gidon
Established Member
[Edit: pics now finally here. Review may seem a little disjointed because the images were originally inline.]
I've been after a bandsaw for years but could never make up my mind what I wanted / needed. I wanted something with a decent resaw capacity, but I don't have space for anything really large. This new bandsaw from Record fit the bill, with over 9" under the guides and enough horsepower to match this capacity (2hp). There aren't many machines in this category - and the Record has a deal on it at the moment where you get a free dust extractor. So (as I've mentioned in another thread) I managed to get it at the Yandles show last week for £385 (they took the price of the extractor off since I already had one!) RRP is £499 and the cheapest I've seen it on the web is £480, so this was a very good price.
This saw is similiar to the popular RSBS14, which it is slowly replacing. It has a few improvements: a larger motor, larger cutting capacity, strengthened frame (and an extra shelf for stiffness in the cabinet), strengthened bandwheels and a 5 year guarentee.
Anyhow enough preamble, for the full spec see here. The machine is heavy - 100kg - I had to unpack it in the car before carrying each bit seperately up to the shed at the back of my garden. First impressions of the build were very good. Nice powder finish and very sturdy construction.
Assembly was fairly straightforward, and the instructions clear enough (you can download the instructions from the above link). Maybe took an hour to completely assemble.
The cast iron table has a nice finish, although the slots could do with a gentle file. The fence is good, locks firmly in place and can be adjusted parallel to the slots or for blade drift by adjusting two allen head screws. The measuring tape can be adjusted for zero - although I had to file the adjustment hole slightly to get zero on my machine.
The mitre gauge is quite sloppy but I sliced some very thin oak and stuck it on with double sided tape. I then sanded down to a tight fit.
The supplied blade is a 3/8 3 tpi skip tooth blade (I think). It's not awful, but on recommedations from this group I bought two blades from Dure Edge: a 1/2" 6 tpi for general use and a 3/4" 3 tpi for resawing. Installing the new blade was quite easy. The bandsaw has a quick release tension lever.
Slacken this off, slide the fence rail off after loosening the four thumb screws, and the blade comes out and in fairly easily. Although, a little tricky squeezing it past the hinges of the doors.
Tightening up the quick release lever, you set the tension suggested via the indicator. Although I had to tighten a little further for the 1/2" blade.
Cutting with this blade was a dream. The top guides and bottom guides are European style.
The top guides have easy-to-adjust thumb wheels. The bottom guides need an allen key though. As do the thrust bearings. Not difficult though. There is a slight problem with my upper guides in that they go out of parallel with the blade as you slide them in and out - makes adjustment a little tricky. I have asked Record to send me some new ones.
The frame of the bandsaw is very sturdy, with folded steel on the main column. The bandsaw is covered by a 5 year guarentee, although this doesn't cover the electrics - only six months (I've confirmed this with Record). Apparently this is because the motor manufacturer doesn't believe that some of these machines won't be used day in day out for trade. Record also say it's unlikely they wouldn't replace electric parts if there are problems in the first year. Although they seem confident that any problems with the motor come up in the first week of use, otherwise the motors should last a lifetime (their words, not mine!).
In use I really can't fault this bandsaw. It's very quiet, with no vibration. It has plenty of power behind it. I resawed 8" wide oak with the 3/4" blade with little difficulty (and the cut was flat across its width)! And with the 1/2" 6 tpi blade I resawed some 5" oak, beech and mahogany with ease. And very accurately too, with a nice finish. Hope this blade will handle most of my likely tasks.
The rack and pinion rise and fall mechanism works perfectly. And tracks the blade perfectly too - no need to re-adjust guides as you raise and lower the guides. And the rack and pinion table tilt is also very smooth and can be set accurately easily.
GWW reviewed the smaller version of this machine (BS300) and it came off very well too. For the price I paid, I think this machine is excellent value. And I would have happily paid the RRP for it too.
Sorry if this doesn't read very well, this is the last time I write something like this in front of the TV!
Feel free to ask me any questions about the saw.
Cheers
Gidon
I've been after a bandsaw for years but could never make up my mind what I wanted / needed. I wanted something with a decent resaw capacity, but I don't have space for anything really large. This new bandsaw from Record fit the bill, with over 9" under the guides and enough horsepower to match this capacity (2hp). There aren't many machines in this category - and the Record has a deal on it at the moment where you get a free dust extractor. So (as I've mentioned in another thread) I managed to get it at the Yandles show last week for £385 (they took the price of the extractor off since I already had one!) RRP is £499 and the cheapest I've seen it on the web is £480, so this was a very good price.
This saw is similiar to the popular RSBS14, which it is slowly replacing. It has a few improvements: a larger motor, larger cutting capacity, strengthened frame (and an extra shelf for stiffness in the cabinet), strengthened bandwheels and a 5 year guarentee.
Anyhow enough preamble, for the full spec see here. The machine is heavy - 100kg - I had to unpack it in the car before carrying each bit seperately up to the shed at the back of my garden. First impressions of the build were very good. Nice powder finish and very sturdy construction.
Assembly was fairly straightforward, and the instructions clear enough (you can download the instructions from the above link). Maybe took an hour to completely assemble.
The cast iron table has a nice finish, although the slots could do with a gentle file. The fence is good, locks firmly in place and can be adjusted parallel to the slots or for blade drift by adjusting two allen head screws. The measuring tape can be adjusted for zero - although I had to file the adjustment hole slightly to get zero on my machine.
The mitre gauge is quite sloppy but I sliced some very thin oak and stuck it on with double sided tape. I then sanded down to a tight fit.
The supplied blade is a 3/8 3 tpi skip tooth blade (I think). It's not awful, but on recommedations from this group I bought two blades from Dure Edge: a 1/2" 6 tpi for general use and a 3/4" 3 tpi for resawing. Installing the new blade was quite easy. The bandsaw has a quick release tension lever.
Slacken this off, slide the fence rail off after loosening the four thumb screws, and the blade comes out and in fairly easily. Although, a little tricky squeezing it past the hinges of the doors.
Tightening up the quick release lever, you set the tension suggested via the indicator. Although I had to tighten a little further for the 1/2" blade.
Cutting with this blade was a dream. The top guides and bottom guides are European style.
The top guides have easy-to-adjust thumb wheels. The bottom guides need an allen key though. As do the thrust bearings. Not difficult though. There is a slight problem with my upper guides in that they go out of parallel with the blade as you slide them in and out - makes adjustment a little tricky. I have asked Record to send me some new ones.
The frame of the bandsaw is very sturdy, with folded steel on the main column. The bandsaw is covered by a 5 year guarentee, although this doesn't cover the electrics - only six months (I've confirmed this with Record). Apparently this is because the motor manufacturer doesn't believe that some of these machines won't be used day in day out for trade. Record also say it's unlikely they wouldn't replace electric parts if there are problems in the first year. Although they seem confident that any problems with the motor come up in the first week of use, otherwise the motors should last a lifetime (their words, not mine!).
In use I really can't fault this bandsaw. It's very quiet, with no vibration. It has plenty of power behind it. I resawed 8" wide oak with the 3/4" blade with little difficulty (and the cut was flat across its width)! And with the 1/2" 6 tpi blade I resawed some 5" oak, beech and mahogany with ease. And very accurately too, with a nice finish. Hope this blade will handle most of my likely tasks.
The rack and pinion rise and fall mechanism works perfectly. And tracks the blade perfectly too - no need to re-adjust guides as you raise and lower the guides. And the rack and pinion table tilt is also very smooth and can be set accurately easily.
GWW reviewed the smaller version of this machine (BS300) and it came off very well too. For the price I paid, I think this machine is excellent value. And I would have happily paid the RRP for it too.
Sorry if this doesn't read very well, this is the last time I write something like this in front of the TV!
Feel free to ask me any questions about the saw.
Cheers
Gidon
