After reading through the forums, even though the consensus was ‘go for used’, after watching a few auctions I still didn’t feel confident enough to take the risk on a used machine and fettle it to good working order so, after a lot of research, I decided to stretch to the entry level Jet bandsaw (JWBS 14Q from Axminster with their 10% off for Xmas offer) for what I believed to be that extra quality and precision that came with the brand.
To start , let me say that Axminster customer support throughout has been excellent.
First there was a minor disappointment in that the base paintwork was already scored – not a big deal, but not expected on a brand new machine.
Also from the forums, I’d read that the supplied band saw blade (with any new machine) was poor quality so had already ordered a selection of blades from Tuff Saws. I’d also watched a couple of online videos on bandsaw set-up so felt well prepared (apologies to Steve M. for not buying his DVD - he may point out that this was all covered had I invested :wink: )
Initially tried some freehand sawing which was fine. However, using the fence something was not right – I expected the default set-up to be slightly out but something was clearly wrong.
So I installed another new wider blade and reset the machine and measured the blade drift (following the instructions from the wood whisperers video on youtube). The apparent drift was so bad (over 10mm across the length of the table) that it couldn’t be adjusted for with the fence assembly. Working with Axminster customer support we determined that the problem was that the cast iron mount to which the table was fixed was not square to the frame, which in turn meant that the table wasn’t square to the direction of cut.
After two attempts at unbolting and realigning the cast iron table mount on the frame, I think I have now managed to get the bandsaw ‘working as designed’ - the ‘drift’ was small enough to be handled within the fence assembly.
As a consequence of realigning the the cast iron table mount on the frame, the lower guide assembly (which is fixed onto this mount) also needed to be adjusted.
After many hours of fettling, I now consider that I have a machine that works.
There is no guidance in the manual for these ‘adjustments’ and so the expectation seems to be that the table mount is accurately fixed during assembly. I certainly did not expect to become this ‘expert’ in the bandsaw assembly.
I am now firmly in the camp of those who recommend buying quality used!
Is this experience normal?
Col
To start , let me say that Axminster customer support throughout has been excellent.
First there was a minor disappointment in that the base paintwork was already scored – not a big deal, but not expected on a brand new machine.
Also from the forums, I’d read that the supplied band saw blade (with any new machine) was poor quality so had already ordered a selection of blades from Tuff Saws. I’d also watched a couple of online videos on bandsaw set-up so felt well prepared (apologies to Steve M. for not buying his DVD - he may point out that this was all covered had I invested :wink: )
Initially tried some freehand sawing which was fine. However, using the fence something was not right – I expected the default set-up to be slightly out but something was clearly wrong.
So I installed another new wider blade and reset the machine and measured the blade drift (following the instructions from the wood whisperers video on youtube). The apparent drift was so bad (over 10mm across the length of the table) that it couldn’t be adjusted for with the fence assembly. Working with Axminster customer support we determined that the problem was that the cast iron mount to which the table was fixed was not square to the frame, which in turn meant that the table wasn’t square to the direction of cut.
After two attempts at unbolting and realigning the cast iron table mount on the frame, I think I have now managed to get the bandsaw ‘working as designed’ - the ‘drift’ was small enough to be handled within the fence assembly.
As a consequence of realigning the the cast iron table mount on the frame, the lower guide assembly (which is fixed onto this mount) also needed to be adjusted.
After many hours of fettling, I now consider that I have a machine that works.
There is no guidance in the manual for these ‘adjustments’ and so the expectation seems to be that the table mount is accurately fixed during assembly. I certainly did not expect to become this ‘expert’ in the bandsaw assembly.
I am now firmly in the camp of those who recommend buying quality used!
Is this experience normal?
Col
