Bandsaws - best of the budget?

[Mike_Maple]

Hi all,
I'm looking for a benchtop bandsaw, I'll be using it to cut hardwoods and softwoods for woodworking projects, and to create blanks for my lathe. I'm looking to pay no more than £200, not a lot I know, but as a first bandsaw I think it's enough, and of course there's the option to upgrade later if necessary. I don't want to go down the road of looking for a second hand model, I know that can be great (got my lathe that way), but don't want to have to deal with an older bandsaw that might have issues.

I've been casually looking for a while, but today noticed that the Parkside pbs 350 B2 was available for £99.90 on what I thought was Parkside's own website (but just found out that it turns out to be mechanicoffer.shop, which looks dodgy as heck, so probably won't be buying from them). I realise Parkside is not everyone's favourite, bit of a marmite brand.

At my budget, is it really worth going for say an Axminster AW1400B, or is the build quality roughly the same as other slightly cheaper models, I hear many are made in the same factory? Are there any makes/models anyone would recommend in the price bracket?

Many thanks!

 

[TRITON]

Usually the stuff out of Aldi or Lidl is pretty poor on build quality.

Axminster and record power are better choices. My small 10" RP is now 22 years old and still working well at and actually above the limits of its stated capacities.

The parksiide is too lightweight, the table on both RP and Ax is cast iron, whereas on the parkside it is a flimsy pressed steel From the reports I've seen. you are limited to about 1 1/2" depth before the motor cuts out. That isnt going to bode well for any sort of llongevity

Out of the 2(Ax and rP) I'd go for the RP, mainly as I've used their smallest for 22 years and its been 100% ok.

Both the RP and Ax might be double the price(Still cheap in bandsawland) but i think its always worth it getting better kit than just the cheapest you can find.

Alternatively, you could look towards a 12" or 14" 2nd hand out of ebay or gumtree

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I bought a Record RPBS 14 for £75, sold as spares or repair. I replaced the tyres, the drive belt, the capacitor, the Bristol lever, the wheel bearings, the guide bearings, and the blade.

Total cost about £160 - it can be done, decent saws are repairable. That's basically a new £1000 saw. keep your eye on FB MP, Gumtree, Ebay etc.

 

[robgul]

I had an Axi 1400B and quickly became frustrated by the throat size - just too small - and the settings for the blade bearings etc were really fiddly and hard to get right.

Back in May I bought a Record BS 250 and the difference in quality, operability is like night and day - OK it's £300 (I bought mine from Yandles, next day delivery well packed on a pallet) but it's worth it. In fairness I did sell the Axi for more than I paid for it to offset the purchase of the Record.

I'd splash the extra cash!

 

[Diver Fred]

I see you are in Leicestershire - May I suggest you go and visit 'Charnwood's', the store it's self. I have one of their 10inch bandsaws. It does most jobs I want it to and it is Bench top. You may find they have a second-hand machine of the size you want; or they may know that they have one coming in.
Their machines look apart from colour (and feel) similar to RP ones.

I didn't buy mine from them direct - which I regret due to issues in setting it up but I've have visited the store subsequently and found them helpful and instructive.

The tables on their machines are cast iron. The blades are a known quality.


In fact :- on the website presently https://charnwood.net/product/charnwood-used-bs410-10-bench-top-bandsaw-4-cutting-depth/

At that price I'd be happy

 

[Mike_Maple]

Thanks for all the replies folks, will respond later when I've got time

 

[Mike_Maple]

Usually the stuff out of Aldi or Lidl is pretty poor on build quality.

Axminster and record power are better choices. My small 10" RP is now 22 years old and still working well at and actually above the limits of its stated capacities.

The parksiide is too lightweight, the table on both RP and Ax is cast iron, whereas on the parkside it is a flimsy pressed steel From the reports I've seen. you are limited to about 1 1/2" depth before the motor cuts out. That isnt going to bode well for any sort of llongevity

Out of the 2(Ax and rP) I'd go for the RP, mainly as I've used their smallest for 22 years and its been 100% ok.

Both the RP and Ax might be double the price(Still cheap in bandsawland) but i think its always worth it getting better kit than just the cheapest you can find.

Alternatively, you could look towards a 12" or 14" 2nd hand out of ebay or gumtree

Hi Triton,
Yes I've decided against the Parkside one now, even if I could get it from a reputable vendor (That shop was based in Brazil, no offence to Brazillians here!)

The Axminster is within my price range, but the cheapest RP machine is £299, though realise the quality would make it worthwhile, assuming it's still there in the current models!

I bought a Record RPBS 14 for £75, sold as spares or repair. I replaced the tyres, the drive belt, the capacitor, the Bristol lever, the wheel bearings, the guide bearings, and the blade.

Total cost about £160 - it can be done, decent saws are repairable. That's basically a new £1000 saw. keep your eye on FB MP, Gumtree, Ebay etc.

Thanks, will consider it, but must admit I'm not keen on buying second hand, I've got enough work lined up!

I had an Axi 1400B and quickly became frustrated by the throat size - just too small - and the settings for the blade bearings etc were really fiddly and hard to get right.

Back in May I bought a Record BS 250 and the difference in quality, operability is like night and day - OK it's £300 (I bought mine from Yandles, next day delivery well packed on a pallet) but it's worth it. In fairness I did sell the Axi for more than I paid for it to offset the purchase of the Record.

I'd splash the extra cash!

Good point, it's not impossible to go to £300, and that makes 2 votes for the RP.

I see you are in Leicestershire - May I suggest you go and visit 'Charnwood's', the store it's self. I have one of their 10inch bandsaws. It does most jobs I want it to and it is Bench top. You may find they have a second-hand machine of the size you want; or they may know that they have one coming in.
Their machines look apart from colour (and feel) similar to RP ones.

I didn't buy mine from them direct - which I regret due to issues in setting it up but I've have visited the store subsequently and found them helpful and instructive.

The tables on their machines are cast iron. The blades are a known quality.


In fact :- on the website presently https://charnwood.net/product/charnwood-used-bs410-10-bench-top-bandsaw-4-cutting-depth/

At that price I'd be happy

Coalville is not ridiculously far, could make the trip. Lived in Leicestershire all my life but barely ever been that end. I guess the Charnwood Bandsaw would go with my Charnwood lathe ;-). I've been happy with the lathe quality, and it does look good.

Thanks again all for your input. I'm not planning to buy just yet (otherwise would probably have bought the Charnwood used one), especially as you're all encouraging me to go higher. I really need to sort out the mess in my workshop and finish setting it up before buying another machine (pics in the new member area if you're interested).

Finally, I've been looking at the Scheppach range, in particular the HBS261 - would I be wasting my money there?

 

[Stevebod]

A while ago I got myself a RP 300E.....but it is not a particulalry well thought out saw.
I now wish I had got myself a Chanrnwood equivalent. (NB I am only a (very) casual user.....)

 

[Mike_Maple]

Thanks, will steer clear! I should probably buy local anyway!

 

[Stuart M]

I got a Scheppach HBS30 a few months back, It seems to be almost identical to the Parkside you mentioned, but not as good as the HBS261.

It sometimes struggles with 15mm plywood unless you slow right down. The plastic table insert sucks - the flap that locks it in place has already broken and I need to use a blade each time I want to remove it.

The area underneath the insert gets blocked with wood fairly regularly and it's pretty annoying clearing this area out constantly. The plastic blade guard under the table insert is also broken. These parts are easy to replace, just haven't got round to it yet.

I struggled to get a 3.5mm blade to work without it constantly slipping off. Every width above this has been fine. Could be user error, could be they're just not compatible. The 20mm cutting capacity is also pretty limiting.

Apart from that, it's a pretty decent machine. I've used it to cut 5mm and 10mm ply and it cuts though these pretty smoothly.

 

[Mike_Maple]

I got a Scheppach HBS30 a few months back, It seems to be almost identical to the Parkside you mentioned, but not as good as the HBS261.

It sometimes struggles with 15mm plywood unless you slow right down. The plastic table insert sucks - the flap that locks it in place has already broken and I need to use a blade each time I want to remove it.

The area underneath the insert gets blocked with wood fairly regularly and it's pretty annoying clearing this area out constantly. The plastic blade guard under the table insert is also broken. These parts are easy to replace, just haven't got round to it yet.

I struggled to get a 3.5mm blade to work without it constantly slipping off. Every width above this has been fine. Could be user error, could be they're just not compatible. The 20mm cutting capacity is also pretty limiting.

Apart from that, it's a pretty decent machine. I've used it to cut 5mm and 10mm ply and it cuts though these pretty smoothly.

Thanks for that, yes I think I remember reading that the Parkside ones are rebranded Scheppach machines.

Glad you think it's pretty decent, though quite a few issues - think I'll probably save up and go for a Charnwood in the end, but thanks for giving me your experience with Scheppach, it's helped me make up my mind!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

As with most powered gear - unless you've a very valid reason, always go larger than you think you'll need. You can do small stuff on a large machine, but not vice versa.

 

[M_Chavez]

As with most powered gear - unless you've a very valid reason, always go larger than you think you'll need

Very true.

A decade ago it took me about 10 months to hunt down a good quality 14" bandsaw (old Axminster Grizzly clone) that was within my budget, but keeping an eye on gumtrees, facebooks and other local ads might be your best bet. I had to do a fair bit of repair & maintenance to get it going, similar story to Phil's. A couple hundred £ for £1-2k result.
Buying used is a good thing - if anything goes wrong, and now & again it does, you'll know how to fix it.

14" was a size bigger that I thought I needed, was the maximum that I could fit into the workshop and that's still a size smaller than I've needed over the years.