How much 'oomph'?

[Lonsdale73]

I've been reading up on bandsaws in the hope I won't make similar mistakes to those in chosing a table saw. I've never used one and while specs give some idea of what can physically fit through them, it seems it all comes down to whether or not they have enough power to even come close to quoted capabilities so how much is enough? Now I know you'll all be thinking 'Depends on what you want to do with it' but as I've not used one I don't know quite what I could do with it. I bought the table saw to rip down frame mouldings routed on wider and safer boards or to rip thicker boards into thinner sections for box making but have subsequently been advised I might have been better off with a bandsaw. Two names come up a lot: Startrite and Record Power but reviews - particularly of Record Power - are mixed and conflicting. I suspect some of this is down to operator ability, in which respect I'm seriously restricted. Space and budget are further restrictions. So what should I be looking at, what questions should I be asking?

 

[PAC1]

Sounds like your just trying to justify buying a bandsaw. It really does come down to what you want to do with it. So as you say you do not know, lets try the question the other way around: what do you make and what do you intend to make?

 

[Lonsdale73]

Sounds like your just trying to justify buying a bandsaw. It really does come down to what you want to do with it. So as you say you do not know, lets try the question the other way around: what do you make and what do you intend to make?

Frame mouldings and boxes at the moment - or at least I'd like to.

 

[PAC1]

So unless you are resawing wood or book matching home made veneer, I am not sure I see a need for a bandsaw. Sure there are jobs a bandsaw could do if you had one such as dovetails for boxes but nothing that cannot be achieved in other ways!

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

topic78828.html

This will give you more information

 

[Lonsdale73]

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/topic78828.html

This will give you more information

Thanks Bob, that was one of the posts I read and it scared the pants off me. And then I saw the price and had a further fright - I'd need to sell both 70-200mm lenses to fund that beast and might have to evict the neighbours to accommodate it!

 

[CHJ]

As long as you have a sharp quality blade fitted I don't think any of the reasonable brand machines will suffer from lack of power for your needs.

The one thing you need to think more about is the depth of cut that will fit under the head.

Whichever you decide is going to meet your current needs (or you can afford) it's inevitable that very soon it would have been better if it would have taken another 10mm. *

I have a basic 14" SIP, modified to gain an extra 50mm or so depth and the only criteria that causes problem at full depth is a worn blade that has lost its edge or too fine a kerf to clear the debris.

Sounds like you are looking for just a bit more depth than a tablesaw will achieve, but once the facility is there I bet a thick plank comes along that will trigger a 'be nice if I could re-saw that' moment.


* this can often be got over in a wood turners context of cutting slabs by slicing a sliver off a log on a sledge to reduce the depth as a first action.

 

[marcros]

for box making, I have always found the table saw to be more useful.

you could slice a thicker board down, but to be honest, you are unlikely to get 2 9mm boards from it, so you may as well thickness it down, if you have a thicknesser. if you want to do bookmatching on a lid, do it in veneer. your money, your choice, but for box making alone i wouldn't buy a bandsaw. They are generally useful tools though in a workshop.

 

[Lonsdale73]

To illustrate my issue I've taken some photos

This photo (A1) shows a 45 degree cut through 18mm pine which I don't think should be a problem for a table saw but the rough cut and burns suggest otherwise.

Another shot illustrating a far from smooth cut - am I expecting too much?

The saw was set for 40mm approx and near the start it was as near as dammit.

1.2m along and doing my very best to keep a square planed edge tight to the rip fence it now measures 43.55mm.

This is another piece of 18mm, actually an offcut of T&G flooring. It was just the right width for something I was doing so hit on the idea of ripping off a narrow section containing the tongue and gluing that into the groove to retain the width but with the weakened areas made whole again

Rough as a bear's bum!

Conversely, this cut across end grain was made with a £20 jigsaw using the basic general purpose blade that it came with and it's as smooth as the proverbial glass.

 

[AndyT]

I'm no expert (I have a table saw but don't use it much) but I think your tablesaw blade is blunt and you could improve your results hugely by swapping the blade for a sharp one. They ought to cut, not burn, though even a sharp blade will burn if you find slow down too much or stop pushing the wood through, maybe because you need to swap to a different position.

 

[CHJ]

Your saw blade is not sharp and your fence-blade alignment appears to be out.

 

[Steve Maskery]

All the above is good. Plus it looks like you are using fairly poor-quality pine. It looks woolly, so you are going to get a woolly cut, no matter what.
What diameter is your blade and how many teeth does it have?

Personally I think a BS would be a better choice if you could have just one machine, simply because you can cut curves with it, but any TS should cope with what you are asking for, if it is set up properly and you are using the appropriate blade.

 

[lurker]

Your saw blade is not sharp and your fence-blade alignment appears to be out.

I told him this months ago when I was explaining that my TS which is the same model as his was plenty powerful enough.

 

[lurker]

I also suspect he has the fence set way beyond the blade when ripping

 

[Lonsdale73]

Your saw blade is not sharp and your fence-blade alignment appears to be out.

I told him this months ago when I was explaining that my TS which is the same model as his was plenty powerful enough.

I've just said that in a post that's disappeared into the ether, my third such today. Couldn't remember quite who said it but pointed out I knew there were others on here with the same saw that weren't having the issues and also pointed out they had a far better idea of what they're doing than I have.

It's not been used much since we last spoke. I did buy some new blades but can't get the old one off, it looks like it's been welded on! I'm sure it hasn't but there's definitely something there preventing the spanner from getting any kind of purchase on the locking nut so I've reverted to using a circular saw or jigsaw.

Your other point, about rip fence positioning has piqued my interest. From the outset, I've had the the fence edge nearest operator flush with the table's edge. You may recall I reported that know matter how hard I tried to get it parallel to the mitre track, as soon as I clamped it down it would pull out of parallel ever so slightly. It did occur to me only yesterday that I might be obsessing needlessly over this, reasoning that so long as it is parallel going into the cut, any movement after this is irrelevant and might even aid smooth movement for the rest of the piece?

 

[Claud1]

Hi
I have a big workshop but I have no table saw and although I have been tempted to get one lots of times over the years I have come to realise that it would be of no benefit to me because of what I saw ( large thicknesses of wood ) I have had several makes of bandsaw and found most of them not suitable for doing the same in large quantities however for sawing any thickness the bandsaw is the machine to go for if you are not impatient like me. I would even go so far as to say the modern band saw will do everything a table saw will do If you take your time. (horses for courses and all that)

 

[memzey]

Your saw blade is not sharp and your fence-blade alignment appears to be out.

I told him this months ago when I was explaining that my TS which is the same model as his was plenty powerful enough.

I've just said that in a post that's disappeared into the ether, my third such today. Couldn't remember quite who said it but pointed out I knew there were others on here with the same saw that weren't having the issues and also pointed out they had a far better idea of what they're doing than I have.

It's not been used much since we last spoke. I did buy some new blades but can't get the old one off, it looks like it's been welded on! I'm sure it hasn't but there's definitely something there preventing the spanner from getting any kind of purchase on the locking nut so I've reverted to using a circular saw or jigsaw.

Your other point, about rip fence positioning has piqued my interest. From the outset, I've had the the fence edge nearest operator flush with the table's edge. You may recall I reported that know matter how hard I tried to get it parallel to the mitre track, as soon as I clamped it down it would pull out of parallel ever so slightly. It did occur to me only yesterday that I might be obsessing needlessly over this, reasoning that so long as it is parallel going into the cut, any movement after this is irrelevant and might even aid smooth movement for the rest of the piece?

Remember the arbour nut is left handed so you have to turn it clockwise to slacken off and anti-clockwise to tighten.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Remember the arbour nut is left handed so you have to turn it clockwise to slacken off and anti-clockwise to tighten.

Yes, and an easy way to remember is that you always pull the nut towards you to slacken, whether it is a LH or a RH thread.

 

[mind_the_goat]

Thought my old B&Q TS had had it's day when the blade slowed down even ripping old fence panels. However I then discovered that not only was the blade blunt, some of the teeth were missing altogether, one of the downsides of running salvaged wood through it. Changed the blade and unsurprisingly it can now cut again, it's like having a new machine, albeit a very cheap one. It serves as a reminder how important eye protection is, a piece of hot carbide in the eye would not be pleasant.

 

[lurker]

Lonsdale

The nuts on mine move easily you need a thinish spanner on the inside and I use a large adjustable on the other. As others have said the nut is LH. Mind your fingers on the teeth.
A blade change takes me less than 5 mins start to finish.

The fence should not be flush at the front as it then protrudes way past the blade. I think that's the reason the ripped wood is not parallel. It is also dangerous as it can induce kick back.

As I told you before ripping does not work well with a 60 t blade. There is a good reason why a variety are available.

Whilst I have no relationship with Charnwood, I think you slagging off their products is unfair
The saw you have costs 10% of what a pro would spend and even they would get pretty much the same issues if they ignore fundamental set up.
You will have exactly the same problems with a bandsaw as they require even more setting up