Metabo bas261 bandsaw

[ColeyS1]

Some of you may remember I recently asked people's opinion of the draper bs190 bandsaw. To cut a long story short, the order got refunded due to it being discontinued.
A bit of searching and a slight increase in budget and I've chosen the Metabo bas261 as a good alternative. This is mainly gonna be used for site work, so being robust and fairly portable is a must.
It arrived today and first impressions are good.

The green wheel covers are all metal and on the whole it seems like a well put together machine. This is only gonna be a first impression review for now as I'm waiting for some tuffsaw blades to arrive.
There's also this issue

I've contacted ffx and told them about the plug and also the label on the box

This is only a small niggle, but a niggle nonetheless.

It comes with a nifty pull out stabiliser to stop the bandsaw tipping over- this will be handy for me when it's sat on the floor.

I'll add more pics and test cuts later. One thing i have noticed is the sliding mitre gauge is quite sloppy in the groove.I literally need it for ripping and potentially doing freehand small curvy stuff, so this wont be an issue for me.
I hope it's as good as I think it might be

Coley

 

[MikeJhn]

That's a continental plug where the earth pin is in the socket as opposed to the normal 16 amp plug that has all three pins, convertors/flying leads are available.

If the saw is double insultated it does not need an earth connection, therefore one of these will do: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EAGLE-Schuko- ... 3641.l6368

Mike

 

[sunnybob]

Its been a few years since I was involved, but I was sure it was illegal to sell equipment in the UK with that plug?
I would want a UK spec plug professionally fitted by the sellers to maintain warranty.

The frame is all metal, so it must be earthed.

 

[jpa]

That is indeed a normal standard euro plug, such as we use here in Finland. It also makes an earth connection via the edges of the plug / socket. Any normal EU-UK adapter should have these earth connections, the travel adapter I use when I visit the UK certainly does.

 

[ColeyS1]

I'll wait and see what ffx say. There's nothing in the advert about needing an adapter. They really need to start checking the plugs on things they send out. They did the same with a festool vac I purchased and that needed to be sent back so they could alter it.

Coley

 

[jpa]

Certainly, being sold in the UK it should certainly come with a proper UK plug. But an adapter could be a quick solution to get you started.

 

[ColeyS1]

Ffx are posting the converter lead and should be with me tomorrow or Monday.

The tuffsaw blades arrived

The only thing I can say about that, is he's an absolute superstar !! He really is downright awesome and I think he's quite humble about it. I spoke to him about my blade requirements and also the possibility of fitting a bigger one than the instruction manual suggests. His concern that with a bigger blade, I might not get the tension required. I ordered 4 blades of varying sizes, opened the box to find 5 blades ! I'm blown away by that guys quality of service. He's truly one of the good guys. What a fkin top bloke !
I'm gobsmacked tbh - with his service, his blades, his packaging the entire outfit.
Needless to say I'll be a returning customer




Coley

 

[No skills]

Could you update on it after its had some use please?
Nearly brought one last month but have spent my budget for now

 

[ColeyS1]

Could you update on it after its had some use please?
Nearly brought one last month but have spent my budget for now

Yeah of course. I've got some 90mm thick tulip wood I plan on trying when the lead arrives

Coley

 

[gwr]

I will also be watching to see how this saw is rated after some use. Thanks for posting.

 

[AES]

I'll 2nd the above thanks for posting comments Coley - from the pix alone it looks a darn sight better than the grotty little Einhell thing I bought (same/similar space constraints as you). But at least with the help of Steve Maskery's band saw DVDs + Tuffsaws blades I've got it cutting as well as possible I think.

If you don't mind saying, how much was it (roughly), and from whom did you buy it?

Like the others I'd also welcome an update on how it goes in use.

Re the plug, I agree with you about UK plugs for machines sold in UK, but if it's any consolation at all (!!), the so-called Euro-standard plug is NOT compatible with our (Swiss) system - the earth pin/socket is in the wrong place and the L & N pins are a couple of mm too big dia! So standard practice for me here is to cut that (we call it "German plug" here) off and replace it with a Swiss. BTW, whoever above said it doesn't need to be earthed is wrong, sorry - with that plug it is clearly for a 3 core cable and MUST be earthed.

Lastly, I 110% endorse your sentiments about Ian John and Tuffsaws.

Again, a very useful post, many thanks.

AES

 

[porker]

1

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[ColeyS1]

Apologies AES for not replying sooner, I've only just spotted your post. The bandsaw was £200 but they seemed to have bumped the price up another 9 quid.
Yesterday was it's first day of actually being worked quite hard. I'll keep this brief as I'd rather go in a little more detail at the weekend, when I'm back in the workshop.
First impressions- cuts 90mm thick timber with ease so longs you don't force it. Fence is good and has features I wish my larger bandsaw had. Can easily make parallel cuts over 5 ft long. It's no doubt a lump to move around, but that has its benifits when sitting on a site floor and not being bolted down.

I'll update with more detailed pics at the weekend.

Coley

 

[AES]

No problem Coley. I'm not in a rush to replace my present band saw (so SWMBO says!) and she's probably right - at least with the help of Steve Maskery's DVDs and Ian's Tuffsaws blades I've got the thing cutting as well as it possibly can I think, and basically, it's doing now what I need it to.

But at 200 odd quid your Metabo was only a few quid more than I paid for my Einhell (in Germany, it would have cost more here in Switzerland) and for that decent-sounding fence alone, it will be worth replacing mine "one of these fine wet days".

It looks like you've made a sound buy there mate, well done.

Looking forward to hearing more about it, thanks.

AES

 

[MikeJhn]

Looking again at the picture of the plug, it looks as though its a moulded type in which case it could be a continental unit, you mentioned that you had the same problem with a Festool vac, this seem to indicate that FFX import their units and do not source from the UK wholesaler, could you look at your model number on the machine to see if it has a GB designation?

Mike