Hammer N4300 Bandsaw

[Graeme48]

I can see loads of discussions on these forums about buying/upgrading bandsaws - does anyone have any information or opinion on Hammer N4300? It looks to have the sort of specification I'm looking for and I've seen one at a fairly knockdown price.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Jonathan S]

Ive been a member of
[email protected] for years and don't remember anything bad about the hammer bandsaw.....other then they needed bigger saws and upgraded.
I believe for there price bracket they are a good saw.

 

[Blister]

I have a N4400 and have had issues with it
I needed to move the fence so slaconed the bristol lever moved the fence , went to tighten only by hand and enough , The fence started movening to the left then the casting broke in two .

You could clearly see the casting was faulty , had a large area of slag / crystallisation in the casting .
Contacted Felder at Milton Keynes and was told the man I needed to speak with was away for a week , I said I need a replacment , Had to pay £90 plus postage to get one .
When the man who was away returned I phoned again and said I had a problem , I had allready sent the duff unit back and he had it with him . He asked " What do you want us to do ? " I replied replace the faulty unit please , He then said " So you want a replacement foe a saw that is 10 years old and is only a DIY / Hobby grade saw " I said are you sure ? this is a big saw with a 3HP motor 16amp , He was not intrested and basically ended the conversation saying " You sohoud think yourself lucky that we had a spare part for the 10 year old saw ,

Wow is this how they treat customers , The person I spoke with was the MD

Good job they did not build Tower bridge , I could see it falling in the river after 10 years .

 

[Doug B]

I have a N4400 and have had issues with it
I needed to move the fence so slaconed the bristol lever moved the fence , went to tighten only by hand and enough , The fence started movening to the left then the casting broke in two .

You could clearly see the casting was faulty , had a large area of slag / crystallisation in the casting .
Contacted Felder at Milton Keynes and was told the man I needed to speak with was away for a week , I said I need a replacment , Had to pay £90 plus postage to get one .
When the man who was away returned I phoned again and said I had a problem , I had allready sent the duff unit back and he had it with him . He asked " What do you want us to do ? " I replied replace the faulty unit please , He then said " So you want a replacement foe a saw that is 10 years old and is only a DIY / Hobby grade saw " I said are you sure ? this is a big saw with a 3HP motor 16amp , He was not intrested and basically ended the conversation saying " You sohoud think yourself lucky that we had a spare part for the 10 year old saw ,

Wow is this how they treat customers , The person I spoke with was the MD

Good job they did not build Tower bridge , I could see it falling in the river after 10 years .

You seriously expect a company to supply a part foc for a machine that’s 10 years old, that part of the fence must be used nearly every time you use the saw
I’d be thankful that Hammer still have the spare parts, you’ll find with most companies that supply Chinese made machines can’t get you spares after a couple of years.

 

[Trevanion]

It's surprising how many castings Felder weld up defects on, I've seen a few table castings now where the rest of the table is a dull greyish cast iron colour and some spots on the edges are a bright steel colour with a hard border and an ever so slight lip of a couple of thousandths (You can definitely feel it with a finger) where they've been pretty neatly welded. Totally cosmetic of course but it does make you wonder about the quality of the casting process.

 

[custard]

I've had the N4400 for about seven or eight years now. It's used pretty much every day as I'm a full time furniture maker, and it's never missed a beat. Furthermore, because I cut my own veneers, it's frequently used at the very limit of its capacity on super-hard hardwoods like Rosewood, Wenge, Ebony, etc.

I use an aftermarket fence and the Fender upgraded ceramic guides. Personally I've noticed no improvement with the ceramic guides, the standard guides are plenty good enough.

But I don't want to sound like an N4400 fanboy, it's a good machine but then so is the Startrite!

I see you're in Surrey, if you're ever having a day out in the New Forest then you're welcome to drop by the workshop and get some hands on experience with the N4400.

 

[Graeme48]

I've had the N4400 for about seven or eight years now. It's used pretty much every day as I'm a full time furniture maker, and it's never missed a beat. Furthermore, because I cut my own veneers, it's frequently used at the very limit of its capacity on super-hard hardwoods like Rosewood, Wenge, Ebony, etc.

I use an aftermarket fence and the Fender upgraded ceramic guides. Personally I've noticed no improvement with the ceramic guides, the standard guides are plenty good enough.

But I don't want to sound like an N4400 fanboy, it's a good machine but then so is the Startrite!

I see you're in Surrey, if you're ever having a day out in the New Forest then you're welcome to drop by the workshop and get some hands on experience with the N4400.

Thanks, Custard. Mother used to live in Ringwood, so know the area. Nice place to live and work, I might get to see you sometime.

 

[shed9]

Another N4400 user here, superb machine, had an issue with the electronics board which is being sorted but other than that it would be replaced like-for-like in a heartbeat. Built like a tank and plenty of power.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

I've had the N4400 for about seven or eight years now. It's used pretty much every day as I'm a full time furniture maker, and it's never missed a beat. Furthermore, because I cut my own veneers, it's frequently used at the very limit of its capacity on super-hard hardwoods like Rosewood, Wenge, Ebony, etc.

I use an aftermarket fence and the Fender upgraded ceramic guides. Personally I've noticed no improvement with the ceramic guides, the standard guides are plenty good enough.

But I don't want to sound like an N4400 fanboy, it's a good machine but then so is the Startrite!

I see you're in Surrey, if you're ever having a day out in the New Forest then you're welcome to drop by the workshop and get some hands on experience with the N4400.

I echo Custard’s comments. I have used my N4400 regularly for about 8 or so years. The fence base was replaced by the local Felder agent as it had a little slack. No issue. A few months ago I added a Wixey to it - fantastic! This is a powerful (4 hp) and reliable bandsaw.

I have also added a dust extraction system that works extremely well.

I’d certainly purchase it again.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Blister]

4 HP , I thought they were 3 HP ?

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

The N4400 moved from 4 h.p. to 3.5 h.p. about 5 years ago.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Blister]

The N4400 moved from 4 h.p. to 3.5 h.p. about 5 years ago.

Regards from Perth

Derek

My one must be 4 HP then as it's about 10 years old