Pulled the trigger on a Sherwood 10" heavy duty bandsaw ($1.4k)

I know, I know... for the money I could easily find a great 14" one, or even bigger.

And I'd love to do that but I just can't, most of the time to use my bandsaw I have to roll it out and then back into the shed, over a ramp and through a small door, and then squeeze it back into its place which is a corner under some shelves. Long story why, but this is what I do, and it means the bandsaw needs to be within a specific size and weight. This is the biggest I could afford.

I'm currently waiting for delivery probably mid Feb, and I need someone to tell me I didn't do anything stupid :D
https://www.timbecon.com.au/sherwood...y-duty-bandsaw
https://www.timbecon.com.au/theme/ti...-250-1_web.jpg

What was the attraction for me? Well, I love bandsaws, I just wanted the best I could get.
If there is a cut that can possibly be done on the BS then this is where I go, it's probably my most used tool.

My current one is a stock standard 10" Sherwood, and I love it but I'm kind of hitting its limits now.
Although I don't really cut very thick pieces I can still stall it with some hardwoods, and that's the main thing, it's not very powerful.
The other thing is that tuning it is a bit of a pain, I really have to take my time to diagnose and tune it properly because most settings are done with fiddly set screws that are hard to reach, usually it takes me a good hour or more. I'm hoping this one will be more user friendly in that regard, and it's certainly much more powerful.

Also because or the power and the longer blade it offers a much bigger cutting height, it has a somewhat bigger throat, cast iron wheels and ceramic guide blocks instead of bearings, a better fence, better controls, a quick release for tensioning which is really handy when replacing blades, in theory it should have better dust extraction because of a hose that runs internally to the blade, it can fit a 20mm blade, and it also does a nice party trick that i find very interesting: it comes with a system that converts it to a basic linisher, you can actually replace the blade with a sanding strip. I don't have a linisher so yeah, why not.

The only thing that concerns me a little bit is that the wheels are actually flat, they don't have a crown so I'm worried if that will make it difficult to get the blade to run straight. But that's all the downside I can think of, and they do say it helps get a smoother cut so I don't know.

What do you think? I know it's expensive for what it is, and I know you can't replace size, but it does seem to offer a lot.

Ι guess the reason I posted here is because I swear I've searched the whole internet and I havent found a single video or review or even a mention of this thing anywhere.
Now I post it here, same thing. It's like nobody has ever used it.
Maybe it doesnt even exist! Am I dreaming it?? :U
I'll call it the phantom bandsaw from now on :D

It's probably sold in other countries under a different brand name, does anyone know what that might be for Sherwood?

I’m looking for a smaller bandsaw myself and this seems like it’s an expensive 10” bandsaw. I’m not sure whether any benefits it offers justifies the expense.
Looking forward to a review particularly the longevity of the 20mm band (probably 3/4”) on 10” wheels.

Nice handsaw!! Enjoy!

Maybe you should cancel your order and reorder as they're on special now even before they arrive.
I agree with Lappa on the 20mm blade. A normal wide blade is made from quite thick material and will crack quite quickly if forced to go around a small dia. 10" Bandsaws usually have narrow blades made form thin and soft steel so they can bend more but maybe Timbecon have sourced some special blades to suit.
Having said all that, I am envious of you as it looks like a nice machine. If it is your main machine why not pay more as most people seem to spend big dollars on their Tablesaw which is often considered the main machine by many.

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Originally Posted by Treecycle

Maybe you should cancel your order and reorder as they're on special now even before they arrive.
I agree with Lappa on the 20mm blade. A normal wide blade is made from quite thick material and will crack quite quickly if forced to go around a small dia. 10" Bandsaws usually have narrow blades made form thin and soft steel so they can bend more but maybe Timbecon have sourced some special blades to suit.
Having said all that, I am envious of you as it looks like a nice machine. If it is your main machine why not pay more as most people seem to spend big dollars on their Tablesaw which is often considered the main machine by many.

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Thank you :)

I did get it with the discount, but with the sanding belt attachment it got up to $1.4k.
Normally I get my blades from McDiven and they've been fantastic, so I'll probably won't be using the stock one from Timbecon anyway. I'll try it first, see how I go.
But the 20mm is a bit of a specialty blade for my uses, even if I end up getting one it will only be used rarely.

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Originally Posted by stihlsawer

Nice handsaw!! Enjoy!

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oh no
:D

If you want a wide blade that is thin, ask your local sawdoctor for a "fish slicing" blade.
These are used by food processors to slice up frozen fish and they have a very thin kerf - guess the food industry regards food sawdust as lost profit.

Going by the info I have come across, the blade material should be no thicker than 0.5mm (0.020”) for a 10” wheel.

Hi Spyro,

I'm currently looking at the Sherwood heavy duty band saw, and was wondering if you were happy with your purchase.

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Originally Posted by angela2

Hi Spyro,

I'm currently looking at the Sherwood heavy duty band saw, and was wondering if you were happy with your purchase.

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Hi sorry I haven't been online much lately.
No I'm not happy actually, but you might be.
I had issues with the assembly instructions, in fact there were no instructions at all, just drawings of the components with their names underneath. Some stuff were easy to figure out, others not so much. I emailed Timbecon with some questions but there's only so much guidance a person can give with an email. Bottom line is I still have a couple of components I don't know what to do with. And yeah I have no idea how much to tension the belt on a bandsaw motor.

Other than that, either the blade it came with was completely useless or I don't know how to set up a bandsaw, or some combination of the two.
But when I got some new blades from McDiven it started showing what it can do, it really feels more like a 14" saw than a 10" one.
Like I said maybe those things are not an issue for you but I was ***** off, particularly with the crappy instructions, as there are some parts that are very specific to this model and you can't possibly know just from general bandsaw experience.

Other than that I enjoy the extra oomph and how easy it is to change and hold settings, which are the main reasons I bought it for.
Minor annoyance: I ordered black, I got brown.

Also I forgot, if you buy it be careful, it runs with the doors open. If you're coming from a saw with a safety on the door it can be a bit of a surprise.

I think I would be feeling a little more than "***** off" if I had paid $1.4k for a 10" bandsaw then had to assemble it, especially if it requires the level of assembly your post hints at.

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Originally Posted by Spyro

No I'm not happy actually, but you might be.

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I guess I wouldn't be at all happy with it then, as I am very new to woodworking, and have only recently discovered the bandsaw and the great things that they can do.
From what you've said about the instructions, I don't think I'd be able to assemble this model. Shame, because I really liked this one.

I don't suppose the extra components you've got have something to do with the safety of the doors? It seems strange that a machine with a price tag such as this, would be missing this important safety feature.

Thank you for replying Spyro.

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Originally Posted by Mobyturns

I think I would be feeling a little more than "***** off" if I had paid $1.4k for a 10" bandsaw then had to assemble it, especially if it requires the level of assembly your post hints at.

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every Chinese copy imported piece of equipment from brands like Carbatec, Sherwood (even my $3000 Laguna dust extractor) etc have horrible.... just horrible... instructions. to the point Laguna had to release a 30minute video on how to put it together with things that go against the instruction manual. its like the companies get charged by the letter in the book and thought it was better to save 8c worth of printing and cut out 5 pages of detailed information.

my Sawstop manual is a piece of art work. extremely detailed, proper guidance, actual hints to make the job easier and how to adjust everything. A lot of manufactures should take a leaf out of their book (pun intended).

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Originally Posted by havabeer69

every Chinese copy imported piece of equipment from brands like Carbatec, Sherwood (even my $3000 Laguna dust extractor) etc have horrible.... just horrible... instructions. to the point Laguna had to release a 30minute video on how to put it together with things that go against the instruction manual. its like the companies get charged by the letter in the book and thought it was better to save 8c worth of printing and cut out 5 pages of detailed information.

my Sawstop manual is a piece of art work. extremely detailed, proper guidance, actual hints to make the job easier and how to adjust everything. A lot of manufactures should take a leaf out of their book (pun intended).

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My background is the pump industry (Australian and Chinese manufacturing) and for our Chinese pumps we supplied them a PDF instruction manual we produced. Sometimes we got both manuals but always our produced one. Sure it took forethought and a bit of time to make the manual but once done it was done and we never had an issue. Surely carbatec/timbecon etc could do the same, it is a do it once kinda job and then they don’t have ****ed off customers. Or maybe the margin in woodworking machines is sooooo tight that there is no wiggle room to offer a service but I doubt that.
cheers