My new Record BS350-X arrived yesterday afternoon

[luthier49]

Hello all

My new Record 350-X bandsaw arrived yesterday afternoon and I spent several hours assembling it. I must say I`m impressed with the build quality. I paid £498 inc VAT and £19.95 carriage. I have`nt got it setup yet, I`ll spend some time later this morning to read the manual and get it setup in the afternoon. Here`s a couple of photos. Only one thing I`m dissapointed with so far is the short length of the power cable. It`s just long enough to reach a plug where I have the machine sited, they could have made the cable a little longer though. They do supply two spanners and allan keys for assembly which is a nice touch.

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Bob

It's looking good. I hope it all goes well with the set up.

Cheers
Neil

 

[prawnking]

hi
now thats what i call a nice looking bandsaw
let us now how it performs, afer setting up dustextraction a bandsaw is next on my list

cheers

shaun

 

[luthier49]

Set the machine up yesterday afternoon. Aligned the fence square to the table front. The fence was slightly out of square in relation to the front of the table to the left. Adjustment can be made to the fence bar by extending the right fence bar fixing bolt. This pulled the fence dead square with the table. The aluminium fence extrusion was about one degree to the left out of square with the table. This is`nt acceptable for me as I use the fence when deep ripping to keep the timber in line with the blade. The only way I could see round this was to shim the block that attaches to the aluminium fence. The block is attached to the main fence assembly with two hex machine screws. I released the block and shimed the block on the left with two layers of masking tape. Reassembled and tested with a square. Spot on 90 degrees to the table. I`ll replace the tape with shim stock at a later date. I installed the free 3/4"x4tpi skip tooth blade supplied by Record. For a test cut I ripped an offcut of American Cherry which was 3/4"x3"x10" long. I cut the piece down the middle to end up with just under 3/8"x3". No problems at all. Cuts straight and true. One thing I did notice was this Record blade leaves a very rough washboard finish to the wood. Maybe a better quality blade will leave a better sawn finish. First impessions of the saw is I like it. Feels very solid and workman like. There`s absolutely no play with the mitre slide in both slots. The cast iron table has a nice polished finish. The table is tilted with a rack and pinion mechanism. The tension on the blade can be released or retensioned with a single lever. Very happy with my purchase, highly reccomend it.

 

[devonwoody]

I've just got a new type of blade from Dragon Saws Ltd, its known as an M42 bi metal blade which should be suitable for cutting hardwood and have a long life. The teeth assemble is different also from conventional blades because the pattern varies through the length of the blade, and various combinations can be obtained for different operations. This type of blade is used in the metal industry to cope with tougher conditions so it should find life easier on hardwood. First impression when looking at the blade is that it looks like a teflon coating but it appears its the metal used to cope has mentioned above and it certainly gives the impression that this blade would not easily develope a kink. The blade is 0.025 thickness which puts it in line with the other top quality blades this firm deal in.

I also think it might cope with timber that might have nasty little nails that have in the past completely ruined other blades.

Anyway as soon as the blisters on my fingers recover from an external wall preparation job I started this week I will be pleased to do a full review.