Inca Euro 205 Bandsaw photos added

[Steve Blackdog]

I have had a good day's shopping today and picked up my new baby bandsaw, a 1998 French made Inca Euro 205 bandsaw, which I saw working. Does anyone else have one? It set me back (just?) £50 with some spare blades. I think I'll be shelling out for a new 'main' blade for this.

I don't really want to mess about changing blades every ten minutes, so I'm thinking of a 6mm blade. The manual claims that this little chap is capable of eating through hard wood and will serve pros and hobbiests alike. Even though it has a throat of just 8" it can cut 5 1/2' deep under the guides. It has a direct drive 1/3 hp motor (made in Germany, fwiw!).

I want to be able to cut some curves (such as guitar router templates etc), and I will give a few bowl blanks a trim (feeding very slowly I guess). What is the best general purpose type (TPI etc) blade to get?

And Dure Edge, Axcalibur or Tuff-saws (or other!)?

My other purchase for £40 was a Record Power DMS 26 drill stand. It has seen some use, but, for half the new price, it appears to be in super condition. Any tips for maintenance and set up of these presses?

I'm all ears

Steve

 

[jimi43]

I will probably get yawned at but a Tuffsaw blade in this old crappy Burgess (and you can't get crappier than that!)...did this in Indian rosewood....

....so should be good enough for your needs...especially sitting in your beautiful INCA!

Just don't let Douglas read this...he's been after one of those for a while and £50 .....he is liable to be a tad jealous!

Good deal indeed!

Jim

 

[Gerard Scanlan]

I have a Swiss made Inca bandsaw of the same type, except for the fact that the motor is underneath the table. I don't suppose the later French ones were any less well built as Inca still made all the castings. Inca made the castings for Hasselblad camera's. There is a Hasselblad on the Moon left there by an American space expedition in the late sixties. My inca bandsaw has a 250 (hoover) watt motor from the 1960s so you would not expect it to be able to handle much and yet with a tuff saw blade it slices as straight as a die through 6 inch thick walnut, ash, oak, purpleheart really very quickly indeed. It takes 60 seconds to resaw a yard long 6 inch thick oak plank. I also have an inca circular saw but it hasn't seen much use since I got the bandsaw. I cabinet maker friend has replaced the tyres on his bandsaw with innertubes from a child's bike. He cut them open and sretched them to fit and they work like a dream. So if the tyres start to crack and you can only get hold of expensive spares this is a good alternative. I would recommend installing a big dust port in the lower half of the cover I also made one for directly under the table. It does mean butchering it a bit but I can now work dust free with the chippings extractor on. You got a bargain!

 

[Steve Blackdog]

That's very interesting information, Gerald. The motor in mine is the AB Loher (which is now part of Siemens) and it seems very well made, especially when compared to some of the Chinese motors in some of my other machines.

I removed the blade and gave the bandsaw a good inside and outside clean. I see what you mean about the dust port. The inside was caked with old saw dust, some of it hard as bullets. I think it is a while since it has been used and wasn't cleaned before it was put away. The guy selling it said he had never changed the blade - so he can't have used it that much.

The tyres were coated in packed sawdust/resin, but it cleaned off really easily. There's still plenty of life in the blade guides.

I'll be taking some pics and posting them in due course. I have joined:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/incawoodworking in the hope of contacts for spare parts if required.

All the best
Steve

How

 

[Gerard Scanlan]

I'm a member of that group too. The parts are still available from a French company. The Inca user forum has PDFs of all the instruction books for Inca machines which can be very useful!

 

[Krysstel]

I recommend you check out this thread https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/inca-bandsaw-t43150.html?hilit=inca
Loads of info there but if you wonder about anything else ask away.
Page 3 and onwards is the saw I bought a few months ago :wink:

Mark

 

[Webby]

Where do you look to find these GEMS :?

 

[Steve Blackdog]

I recommend you check out this thread https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/inca-bandsaw-t43150.html?hilit=inca
Loads of info there but if you wonder about anything else ask away.
Page 3 and onwards is the saw I bought a few months ago :wink:

Mark

Now why couldn't I find this thread when I was agonising about whether I should buy it!

I've given it a real going over and apart from everything being coated with hard packed sawdust it is top notch

 

[Steve Blackdog]

Here are a few photos - I guess you can work out what's what!

Stevee

 

[Krysstel]

Looks good.
A later model than mine, different colour and with a sensibly positioned power switch. Fence is bigger too.

Do you need to do any restoration work or is it ready to go as is ?

Mark

 

[Steve Blackdog]

The tracking is way out, but that seems to be it. I can't seem to get the blade to run in the middle of both the top and bottom wheels and I seem to have run out of adjustment.

I am wondering whether to pull out the bottom wheel a few millimetres as it is right in against the motor as far as it could go.

However, if I do that the blade will be running at a slight angle to the table. To put this into context, as it is now, if you wind the blade guard to its highest setting so the bearings and guides are perfect, and then wind the blade guard down, the blade will be some distance forward of the bearing, which can't be right!

Any views?

Steve

 

[Krysstel]

The tracking is way out, but that seems to be it. I can't seem to get the blade to run in the middle of both the top and bottom wheels and I seem to have run out of adjustment.

I am wondering whether to pull out the bottom wheel a few millimetres as it is right in against the motor as far as it could go.

However, if I do that the blade will be running at a slight angle to the table. To put this into context, as it is now, if you wind the blade guard to its highest setting so the bearings and guides are perfect, and then wind the blade guard down, the blade will be some distance forward of the bearing, which can't be right!

Any views?

Steve

I had a similar problem with mine.
If you check out that thread I linked to earlier you'll see how I solved it. My saw now tracks pretty well perfectly.

Mark

 

[Steve Blackdog]

Where do you look to find these GEMS :?

There's another one on ebay!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 632wt_1106

It may be better looked after than mine as well

and another here

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/INCA-BANDSAW- ... 500wt_1121

 

[Mark A]

Why are they all down south

 

[condeesteso]

Mark - they are all down south because that's where I am :lol:
The 205 has no fence at all, and she started it at £50... how much for a fence I wonder?
And I admit to having a bid in on the 342, but it's a gamble as the pic is rubbish and there is no detail at all, it may need considerable work.
£50 for a good complete 205 sounds brilliant - I think it is worth waiting for the best ones though the wait can be long. It appears owners tend not to sell them (Rob), and that says something.
The earlier thread is excellent, useful links and tips. I have asked to join the Yahoo group but they haven't let me in yet... is there some kind of dress code?
And I know everyone raves about the Tuffsaws blades, but I also (and still) recommend the 'meat & fish' from 'justbandsawblades'... my 1/2" is now 12 months old, has worked harder than any other blade I have (about 8 of 'em) and is a complete stunner for a mere tenner (142" too). One day I'll kill it, but I'm not sure how.

 

[bob531]

Hi , Havent been on here for a number of years but im the buyer of one of the Inca euro 205 in Steves links.
Steve how did you get on with setting up the saw. I bought mine for similar reasons to you,im a luthier and wanted a small saw for curve sawing. I have a larger 18" saw but dont enjoy swapping blades all the time.
After reading up on Inca saws ,which all seemed positive ,i must say im less than happy at the moment ,cant get the blade to track properly at all. Bottom wheel seems to be quite a way infront of the upper wheel.The blade when it came was almost off the back of the top wheel and right over the edge of the front of the lower wheel. Ive fiddled around for over an hour and cant get it tracking reasonably. The saw is vibrating alot also ,which is annoying because one of the reasons i bought it is because of the reputation for quiet ,viibration free running.
Any hints on sorting this out or what you did if anything.,would be great!! The motor on mine is a Leroy -Somer and the saws dated 1997 and a French model.
Cheers
Bob

 

[condeesteso]

Hi Bob - I think Mark's post earlier (first page here) re the previous thread will help. It did cover wheel alignment I recall. Hope you get it well-sorted.
Meanwhile, turns out Incas are like buses. there's another just popped up. I do feel prices are getting a little heady, so I won't bother bidding on the new arrival til it tops £200. Not worth all the faff otherwise :lol: :lol: :lol: .
Anyone fancy a guess on where it ends. I will go for an estimate £280 - 320. It appears Incas are en vogue at the mo.

 

[jimi43]

I think a lot of the interest may be generated by posts on the UKW though Douglas...the prices are a lot higher than they usually are and quite a few members read these posts.

Time was when one could declare an interest and other members would gladly stand down....I trust this still prevails?

Regarding the fettling of such beasts...all really depends on how the machine has been used/abused over the past few decades...these are vintage machines remember and need TLC and special fettling. Even 1997 (which is virtually new for INCAs)...is 15 years of potential lack of maintenance and setup.

When I got my first INCA I just stripped it down to the bare bones...checked wear and tolerances and then lubricated and reassembled. At this point...if I were doing a bandsaw...I would get Steve Maskery's excellent setup DVD and join the INCA newgroup on YAHOO. These are INCA nuts...and whilst a few on here are into INCAs there is far wider specialist expertise on the newsgroup.

Jim

 

[Steve Blackdog]

Hi Bob

Welcome to the forum. I think our machines are virtually twins.

I think you should do what I did and strip it right down and put it back together. I seem to have sorted out the tracking problem by patiently tinkering with it.

You can move the bottom wheel either closer to the motor or further away, by undoing the grub screw and pulling out the wheel with a 3 leg bearing puller or tapping it in with a small section of plastic piping.

If you have a crappy blade on it, you might find it very hard - I put a new(er) 3/8" blade on and it tracks much better now.

Also when you set it up, don't forget to tension the blade before you test the tracking - that seems to make a huge difference.

I put a wooden shim behind the top wheel adjuster to enable the top wheel to be adjusted further - actually, with the new blade it tracks ok without it.

So my advice is be patient and you will get there.

If you fancy posting some photos, it may help.

On balance I'm pleased with mine.

All the best

Steve

 

[woodbloke]

... the motor or further away, by undoing the grub screw and pulling out the wheel with a 3 leg bearing puller

Or use a 3' crowbar :shock: which is what I use on mine - Rob