TobyB
Established Member
My first bandsaw - so I can't do a lot of comparisons.
Very heavy box on the pallet - emptied out the pieces and two of us carried the saw downstairs to the basement.
Assembled there - I have screws and washers left over - but feels solid and well made - cleanly machined edges etc - better quality than some similarly priced/sized models I looked at. Heavy, but can tuck it against the wall or move it out to use it.
Table lies horizontal and square to the blade once set up. Fence is square too when lock in horizontal and vertical planes. All seems nice ...
Problems trying it out - initially didn't have a mains lead. That came in the post next day after a call to NMA. Still didn't work. A number of telephone calls later and I've fiddled with the microswitch on the door to no avail, but find the power lead is dead and after changing the fuse and cleaning a whole lot of crap off the fuse contact ... it works!
It effortlessly slices clean and straight lines down a bit of pine, with none of the wander I'd read about in various "tune your bandsaw" accounts. I cut 2 45 degree mitres in this and they are pretty accurate checking them with a mitre gauge. It sliced through an 8" thick beech log twice without any sense of drama - and I've then cut a series of 1 cm thick boards and a bowl blank without much trouble. Boards will need planing smooth, and not tied any thin veneers yet, but think I could. This is with the 12 mm 4 tpi blade supplied. I have an EPS M42 blade to try later ...
The machine is quiet - my camvac was much noisier. Had to use gaffer tape to get the adaptor to link up. Fair amount of sawdust to vacuum up off the floor and table though - don't know how much extraction to expect - this isn't much worse than my router table. The table top feels very solid and seems square and level, and the mitre guide seems to slide smoothly without slop in the slot. The tension and blade guides seemed positive to set like the books told me too.
So far - very impressed
Very heavy box on the pallet - emptied out the pieces and two of us carried the saw downstairs to the basement.
Assembled there - I have screws and washers left over - but feels solid and well made - cleanly machined edges etc - better quality than some similarly priced/sized models I looked at. Heavy, but can tuck it against the wall or move it out to use it.
Table lies horizontal and square to the blade once set up. Fence is square too when lock in horizontal and vertical planes. All seems nice ...
Problems trying it out - initially didn't have a mains lead. That came in the post next day after a call to NMA. Still didn't work. A number of telephone calls later and I've fiddled with the microswitch on the door to no avail, but find the power lead is dead and after changing the fuse and cleaning a whole lot of crap off the fuse contact ... it works!
It effortlessly slices clean and straight lines down a bit of pine, with none of the wander I'd read about in various "tune your bandsaw" accounts. I cut 2 45 degree mitres in this and they are pretty accurate checking them with a mitre gauge. It sliced through an 8" thick beech log twice without any sense of drama - and I've then cut a series of 1 cm thick boards and a bowl blank without much trouble. Boards will need planing smooth, and not tied any thin veneers yet, but think I could. This is with the 12 mm 4 tpi blade supplied. I have an EPS M42 blade to try later ...
The machine is quiet - my camvac was much noisier. Had to use gaffer tape to get the adaptor to link up. Fair amount of sawdust to vacuum up off the floor and table though - don't know how much extraction to expect - this isn't much worse than my router table. The table top feels very solid and seems square and level, and the mitre guide seems to slide smoothly without slop in the slot. The tension and blade guides seemed positive to set like the books told me too.
So far - very impressed
