Record Power BS300 E

[aramco]

Last night I took the table off my band saw and put on a 3/4 3 tpi blade to do some re sawing, set up as normal ,then did a cut on a piece of 6 x 6 pine that came out of and old church and has been lying in a dry garage for 35 years.
The first cut was dead straight the second ran off a bit the third was worse , checked all the top end guides and the blade was in the right position ,went to check the bottom guides and the left hand side guide had snapped clean off. Has anyone else had this problem ???
My saw is just over 3 years old ,this was the first time I had used it since before Xmas, as I got really into scroll saw work.

John

 

[user 19915]

why did you take the table off to replace a blade have i missed something here ?
took the table off my band saw and put on a 3/4 3 tpi blade to do some re sawing,

 

[aramco]

The table was put back on I - sorry about that - after I installed the blade ,I remove the table as I find it easier with arthritic fingers to adjust the guides and can see what I am doing as per Alec Snodgrass'es video and it give me the opportunity to check everything and give it a spray of silicon grease keep the moving parts working as I do not tend to tilt the table at all and I can remove all the guides and clean and grease them as well
.

John

 

[custard]

Has anyone else had this problem ???

Yes. Many years ago I also had a BS300 and the same thing happened. I can't remember if it was the top or bottom guide, but the guide was mounted on an aluminium or light alloy casting which sheared off.

I seem to recall that mine was out of warranty but Record replaced it immediately F.O.C., after that it worked fine for several years until I sold the machine.

You're likely to get similar problems on any of the cheaper bandsaws. The more important questions are how many problems and how does the manufacturer/retailer deal with them?

 

[aramco]

Did you ever figure out what caused it to shear off??

Record Power have been very good at getting things sorted out in the past with my other band saws BS 12 and BS 250 and my Record power scroll saw, I have sent an email thing to them on their website but will not hear back till next week. I wouldn't a call £500 a cheap saw not the dearest also and I have upgraded my scroll saw to and Axminster trade ex30 as Record power have no immediate plans larger one supposed to be one in the pipe line I couldn't wait that long.

John

 

[custard]

Did you ever figure out what caused it to shear off??

It simply wasn't beefy enough, ideally it would have been a welded steel fabrication or something similar. That particular casting wasn't able to withstand the appropriate tension for a blade within the rated range. The replacement casting was okay, so I guess it's just illustrative of how they were flying close to the wind with their tolerances.

I wouldn't a call £500 a cheap saw

If you stand back and look at the prices for genuinely solid new bandsaws in that size range, then it's difficult to escape the conclusion that any machine under about £1000 will have had to compromise on component quality. It doesn't necessarily make cheaper bandsaws bad, in fact they offer astonishing value for money, but a buyer needs to be realistic and expect to have to replace a few things here and there.

 

[aramco]

no matter what tool one buys and every other thing in life there has always to a compromise, both on quality and price, as the old saying goes you " pays your money and takes the chance " it would be really nice if nothing breaks but eventually something has to give.

John

 

[aramco]

Hi again Just watched the updated Alex Snodgrass video and I might just have figured out what happened to my machine I think the bottom guides where set too far forward and the blade fish tailed but as the guides are so big -Dia - I would not have expected that to happen.

John

 

[pcb1962]

I've never tried anything bigger than 1/2" on my BS300E but I've often read here and elsewhere that although the specs say it can take up to a 3/4" blade the machine isn't capable of adequately tensioning a blade of that size. The OP may get better results and fewer breakages by sticking with a good 1/2" blade.

 

[aramco]

Hi pcb1962 I did get it tensioned right as per Mr Snodgrass's instructions don't really quite know what went wrong from there on. The blade came from Tuff saws which was a change from my usual supplier of stiles and bates maybe the saw did not like the blade and chucked it dummy out lol.

 

[user22161]

I remove the table as I find it easier with arthritic fingers to adjust the guides

Have you cut away some of the metalwork around the top guides for easier access? I'm not at home to photograph but there's a photo somewhere on an old thread about Record bandsaw mods.

 

[aramco]

hi GrahamF to be honest there dosnt seem to any spare material to cut off anywhere on the saw anyway I would not want to void my warranty, Record Power replied today they wanted to know which machine I have got, as their records show I have a BS 12, I did have one of them, then BS 250 now the bs 300e , the first two are good saws but where not beefy enough , and would not cut any where near the thickness of what they claimed, and it took quite a fight with senior management at Record Power to end up with the 300, should have fought a bit harder might of got the 400.

John

 

[CHJ]

…... and it give me the opportunity to check everything and give it a spray of silicon grease keep the moving parts working .....

Silcone Grease and woodwork do not make good bedfellows, if it gets on the wood and contaminates it then you could be in trouble with finishes.


Dry PTFE or Machine wax Lubrication is much safer.