Bandsaw suggestions around £400+ mark? Sip 01444??

[RobertMP]

I think it is time I got a bandsaw. Can't say I'm certain about it but it seems like a good idea

My next project is a sideboard type unit which after test pieces SWMBO seems in favour of unsteamed beech. Think 1400mm long 3 door kitchen cupboard with flat panel (is that called shaker style?) doors + 3 drawers. I'd be starting with 1" sawn from the timberyard and have been puzzling over how I will get thinner panels to inset in the doors without wasting a lot of wood and effort thicknessing down. So the idea of resawing the planks came to mind and hence a bandsaw.

I'm guessing a bandsaw is the sort of thing I'll have more use for when I've got it sitting there plus it is bound to be useful as my turning progresses. I have an old elu table from a dead flipover saw which has a bosch circular saw under it for ripping normal thicknesses and may get a proper table saw sometime too but no hurry for that as it does the job.

Anyway bit of a ramble there. Is the SIP a good choice? I only picked it because it has a bigger motor power and can take 1" blades. I recon 200+ mm depth of cut will be plenty. I did search the forum as best I could and found only good comments.

Finally if anyone has the SIP could you tell me how big the base footprint is? I'm planning to pull it out a foot of so for use then push it back after and it would help to know in advance how much space the base needs.

Oh and it is £435 on ebay delivered here.... any better places?

 

[Neil]

Might be worth considering the Jet in that price range too.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[RobertMP]

£375 + vat?? How come that model is £600 at Axminster ? !!

Is it the bargain it appears to be?

 

[ByronBlack]

Apparently it is. I used to own the Jet and will be definitly buying it again. Highly recommended.

 

[cumbrian]

I was just looking at another thread here and started wondering if there might be similar tensioning problems with the SIP or Jet? Worth checking out.

Can't be any help beyond that - my only bandsaw experience is with my old Startrite 352, which doesn't take 1" blades, but doesn't seem to have a problem tensioning up a 3/4". Might be a thought as I bought this secondhand for bang on the target price of £400........

 

[RobertMP]

I have watched a couple of startrite 352 on ebay and they often (but not always) go for quite high prices. Knowing me I'd get the one that has had a very hard life. Hence the decision to go for a new lesser model.

Not sure I'd actually need to use a 1" blade but if the machine is supposed to do it then it should really be OK for anything less than that.

I've emailed to ask for delivery cost on the Jet as they don't seem to sell through the website, just advertise.

 

[Jake]

Not sure I'd actually need to use a 1" blade but if the machine is supposed to do it then it should really be OK for anything less than that.

That is a very trusting assumption. The width of blade they say it can take might well have much more to do with the width of the tyres etc, rather than the ability of the saw to tension that maximum width, or indeed something smaller - down to some unknown size. I wouldn't rely on anyhting in that class being able to tension anything more than a half-inch blade or so. But then again, that's probably enough for most things anyway.

 

[ByronBlack]

I had a 1" blade on the jet and tensioned it to the full capacity of the saw, had excellent results with re-sawing. The blade was a dure-edge.

 

[Jake]

There isn't the smallest chance in hell that any bandsaw of that class (or several above it) could get the proper amount of tension on a 1" blade.

 

[ByronBlack]

Well I don't know how much or what 'proper' tension is, all I can say is that I used it to resaw 6" timber without too much bother and was a joy to use.

 

[Scrit]

I have watched a couple of startrite 352 on ebay and they often (but not always) go for quite high prices. Knowing me I'd get the one that has had a very hard life. Hence the decision to go for a new lesser model.

A lot of them have had fairly easy lives - they were a favourite of training establishments where they wouldn't have seen much action. In anyu case their simple (agricultural) design means that they survive well. The main problems are to do with the guide blocks and thrust rods. Oh, and I reckon they aren't really too happy with 3/4in blades because you are at the limit of what they can tension - I was never impressed by my 3/4in Starret blade on a 352 so I used to use 1/2in or 5/8in blades for resawing

Not sure I'd actually need to use a 1" blade but if the machine is supposed to do it then it should really be OK for anything less than that.

To adequately tension a 1in blade I'd say you'll probably need a machine which will accommodate 1-1/4 to 1-3/8in blades. I've never come across a non-cast iron saw which can hold the tension well enough at the maximum blade width. As long as you can accommodate 1 3/4in blade resawing up to 12 or 14in is straightforward enough.

Scrit

 

[DomValente]

I have a Startrite, can't remember the model number( sorry Scrit) and a Felder ( a big one ) the Startrite has been going for 25 years and it's excellent and the Felder has been, well, going for seven years.
Draw your own conclusion

Dom

 

[DomValente]

Found the picture and I'm still not sure of the model

Crown etc. removed for maintenance and checking so don't start...

 

[Scrit]

Well it's not a 351 or 352, Dom, the motor on those is hidden in the base. With the direct drive motor it looks like a 301 (8in depth of cut), a smaller version of the 351 introduced in the early 1980s I believe.

Do I gather from that that (gasp - shock - horror) there are problems with Felders? OK, I'll believe that, if Altendorf or Wadkin can't always get it right (and believe me Wadkin made quite a few lemons over the years, although quite why I had to buy them all is still a mystery to me) then who are Felder to do any better? :roll:

Scrit

PS Can I have my cockernut, now, please? :wink:

PPS And my current Wadkin avatar is not a lemon, Dom - it's a recessor (the illegitimate offspring of a milling machine and a drill press abandoned at an early age in a woodorking shop and brought up by a family of rip saws)

 

[DomValente]

Yup 301.
Coconut on the way--duck

Dom

 

[RobertMP]

The Jet with delivery from that keighley link is £497 so top end of budget but possible. I've enquired at 2 much nearer Jet stockists to see what they can do as I might be able to collect if it will go in my estate car.

 

[johnnyb]

just as an aside from £400 pound bandsaws why not use veneered mdf/ply as your panels. if you can find your beech it is by far the best and quickest way of doing this. i have made many many oak doors using mdf panels. it is also useful for back panels. as far as bandsaws go resawing on a cheaper band saw is definitely not an easy task.

 

[RobertMP]

I don't know of anywhere local that does veneered boards. Only price I've seen is £45 odd for a 8x4 x 6mm on ebay. Suppose I could try yellow pages!

Still not sure what I'll use it for but I like the idea of having a bandsaw - so I do intend to get one. Hows that for logic

 

[DomValente]

A12, A127 to here ?

http://www.silverman.co.uk/depots/basildon.php

Dom