Felder FB 510 Bandsaw Opinions Please

[acewoodturner]

I have been milling my own logs for about 15 years now and I reckon I must have bought one of the first alaskan mills in the country. I normally use my Stihl 660 saw which will mill up to about a 30" log. My mate has just given me his 880 with a 48" bar and can mill up to a 44" dia log. We have planked some huge oak, elm, beech, ash, walnut, douglas fir, yew and sycamore. Its hard work but the rewards are amazing. The only trouble now is that my mate had a heart attack about 10 months ago and isn't allowed to mill the big logs now although he has said he will come out and help me some times. All of my trees are locally windblown within about a 5 mile radius of the workshop and I have yet to pay for any of them! We just tell the landowner we are saving them a fortune by them not having to pay a tree surgeon to cut it up.
I have a sauno kiln in the workshop and built the first one to their spec using insulation boards. That lasted about 4 or 5 runs and worked very well. It is a delicate material and easy to break or ding it when moving timber about, so I scrapped it last year.
I am nearly finished building the mark 2 version to my own design and the frame I have made out of douglas fir. I used insulation board bought secondhand online and clad the inside with 9mm plywood and the exterior with 12 osb. I have waterproofed the whole of the inside by fibre glassing it and the inside surface and edges of the door also. I need to get some handles now and a length of strip rubber to act as a gasket and I will be ready to go. I reckon I have spent about £700 on the kiln which isn't bad and will easily be repaid several times over just with the first run. I want to buy a gadget for measuring the consumption of the electricity used as its quite hard to work out accurately how much leccy is used. That way I can work out a more accurate cost for drying a cubic foot of timber especially as I have a couple of enquiries already. If anyone knows of such a gadget please let me know.

 

[Bradshaw Joinery]

I have the 610 sitting in the workshop since march.... i still havent switched it on haha!

New workshop is well in the making though now and will soon be able to let you know how it Performs, maybe a months time!

From playing with it (without power) it seems to be well built. Not the thickest metal in the world..(it sits next to a wadkin CC though, so guess im spoilt) But they are all like that now. The tilt mechanism doesnt have a lock on it, so you either have to bolt it up so tight that you can barely move it, and be gentle with it so as not to move it, or have it freely moving and prop it up or something... seems a bit weird to me, unless your supposed to use the spanner to lock it off each time.

Dont bother with the mitre gauge, they sneaked it in on the order without me asking for it and its garbage tbh..doesnt sit flat, the face isnt square, and the adjustable stop is just a bit of bent 6mm rod....

It would have been nice to have a measure scale on the fence to quickly set that up.

But i have a 1" starret blade in it from tuff saws ready to go, and it certainly looks impressive! I like the 2 extractor outlets, and the bearing gudes are good quality. The rack and pinion is solid, if a little crude to wind up and down, it doesnt glide in and out.

ill get some more pictures...

 

[dejaa]

Hi

It's a Felder, what more do you need to know? Sorry, but it's a bit like asking should I buy a Bentley - YES if you can afford it.

Seriously though, I would thoroughly recommend felder, I set up a workshop in 2008 with all Felder machinery and didn't have one day regretting it. My bandsaw cut through 10" x 10" oak 5ft long with ease (1" blade with 5tpi). I was also able to cut slices 2mm thick x 6" high with an accuracy of a few thou. That's the benefit of a solidly constructed machine, repeatable accuracy.

There is a downside I should inform you of: Any spare parts HAVE to come from Austria!! The office in Easy Kilbride closed and Milton keynes don't stock anything other than new machines. The Austrians are extremely efficient and helpful but delivery for anything is at least £15 - always by UPS

Hope this helps - good luck

David

 

[orchard]

I have the 610 sitting in the workshop since march.... i still havent switched it on haha!

New workshop is well in the making though now and will soon be able to let you know how it Performs, maybe a months time!

Haha, that's a long time to wait

From playing with it (without power) it seems to be well built. Not the thickest metal in the world..(it sits next to a wadkin CC though, so guess im spoilt) But they are all like that now.

I said earlier that my first choice would be an old Wadkin, but we will be moving soon, so...lol

The tilt mechanism doesnt have a lock on it, so you either have to bolt it up so tight that you can barely move it, and be gentle with it so as not to move it, or have it freely moving and prop it up or something... seems a bit weird to me, unless your supposed to use the spanner to lock it off each time.

Dont bother with the mitre gauge, they sneaked it in on the order without me asking for it and its garbage tbh..doesnt sit flat, the face isnt square, and the adjustable stop is just a bit of bent 6mm rod....

It would have been nice to have a measure scale on the fence to quickly set that up.

But i have a 1" starret blade in it from tuff saws ready to go, and it certainly looks impressive! I like the 2 extractor outlets, and the bearing gudes are good quality. The rack and pinion is solid, if a little crude to wind up and down, it doesnt glide in and out.

Thanks, I'm not sure whether it was from here, but i've read about the mitre issues thanks, shame really...

ill get some more pictures...

Yes please, feedback once you're up and running would be great thanks

 

[orchard]

Hi

It's a Felder, what more do you need to know? Sorry, but it's a bit like asking should I buy a Bentley - YES if you can afford it.

Hahaha, no idea where it stands really, but yes, I want a bandsaw that I can rely upon to get the job done, and as it'll be central to my 'shop for a while i'll pay for it, but need to be reassured I suppose, as it's relatively a lot of dosh

Seriously though, I would thoroughly recommend felder, I set up a workshop in 2008 with all Felder machinery and didn't have one day regretting it. My bandsaw cut through 10" x 10" oak 5ft long with ease (1" blade with 5tpi). I was also able to cut slices 2mm thick x 6" high with an accuracy of a few thou. That's the benefit of a solidly constructed machine, repeatable accuracy.

Good to know thanks!

There is a downside I should inform you of: Any spare parts HAVE to come from Austria!! The office in Easy Kilbride closed and Milton keynes don't stock anything other than new machines. The Austrians are extremely efficient and helpful but delivery for anything is at least £15 - always by UPS

Have you had to order many parts for the bandsaw to date please ???
Cheers
Nick

 

[dejaa]

Hi

It's a Felder, what more do you need to know? Sorry, but it's a bit like asking should I buy a Bentley - YES if you can afford it.

Hahaha, no idea where it stands really, but yes, I want a bandsaw that I can rely upon to get the job done, and as it'll be central to my 'shop for a while i'll pay for it, but need to be reassured I suppose, as it's relatively a lot of dosh

Seriously though, I would thoroughly recommend felder, I set up a workshop in 2008 with all Felder machinery and didn't have one day regretting it. My bandsaw cut through 10" x 10" oak 5ft long with ease (1" blade with 5tpi). I was also able to cut slices 2mm thick x 6" high with an accuracy of a few thou. That's the benefit of a solidly constructed machine, repeatable accuracy.

Good to know thanks!

There is a downside I should inform you of: Any spare parts HAVE to come from Austria!! The office in Easy Kilbride closed and Milton keynes don't stock anything other than new machines. The Austrians are extremely efficient and helpful but delivery for anything is at least £15 - always by UPS

Have you had to order many parts for the bandsaw to date please ???
Cheers
Nick

no, only consumables for combination machine. I used Hakinsson blades after originals worn out, very pleased with them and no expensive shipment costs
David

 

[orchard]

Is this up-and-running yet ???

I'm still vacillating between this and one of the Centauro lines (MM/SP/CO)... I do really like the look of the build of Centauro saws, but for a 500 diameter wheel, it's at least £1,000 more, and that's for the MM s500p which only comes with wooden bottom guides and a 2.5hp single-phase motor....

Are the Felder wheel tyres flat ? Easy to swap out when the time comes ?
Thanks again guys

I have the 610 sitting in the workshop since march.... i still havent switched it on haha!

New workshop is well in the making though now and will soon be able to let you know how it Performs, maybe a months time!

From playing with it (without power) it seems to be well built. Not the thickest metal in the world..(it sits next to a wadkin CC though, so guess im spoilt) But they are all like that now. The tilt mechanism doesnt have a lock on it, so you either have to bolt it up so tight that you can barely move it, and be gentle with it so as not to move it, or have it freely moving and prop it up or something... seems a bit weird to me, unless your supposed to use the spanner to lock it off each time.

Dont bother with the mitre gauge, they sneaked it in on the order without me asking for it and its garbage tbh..doesnt sit flat, the face isnt square, and the adjustable stop is just a bit of bent 6mm rod....

It would have been nice to have a measure scale on the fence to quickly set that up.

But i have a 1" starret blade in it from tuff saws ready to go, and it certainly looks impressive! I like the 2 extractor outlets, and the bearing gudes are good quality. The rack and pinion is solid, if a little crude to wind up and down, it doesnt glide in and out.

ill get some more pictures...

 

[Hickorystick]

my new Hammer N4400 arrives on Friday.
I need a new belt sander to smooth out the goose bumps - excitement rises daily... !!

:ho2 :deer :deer :ho2

 

[orchard]

my new Hammer N4400 arrives on Friday.
I need a new belt sander to smooth out the goose bumps - excitement rises daily... !!

:ho2 :deer :deer :ho2

Hahaha, I have been wondering whether you had it yet mate!
Please let me know all the details for their delivery operation, and i'm sure i'll have a few other questions for you.
Did you go for ceramic guides btw?

I still don't know whether I should wait and push the boat out for a 500mm Centauro variant. After one upgrades from wooden lower guides, they're almost twice the price if a Felder FB class machine. Are they that much better? I also think the Centauro distributors over here are milking the reputation a bit, as the US equivalents with lower guides as standard and a bigger motor are less than here...

 

[Hickorystick]

No ceramics just yet, just the standard machine for now and I'll see how it goes.
I've pushed the boat out and then some with my recent purchases so need to save again !
Know what you need then research the very best you can afford that meets your needs, then stop, become irrational and spend 30% more again !!
I'll take some photos of the unpacking and still need to post the workshop ones ( nearly there)

 

[orchard]

Hahaha, please do take some photo's! .

No ceramics just yet, just the standard machine for now and I'll see how it goes.
I've pushed the boat out and then some with my recent purchases so need to save again !
Know what you need then research the very best you can afford that meets your needs, then stop, become irrational and spend 30% more again !!
I'll take some photos of the unpacking and still need to post the workshop ones ( nearly there)

 

[Bradshaw Joinery]

Not up and running yet but getting very close

cannot wait!!!

 

[orchard]

Not up and running yet but getting very close

cannot wait!!!

Haha, me neither ! Did you check out MiniMax's offerings btw ?

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Have you made a decision yet???

 

[orchard]

Have you made a decision yet???

Haha, not yet, check out the other thread I started pleading for comparative information on MiniMax, Felder, and Centauro CO's, lol

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Have you made a decision yet???

Haha, not yet, check out the other thread I started pleading for comparative information on MiniMax, Felder, and Centauro CO's, lol

You're not really going to buy a bandsaw are you?? This is all just a big tease

 

[orchard]

Have you made a decision yet???

Haha, not yet, check out the other thread I started pleading for comparative information on MiniMax, Felder, and Centauro CO's, lol

You're not really going to buy a bandsaw are you?? This is all just a big tease

Haha, not if I wait for your advice on the other thread
- it's a lot of money for us Bob, and I have high expectations for it, especially longevity...
You can help review it when I get it if you like, i've noticed your review referenced in a few places now