10" bandsaw - Record or Charnwood?

[robgul]

I've sold my small Axminster P1400 bandsaw as I need a slightly larger machine (space is an issue, hence just a 10" machine)

The runners appear to be the Record BS250, Charnwood BS 410 at very similar prices (I also looked at but discarded the Lumberjack machine)

The specs for the two machines are almost identical . . . and reviews, for what they worth, are similar.

Any views or experiences please? [I have considered a used machine but at the size of machine anything may have had a hard life - the two machines both have a 5 year warranty)

 

[Stevebod]

A few years ago I "ugraded" my little Aldi bandsaw to a Record, but after seeing the Charnwood I realised I had made a mistake.....

 

[robgul]

A few years ago I "ugraded" my little Aldi bandsaw to a Record, but after seeing the Charnwood I realised I had made a mistake.....

Why, what was the mistake . . . ?

 

[Jameshow]

What about the sip

More powerful motor than the record...

https://www.scosarg.com/itech-bs250...qdu94HvtTRrbt30GBr9pYmBN_vukqY1BoCXWYQAvD_BwE

 

[Spectric]

(space is an issue, hence just a 10" machine)

If you compare the footprints of bandsaws they do not change a great deal, it is the height that does. When I was looking at the Record BS350 some years back and then saw the 350 and the 400 together it was only a few inches in height difference as the 400 sat on the floor and not on a cabinet and the table was larger. The one feature that is very handy to have is the blade tension lever, makes changing blades that much easier without having to untension the blade and you change the blade for the right one to do the job rather than take the lazy way and try and get away with not changing it.

 

[Pabs]

Have had the sabre 250 and now have the sabre 350

Both good based on mass marketed models but some nice feature like the fence is good and resaw bars are useful
I only upgraded to get more resaw capacity sometimes I miss the dexterity of the smaller one

 

[TRITON]

Axminster 14" reduced to £630 from £850
https://www.axminstertools.com/axminster-workshop-aw2606b-bandsaw-230v-108000

£220 is a good saving.
Tempted myself. Was looking at a sabre 350, but the axminster is a good price. Cant compete with the sabre on depth of cut and less power, but same width, same max blade and the table is a good bit bigger on the axminster. Plus its 1/2 the price. Not sure I'd pay twice the money for those extra 85mm
If the sabre350 was a couple of hundred cheaper, it would probably be bandsaw of the decade

 

[robgul]

A bit of "thread drift" here! I should have said that size and budget (max £300) were considerations.

James: I hadn't seen the SIP - but I couldn't find any word on warranty so probably just 12 months (and a realtively non-mainstream brand)

So, back to the Record BS250 vs Charnwood BS410 question . . . . .


I had to smile slightly at the "£220 is a good saving" comment - agreed BUT on a much larger amount.
There was a classic piece in The Archers years ago when Mrs Pargeter was delighted to inform her son (the late Nigel) who was trying to make ends meet for the family to have a real bargain and saved £n in a sale in Underwoods department store on a fur coat that cost many multiples £n

 

[Scruples]

A bit of "thread drift" here! I should have said that size and budget (max £300) were considerations.

James: I hadn't seen the SIP - but I couldn't find any word on warranty so probably just 12 months (and a realtively non-mainstream brand)

So, back to the Record BS250 vs Charnwood BS410 question . . . . .


I had to smile slightly at the "£220 is a good saving" comment - agreed BUT on a much larger amount.
There was a classic piece in The Archers years ago when Mrs Pargeter was delighted to inform her son (the late Nigel) who was trying to make ends meet for the family to have a real bargain and saved £n in a sale in Underwoods department store on a fur coat that cost many multiples £n

I bought the Record BS250 back in 2014 and its been good for me. The Charnworth looked good on paper but, if it's anything like their bench grinders, I wouldn't go there.

 

[pauljhaigh58]

I have the 250 been good cutting oak etc must use good blades I use tuff saw
Paul

 

[robgul]

Excecutive decision made: Ordered the Record (from Yandles) - it seems that the "population" of this machine is much greater than the Charnwood and most of the YT reviews on the Record are positive . . . also, the green colour matches my Record air filter and dust extractor - a couple of blades to be ordered from Tuffsaws when the machine is here.

 

[Owd Jockey]

Hi Rob, I bought a Charnwood B300 about 5 years ago. Its still working, although over the years I have had to 'chop away' a fair amount of the shielding in the upper enclosure. This was done to get at the rack which operated the upper guide assembly. This rack 'clogged-up frequently, and not only was it very very 'fiddley' to get at, it was extremely time -consuming.. I don't know if the 410 has the same mechanism, but if asked the question "would you buy another Charnwood ? the answer would be definitely no!

 

[Jameshow]

A bit of "thread drift" here! I should have said that size and budget (max £300) were considerations.

James: I hadn't seen the SIP - but I couldn't find any word on warranty so probably just 12 months (and a realtively non-mainstream brand)

So, back to the Record BS250 vs Charnwood BS410 question . . . . .


I had to smile slightly at the "£220 is a good saving" comment - agreed BUT on a much larger amount.
There was a classic piece in The Archers years ago when Mrs Pargeter was delighted to inform her son (the late Nigel) who was trying to make ends meet for the family to have a real bargain and saved £n in a sale in Underwoods department store on a fur coat that cost many multiples £n

Not mainstream woodworking but mainstream industrial:-

https://www.sip-group.com/

 

[robgul]

Not mainstream woodworking but mainstream industrial:-

https://www.sip-group.com/

Indeed for industrial and primarily engineering stuff, I had a SIP welding kit many moons ago when I used to play with/race a Land Rover.

 

[Spectric]

Something else to bear in mind is that stated blade size, in my opinion they may fit but cannot be tensioned which I found on the BS400 which apparently takes a 1 inch blade but it only just tensions a 3/4 and is more comfortable with 5/8. So if you need a given blade size then make sure the machine can handle it which might mean a bigger machine.

 

[robgul]

Something else to bear in mind is that stated blade size, in my opinion they may fit but cannot be tensioned which I found on the BS400 which apparently takes a 1 inch blade but it only just tensions a 3/4 and is more comfortable with 5/8. So if you need a given blade size then make sure the machine can handle it which might mean a bigger machine.

I'm highly likely to never need a blade bigger than 1/2" - I'm not in the habit of trying to cut bowl turning blanks or logs! I seldom cut any timber or sheet material thicker than about 25mm and the previous smaller machine coped with that.

 

[thikone]

See which one ends up on second hand market more often and go with another one, maybe?

I have Record Power BS250 from 2015 and old TuffSaws 1/2" blade for veneer cutting (~3 tpi, narrow kerf, one of three teeth is not set, pretty much like current SuperTuff Fastcut blade).

It is heavy enough (~30 kg) to require its own stand or place to stay, in my opinion. With use of a strong swear word and can be lifted though.

Still on my first blade and have cut a lot of beech, up to 12 cm tall, with no problem. Of course, 12 cm goes slower than 2 cm but it goes with occasional stall (because of user error, twisting and such).

You need a vacuum cleaner to attach it to and a dust mask for better experience, of course.

There is also Record Power Sabre-250 variant of this size and it has even bigger capacity. But I haven't seen it in person.

Even though I have also acquired a 20" bandsaw in recent years, I still use this one a lot for small jobs and not only.

 

[scooby]

Bit late as you’ve already ordered but I had the BS250 and found it good. Most of the time I was cutting 3/4”-2” and it was absolutely fine. On rare occasions, I did max out the capacity (ripping oak). Using a 3tpi (Tuff saws) blade and going slow, it did the job.
I did sell it a long time ago, with the intention of getting a larger machine but I never got round to it as I just used the bandsaw where I used to work if needed more capacity/power.

About 6 months ago, I got the Sabre 250. The main difference I’ve found is it’s easier to set the bearing guides on the Sabre.

 

[robgul]

Well, it's here - packed securely on a pallet. It's assembled and set up ready to go, with one small bit of confusion with the instructions where there seems to be an improvement to the way the scale strip attaches. And a bit of cutting down of the wheeled truck it stands on to get the table level with my bench.

Next job is try and cobble together an adapter for the dust port - my late brother made quite a few step-up/step-down fittings for me with his 3d printer . . . hopefully one of those will work.

 

[Chubber]

I have made an adaptor for my new Axminster 1950 dust port by heating {heat gun} a suitable rainwater fitting and pushing it over the outlet. Fortunately my 50mm hose pushes in the other side with two layers of duct tape. About £2.50p.