Thread: Meber bandsaws - Users comments & experiences sought

Hi Flying Duck...

I have a Meber 600 that's 15-20 years old, and it works very well. 2.2 kw 3 phase motor, about 13" re-saw height. The saw's frame is rigid enough to properly tension a 1" bi metal blade, and the tracking adjustments provide enough range for a variety of blades.

My guidepost is the free-fall type; I think the newer saws have a rack and pinion or similar arrangement to control the post a bit better.

The fence is basically the same on all of those saws- a nice casting that rides on a round or square section tube. micro adjustable to +/- 5cm or so. They are all that bad, which is odd considering how good the rest of the saw is.

They all have the same type of blade tension indicator and tensioning mechanism, and wheel tracking adjustment. They all have the same euro guides. I have a Centauro manual that is approximately 95% applicable to my saw.

Meber used to supply Laguna Tools with their saws, so any old reviews on the American forums would be about Meber machines. I think they switched to ACM a couple of years ago.


In this category of machine I honestly think that there's not much significant difference between them except price and paint.

cheers,
Greg

Hi Greg, thanks for that. Any chance of posting a couple of photos for us?

Ok, here's a few of the guide assy, and the rails that I fabricated for the table. You can see how easily the Felder extension tables clamp on to the rails-5 seconds on and off. The light over the guides is an LED bike light, works great. You can see the indifferent dust collection from the bottom compartment. The beer cartons taped to the lower chassis are a prototyping effort to improve the airflow/dust collection. The foot brake is homemade from a bar and an ebay motorcycle brake shoe. Rare earth magnets in use (the fridge was full)

Those orange handles on the guides where cap screws usually live are Kipp levers, sold by
Northeastern Industrial supply in Melbourne, and they are a fantastic upgrade to the saw and make small adjustments painless-no tools.

An old magnetic base for a dial indicator is now a hanger for ear muffs. The broom lives there, in a clip. Drilling the hole to mount the clip was a non-trivial exercise.

Greg

Oh, by the way: The saw looks so tall because its perched 20cm off the ground on that base. Even at 2.1 m tall, the table was too low for l'il ol' me.
(I am 2 M tall, and this is a standard munchkin mod for me)

That's a 1" Lenox blade in the pictures. Real nice.

This saw is everything I'll ever need, with the exception of very fine work. I still think that
I may get an old 14" saw someday for those chores. I have 1/4" blade for the Meber, but its
the smallest I'd want to go. The first one I tried broke during the tensioning process. This saw will
not bend to compensate for over-tensioning of the blade-the weld just pops. (And the supplier
fixed it no questions asked. They (henry Bros) are often mentioned in dispatches here, always favourably)

Greg

Thanks Greg, that was a quick photo shoot and reply. I take it that's a Felder ext table with F-coupling - is it the 500 x 300 one ($340 worth). And you built the clamping system yourself? Did you have to drill holes into the side of your bandsaw table to attach it, or where they already there.

I drilled the holes myself. I first drilled the cold-rolled bar (after first checking for the location of the ribs in the table) (DAMHIKT). The sides of the table are not square, typical of cast items. I had to measure that angle, then made an MDF spacer strip bevelled at the complimentary angle. I then was able to clamp the MDF and steel to the table at the correct height, then drill the casting.

The cast iron was straightforward to thread (6mm). I counterbored the 6mm holes in the steel to accept the 11mm heads of the cap screws that I used to fix the rails.

All of which would have been avoidable with the kit from Felder.

Yes, that is the small extension table, which came with my CF731P. The long one fits too. In fact, I have taken to making my own tables with sections of MayTec extrusion. I cut them on the table saw to match the Felder profile, and they are a handy, easy way of getting extra real estate where needed. As a matter of fact, I am adding f rails to my wife's sewing desks too.

My router table mounts to the combination machine the same way-handy for using the slider...

gregoryq,

As usual, thanks for your informative replies to various posts. Similarly to Flyingduck, I looked at the various high end bandsaws on the market including the Meber. In the end I went with FELDER (the saw is still on the water).

One of the reasons why I chose against the Meber is the fact that the upper blade guide assembly is located outside the saw cabinet. As you indicated, your guide assembly has a free fall mechanism; it is the same on the new Mebers, although it is possible to get an upgrade to a worm drive mechanism.

Question: do you have any problems with rust/grease/dust build up on the upper guide post which is exposed? I agree with you when you say that most of these saws are basically the same, but I think this is one obvious difference. Perhaps the difference makes no difference!

Regards, Luckyduck

The guide post seems to be rust-free so far, and I have had the saw for about a year or so. I cleaned it when it arrived and waxed it. Frankly, I don't have any problem with rust in my shop except for the things that I perspire on. The guide post seems to have a high nickel content in the alloy-its halfway to being stainless.

I want to retro-fit a sash spring to the guide post to prevent the possibility of a damage to the table from a full height drop of the guides. This is the method employed for a century or more on bigger saws, and should work fine. I could also buy the parts for a rack/pinnion post, but don't quite see the value. Same thing with the onboard tension indicator. (But I have a separate gauge)

I know you will be delighted with your Felder saw-they are very nice things.

I tried to help a mate tune up a white saw last year, and it took us about 8 hours of fooling around to be able to cut veneers. It took me approximatley 3 minutes to get the same results with the Meber (which had been sitting unused for nine years).

I wish I had room and budget for more machines of this calibre.

Greg

Originally Posted by gregoryq

I wish I had room and budget for more machines of this calibre.

Greg

Amen, brother!!

Preach it to me baby

Lucky, you have said a couple of times that the Meber upper blade guide assembly is located outside the cabinet, but I can't figure out what you mean by this. I have attached photos of the Meber & Hammer (which I assume is the same as Felder), and they look the same to me. Is this the area you are talking about, and what is the difference that I am not seeing?

I think, and pardon me for jumping in here, that the Meber's construction is such that the guide post is not shrouded by the upper frame. The telescoping blade guard does retract into the upper wheel housing, but the post is out in the breeze behind the frame. I'll get another picture and show you...

Greg

...This is the new Meber's telescoping blade guard. You can just make out the post behind all of that, but this picture doesn't reveal the open guide post.

OK, here's some fresh ones (and its getting cold out there)...

1. The guide post can be seen glearly here. See the way the saw's upper wheel housing is bevelled at the back to leave the post exposed?
The plastic cap (green) is where the worm gear and handle would be fitted.
The art is by my daughter. (Anyone seen that email "I am better than your kid"?)

2. The older saws had these swing away guards. Makes maintenance work a cinch. Also cutting your face off, or other Darwin awards attempts.