The Home of Woodworking although the Carbatec one gets you a more grunty motor. I know you say lightweight, but consider it's only a smallish $200 premium...

Another option - W4224 - BP-355 Wood Band Saw | Hare & Forbes Machineryhouse although a little more expensive again.

I have one, does need some slight modification to get the dust collection working better (removal of a shroud plate in the lower wheel assembly). I can't really fault it other than that, it is my first Band saw so I don't have anything to compare it to.

Might be worth a look.

Jase

I'm no expert but for it's size that Saber has a fairly small motor (750w/1 hp). Like the poster above I have a Hare and Forbes BP-355 that will cut a maximum depth of 245mm with a 2 hp motor, and the Saber claims a max depth of 200mm on half the power. I'd be concerned about whether it has the grunt to fully utilise it's theoretical capabilities, but then as I said I'm no expert. What you need is feedback from someone who owns a 1 hp bandsaw.

Thanks All. Pretty marginal it seems. I guess you get what you pay for if you are lucky.

I Will give it some more thought.

regards

Photo's were requested of the mod,
dust port.jpg
You can the remains of the removed plate on the right and a small corner just behind the edge of the wheel. It sat about 10mm out form the dust port. It was awesome at removing the dust in the immediate area but pretty much useless for the rest of the housing.
dust1.jpgI would guess that 10-12 meters of pine has been re-sawn to get that much collected, previously I would have had to stop 3 or 4 times to clear the build up.

Jase

I suggest a Hammer n4400 (17 INCH, 4Hp). Mine is awesome.

Thanks Zed, but I am not looking into that price range and power. 10 amp max, and really under a thousand smackeroos. Very much a hobby rather than a semi- profession

I also use my Hammer N4400 just for resaw work and cutting up small logs for use in box making. I have tried over many years several H&F as well as Carbatec machines that all had issues especially with resawing small logs and getting nice parallel boards that were air dried and then thicknessed.
Even with very good 1-2 TPI blades especially with nice hardwoods such as blackwood and oak you need max HP and a good setup to get useful output.
My Hammer does have ceramic guides with a 27mm 1-2 TPI blade and the only modification I made was to follow Bob L and fit an extra dust port together with a large vent in the lower door. I know the cost is an issue but in my experience if I add up what I wasted in both money and time on past machines the fact that I have been using the Hammer for 5 years trouble free speaks for itself.
Cheers,
Paintman

Hmmm Timbecon sale to 9th March, problem solved

OK Ended up with this:

https://www.timbecon.com.au/14in-standard-bandsaw

$789

Hard to go wrong. Plenty to start a big learning curve with.

Looks like a decent bandsaw, happy ripping!

One thing I would really highly recommend is a really good resaw blade.

I bought the H&F BP-355 and it's a fantastic bit of kit, but I could never work out what I was doing wrong when trying, and failing miserably, to resaw stock with the standard blades it came with.

I recently splurged and bought a TCT blade from CSK, around $185 from memory, and man what a difference!

I reckon in the last few weeks I've done at least a couple hundred metres of American Oak, Jarrah, Vic Ash, Walnut, and the dreaded Black Butt, which it handled with ease!

And all cuts are dead straight with the stock (low) fence. I'm now resawing 1mm thick slices of timber and the finish is amazing!

A crap blade really makes a good bandsaw an unpleasurable experience!

Thanks for that. Done some fettling and ripped a few bits of wood. Need to make a jig and some table extensions, but good for now. I have just got a modest 3TPI 3/4" blade for a bit more practice and will order a 1 1/4 TPI and go from there. Down the track aTCT blade is likely on the cards.

Heck next I will have to make something out of the wood!

regards