Axminster Craft AC1400B Bandsaw.

[MorrisWoodman12]

The one machine I would like to compliment my small workshop is a bandsaw. (I already have a P/T and an old flip saw plus a chip extractor though the latter would be the next improvement). I'm retired now and woodwork has become my hobby taking up more time than anything else. Well now I have time the missus would like this, and then that around the house.
I see that Axminster are offering a AC1400B bandsaw at the moment for (round figures) £175. In short it's an 80mm depth of cut, 200mm wide, cast iron table that tilts to 45°c/w fence, motor power 250W. Wheel diameter is spec'ed at 200mm (though how can the cut width be 200mm too!).
As a hobbyist I'm unlikely to want to be re-sawing large chunks of timber, I guess most stuff will be less than 3"/80mm and 200mm will be wide enough for most of what I do.
So what advice do you UKWorkshop adepts offer? Should I make it the Christmas present to myself or is there something better out there? Does anyone have experience of the AC1400B? Is 250W just not powerful enough?
Best regards
Martin

 

[Padster]

I’m not sure I can really help, but I can tell you I recently got the big brother AC2606B, it’s the biggest in the craft range. I’ve been perfectly happy with it, it does everything I need and is well made and I received some good help and knowledge when I got it , if the AC1400 meets your needs and it’s built like mine you won’t be disappointed.

Padster

 

[Trainee neophyte]

I would echo Padster. The only consideration is that you will want to cut something taller than 80mm at some point: it's guaranteed. 80mm is tiny. Hardly anything at all. Whichever saw you buy won't be big enough, but why not get something that can at least make reindeer in 3 dimentions.

What else are bandsaw for?

Edit: that photo was shamelessly stolen from the internet - I wouldn't want you think that was my work!

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

@Padster , @Trainee neophyte Thank you for your comments. But Neophyte why did you post that photo? The missus thinks the reindeer cute. Another job before Christmas ;-(
Have fun.
Martin

 

[Peri]

I never really thought I'd use a bandsaw. I was even offered a big Erbauer (iirc) free-standing one, (around 250-300mm depth of cut) for £100 that I turned down because I didn't really have the room for it - massive mistake.

I eventually bought a compact one - 90mm depth of cut. Every time I use it I kick myself for not grabbing the big one.

I'm also strictly a hobby/weekend guy, but I use a lot of reclaimed/salvaged/gifted timber, so re-sawing is is actually something I do a lot of, and 90mm just isn't enough.

Also there's the fact that my tablesaw does about a 70mm depth of cut, so a small bandsaw doesn't give much of an improvement there.

I totally agree with Neophyte - "Whichever saw you buy won't be big enough" - and I think getting something that allows you to resaw the occasional timber find is just a boon.

 

[CaptainBudget]

I would personally pay the extra and get at least the AC1950B (I've got that one), it's £360.00 but well worth the extra cash. I've fixed mine to a plywood panel with castors and can wheel it wherever I need to when it gets in the way or if I'm sawing a particularly long/wide piece, so I would highly recommend this especially if you have a small shop like me.

I find there is very little the 203 can't do to a reasonable standard and when fitted with their 4TPI Freshcut blades will even rip 4" square softwood comfortably with a pretty good surface that can be quickly finished with a couple of passes with a sharp hand plane. I would want something with more meat on it for resawing large pieces of hardwood though (not that I do that very often...), but you won't get that without spending a lot more. I would argue the 250W 1400 is under-powered if you're cutting hardwoods up to 80mm, and it's 1950B brother would be a better purchase if you're intending on cutting a fair amount of hardwood.

My only serious complaint with this range is the upper guide design is a bit naff and gums up with sawdust easily, so sometimes you have to dismantle and clean the entire mechanism before you can adjust the upper guide height.

Having said that I genuinely couldn't find anything else in the small bandsaw range I was prepared to take a punt on (bar the Axminister 2606B but that was out of my price range), and the 3-year warranty is nice. Axminster's technical support are also very helpful and their customer service would sway me to go with them again in the future with machinery purchases.

I also genuinely wouldn't want to have anything smaller, as the extra height means it can bandsaw tenons, slip joints and all sorts of joinery you wouldn't be able to do (or at least struggle with) on a smaller saw. I think if you're doing lots of small curved shapes in sheet material the 1400 would be great for that, but for more general woodworking I'd buy at least it's bigger brother every time. Thing is for me personally in the long term I will want a bigger one still (14" monster as a dedicated re-saw machine), but there will still be a place for my 1950B for more general purpose work.