Bandsaw decision

[tibi]

Hello,

I have managed to sell a benchtop thickness planer Makita and some hand tools and I probably will be able to buy my first band saw (need to sell a few more things,yet).

I would like to decide between Record Sabre 350 and Felder N2-35 (where I need to buy an extra stand). I will also buy castors for both machines.

I want a solid and relatively silent machine that can resaw up to 200 mm and where I can rip 2,5m long oak boards, which are 32 mm or 50 mm thick, without losing stability. It should be also mobile, so that i can pack it into the corner, once finished in my 3,6x 3,6m workshop.

Can you also recommend me some dust extractor that will be 750W max and will handle both the bandsaw and jointer/thicknesser with 250 mm width. They will be run one machine at a time.

Thank you.

 

[Spectric]

The Sabre has a quick belt tension / de tension lever, cast iron wheels and a fence that can be attached for when the table is tilted. It also has bearing blade guides comared to previous models like the BS300.

You really need to look at these machines to make a final decision.

 

[MikeK]

If these are your choices, I would buy the Record Power Sabre 350. Here are reviews of both bandsaws to help you with your decision.

https://machineatlas.com/machines/hammer-n2-35-bandsaw/
https://machineatlas.com/machines/record-power-sabre-350-band-saw/
I expended a lot of effort (and a modest amount of money) modifying my Record Power BS350S to almost the Sabre 350 level, and I am now very happy with it. The blades were the single best improvement for my saw, as the blades that came with it were rubbish. They were acceptable for cutting wood for construction jobs, but I could not get decent cuts from oak, beech, or even pine.

 

[Bojam]

I would go with for the Sabre 350 as well if these are the two options available.

 

[Bojam]

Hi Tibi.

750W doesn’t seem very powerful for a HVLP (high volume low pressure) extractor. This is the sort you really need for a planer thicknesser. Something like this Bernardo extractor might be ok (rated at 550W) but I’ve no personal experience with it or similar units. Bernardo have other HVLP extractors in their range. If you’re buying your PT from them then it might make sense to seek their advice and buy a suitable extractor at the same time.

For info, the Holzprofi HVLP chip extractor (with built in cyclone) I use has a rated airflow of 1350 m3/h. This unit has a 1.5kW motor.

Even my little Numatic NVD750 vacuum extractor has 2 x 1kW motors. It is a LVHP (low volume high pressure) extractor best suited to extracting dust from power tools. Although it has a 100mm port, so can be connected to a PT or other large machines, the airflow is too low (at ~300 m3/h) to be very effective for this purpose.

Hope this helps.

 

[TRITON]

I'd also go for the Sabre. But I dont agree with the above on the extractor front that it needs to be 2kw. I have used in a pro workshop a 1kw basic axminster chip extractor, attached to a 15" 3pz thicknesser, that was doing oak boards every day for years and it managed with no problems whatsoever.

 

[Bojam]

I'd also go for the Sabre. But I dont agree with the above on the extractor front that it needs to be 2kw. I have used in a pro workshop a 1kw basic axminster chip extractor, attached to a 15" 3pz thicknesser, that was doing oak boards every day for years and it managed with no problems whatsoever.

Hi Triton. Have a re-read of my post. I didn’t say it needed to be 2kW anywhere. In fact I linked to a basic 550W chip extractor for Tibi to consider. Good to know that a 1kW extractor can cope with the demands of a pro shop but any suggestions on a max 750W extractor for home use?

 

[TRITON]

Sorry chap, i was just skimming through and didnt read it properly.

 

[Bojam]

Sorry chap, i was just skimming through and didnt read it properly.

No worries

 

[Bojam]

Tibi: check out @siggy_7’s excellent thread “a guide to dust extraction” here.

In the second post, where he discusses Pressure and Flow Rate, he says: “I would generally advise a minimum of 2hp for chip extractors. The lower flow rates of the 1hp machines require really careful design of the whole system to minimise losses enough to hit the target flow rates for most machines.”

2HP is ~1.5kW. If you get a small (HVLP) chip extractor with a motor rated at <750W then you need to be especially conscious of avoiding pressure drops caused by friction and losses. In a small space where you will be using flexible hose (I guess) rather than permanent duct work then you want to keep the runs of hose as short as possible, avoid bends as much as you can and steer clear of adding in separators e.g. a cyclone to the set up.

You might find that, even if you keep the set up really simple as above, that the unit still doesn’t do a great job of collecting all your chips from the PT. But you should be able to achieve good enough results for your purpose. You’ll probably still need to vacuum the floor and around the thicknesser table (inside the machine) to pick up the remaining debris every so often. If you’re not happy with the results, then you’ll need to go for a more powerful extractor (and still pay attention to minimizing pressure drops in the system).

 

[pe2dave]

Hi Tibi.

750W doesn’t seem very powerful for a HVLP (high volume low pressure) extractor. This is the sort you really need for a planer thicknesser.

Above says it's for a bandsaw?

 

[tibi]

Above says it's for a bandsaw?

I want it currently for the bansaw, but I want to buy planer/thicknesser in the future. So it should handle both (single machine at the time)

 

[tibi]

Tibi: check out @siggy_7’s excellent thread “a guide to dust extraction” here.

In the second post, where he discusses Pressure and Flow Rate, he says: “I would generally advise a minimum of 2hp for chip extractors. The lower flow rates of the 1hp machines require really careful design of the whole system to minimise losses enough to hit the target flow rates for most machines.”

2HP is ~1.5kW. If you get a small (HVLP) chip extractor with a motor rated at <750W then you need to be especially conscious of avoiding pressure drops caused by friction and losses. In a small space where you will be using flexible hose (I guess) rather than permanent duct work then you want to keep the runs of hose as short as possible, avoid bends as much as you can and steer clear of adding in separators e.g. a cyclone to the set up.

You might find that, even if you keep the set up really simple as above, that the unit still doesn’t do a great job of collecting all your chips from the PT. But you should be able to achieve good enough results for your purpose. You’ll probably still need to vacuum the floor and around the thicknesser table (inside the machine) to pick up the remaining debris every so often. If you’re not happy with the results, then you’ll need to go for a more powerful extractor (and still pay attention to minimizing pressure drops in the system).

Thank you Bojam. Excellent article, I have learnt a lot.

I do not want 750W HVLP extractor because of the price. But I have 16A fuse in my circuit and I cannot increase it without substantial investments ( 50 m of new 3 phase underground cable from the house mains + all the digging work, excavator, electrician, etc.)

So my total power consumption is limited to 16A * 230V = 3680 W. The panner thicknesser that I want to buy has S1-100% rated at 2.0 kW and S6-40% rated at 2.8 kW. So when it goes to 2.8 kW I am left with 0.88 kW for HVLP extractor and lighting (no electric heating possible with the planer thicknesser in use)

 

[tibi]

If these are your choices, I would buy the Record Power Sabre 350. Here are reviews of both bandsaws to help you with your decision.

https://machineatlas.com/machines/hammer-n2-35-bandsaw/
https://machineatlas.com/machines/record-power-sabre-350-band-saw/
I expended a lot of effort (and a modest amount of money) modifying my Record Power BS350S to almost the Sabre 350 level, and I am now very happy with it. The blades were the single best improvement for my saw, as the blades that came with it were rubbish. They were acceptable for cutting wood for construction jobs, but I could not get decent cuts from oak, beech, or even pine.

Thank you Mike,

I see that I would be better off with the Sabre.

Unfortunately, I did not manage to sell my benchtop planer Makita NB2012, because "luckily" I found out that the buyer was a scammer before giving him my address or worse, money.