Charnwood Bandsaws - any good ?

[mseries]

I am in the market for a small bandsaw, my budget will cover a 10" one, looking at Axi, Record Power and Charnwood. Charnwood specs look good and a little cheaper/more for the money. Are they any good ? Anyone got a 10" bandsaw for sale?

 

[Bodgers]

I have the Axminster HBS250N. Whilst it does what it says on the tin, and I can't complain as I got it for £100 when it was just a few months old, given the choice again I would get at least a 12" if not 14".

The table is nice and flat, the fence is fine, and you can get the blade to track nicely, so as far as a 10" is concerned it is probably as good as you will do for the price.

Problem is that you will run into capacity limits quickly. The motor can struggle too. Even with a decent tuffsaw blade, resawing decent quality redwood softwood through it at max 120mm depth is a struggle - it will do it, but slowly.

Dust collection could be better too.

Next year, I will probably look at the Makita 12" as it has a decent motor and dust collection, and is probably about as big as I can handle in my full single garage workshop.


Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

 

[Inoffthered]

I have a Charnwood bandsaw and have been very pleased with it.
I bought an ex-demo item and then fitted a blade from Ian at tuff saws.
Charnwood have an open day in august (15th) and according to the promo email they are selling off recon and ex demo machines as well as offers on new stuff.
I have found Charnwood very good to deal with.

 

[ajayre]

I recently got a Record BS250. I got blades from Tuffsaws and set it up according to Alex Snodgrass. Without any experience I was able to shave a 2x4 into pine veneers.

Per Random Orbital Bob's suggestion I waited until Record were at a show then called the show location and spoke to the Record rep. They wouldn't match the price of the Charnwood but I did get the show discount and free delivery.

Comes with a 5 year warranty.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

That warranty buys a lot of peace of mind. My original BS300 had the motor go about 4 years in and they shipped a free one the same day I called with no quibbles. I have to say I've found their service to be exemplary.

 

[scosarg]

Record Power aftersales is excellent. We have been selling small bandsaws for many years and we have not had such good support for band saws or other small woodworking machines as we get from them. They Excellent at service and response even when machines have been discontinued or changed: this should always be considered when buying.

 

[Alexam]

Go for the Record model with longer guarantee. It should serve you very well for years and hold a reasonable re-sale value when you wish to upgrade to a larger machine.

Get it tuned up corectly as the following ......

THE BEST FROM A BANDSAW 'Alex Snodgrass of Carter Industries has an excellent video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGbZqWac0jU on a tune up method that works well, but if you want to get the best use of your bandsaw on an ongoing basis, then the Steve Maskery DVD's will show you far more and they are a real investment. http://www.workshopessentials.com/shop/ '.

Another correct tension guide could be with this - Flutter test Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8zZuDosSy0


Alex

 

[mseries]

Thanks, but this thread in seveal months old and I have made my choice

 

[scosarg]

Which one did you go for in the end?

 

[mseries]

Which one did you go for in the end?

In the end I upped my budget and got a RP BS300E

 

[Alexam]

Good move. Let us know how you get on with it.
Alex