Startrite 301 upper guide advice

[EddyCurrent]

I'm not trying to be 'clever', argumentative or otherwise but . . .
Jimmy wants to sell spares. Personally I'm not reacting to anything he says, it's a bandsaw we are talking about, not the pinnacle of mechanical and electrical engineering. I trust that I've been about long enough, seen enough and been trained enough to determine what's right for me and nothing that Jimmy says will deter me. Everyone else can make up their own minds on this.

 

[Lons]

I'm not trying to be 'clever', argumentative or otherwise but . . .
Jimmy wants to sell spares. Personally I'm not reacting to anything he says, it's a bandsaw we are talking about, not the pinnacle of mechanical and electrical engineering. I trust that I've been about long enough, seen enough and been trained enough to determine what's right for me and nothing that Jimmy says will deter me. Everyone else can make up their own minds on this.

Nothing wrong either about wanting to sell spares and make a profit Eddy but I agree with you 100%. We're not kids "making bird tables in a garage", some of us have owned and used bandsaws for 50 years and still own all our fingers.

 

[JimmyStartrite]

Startrite machines are for industrial use, most users are businesses, machine spares stock the original spares, dispatched for next day, because most users have a breakdown and need to get production back up and running, if you want to spend hours mooching round the web then weeks for delivery to save a few quid in parts then your time is obviously not as precious as most in business!

I agree that you can use anything you want as long as it can take the stress, ceramic etc but still don't recommend it, if users are experiencing tip breakages there maybe an underlying problem with the machine, bad tracking, band wheel rubber damage etc etc, the force or heat generated to take the tip off could do a lot more damage to the machine if it were solid, this is all from an experienced perspective, the things I've seen done to machines is mind boggling!

Also, and I cant stress this enough, if you are a registered business and one of your staff has an accident operating the machine and H&S find out its been modified they will have kittens, if its for private use at home and only you operate it, they don't care, you don't even need guards if I remember right, but then you don't really need an industrial bandsaw!

See the quandary?
If you have the rolls royce of bandsaws dont expect to pay kia prices for parts!

I'm retired now, but if I had a penny for every wood worker who said "how much" for a part or service i'd be richer than Jeff Bezo's because this amazon, mic mindset has permeated services, everyone knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing. my opinion it seems is worthless here, despite being an authority through osmosis.

 

[Lons]

OK Jimmy, I'm not going to argue with you over what is apart from those rods a simple bombproof, solid machine, yes they're industrial made for continuous heavy use, all the more reason why the tips shouldn't drop off, the point we disagree on, and the fact that I stocked and sold those parts in my branch so my customers could keep their machines going is enough for me. Others reading this thread can form their own opinions.

I assure you however that for my part and given my own 50 years experience along with that of many other woodworking and engineering machines, my 352 is set up as well as it's possible to do so within the limitations of the machine and I stand by my opinion that part in question isn't up to the job. I think you're also missing the fact that a number of those users including myself in my own business are well aware of the issues around H&S and they aren't "making bird tables in a garage" and btw it is possible to get chinese manufactured rods from supplies in the UK without waiting weeks and as far as the thrust rods are concerned, as you well know the saw will run without the tips being present so it isn't exactly a full on breakdown needing immediate spare parts.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one Jimmy, I'm not going to progress the argument further as it's run it's course.

I apologise to the OP Paul for my part is his valid post being turned into an argument thread.

 

[Lons]

If you have the rolls royce of bandsaws dont expect to pay kia prices for parts!

This I just have to respond to however. You're having a laugh. I don't own a RR or a KIA but I believe the latter are very good cars these days btw.

I have a Mercedes, great car and very happy with it but servicing costs are twice what they are compared with facilities available from local companies with specialist highly trained staff. Oil charged at retail by the litre cans though they buy it in bulk and 2x the price in Halfrods. Parts bought in from other manufacturers and similarly priced, does that make them better quality? absolutely not.

Here's another example. Towbar fitted to my last Audi A6, quote from Audi dealer £1126, retail cost of the identical Westfalia bar they fit was £456 and the whole lot was fitted by a specialist towbar company in my drive for £650 using the same coding equipment as the MB dealer, it would have been cheaper had I taken it to the workshop.

I have been gifted a bike carrier by my neighbour. He bought it through the main dealer with his new Audi a couple of years ago but never used it, heavy duty fits to the towball it is again branded Westfalia but has the Audi logo on the bag in place of the manufacturers, he paid £700 which is what they still sell them for, the identical branded carrier but in the Westfalia branded bag retails for less than £450. Tells it's own story.

Again people will have their own views.

 

[JimmyStartrite]

you could of made 8 bird tables in the time you are taking to justify you are not the expert here!

 

[Lons]

you could of made 8 bird tables in the time you are taking to justify you are not the expert here!

Have a nice day Jimmy.

 

[Lons]

you could of made 8 bird tables in the time you are taking to justify you are not the expert here!

The only person on this thread who has said he is an expert has clearly got the hump that a few amateurs have the audacity to question his opinion.

 

[LarryS.]

All,

Thank-you for the advice that is obviously borne out of a lot of experience and expertise, as a result the bandsaw is now up and running and was in use today, I think i screwed the blade so have just sent an email to tuffsaws for a replacement

paul

 

[Lons]

All,

Thank-you for the advice that is obviously borne out of a lot of experience and expertise, as a result the bandsaw is now up and running and was in use today, I think i screwed the blade so have just sent an email to tuffsaws for a replacement

paul

Might be worth ringing him Paul, I'm a big fan of Tuffsaws but I read that he was having supply options, hopefully now sorted and you get your blade. He's the only supplier I've bought from for a number of years now.

 

[EddyCurrent]

Paul,

Good to hear the bandsaw is running.
So the washer arrived and worked as expected ?

 

[LarryS.]

Yes washer working (thanks Lons) which got the couple of emergency cuts done (to finish off a wall cladding), just got to sort out the replacement for the socket handle that it's holding and a couple of blades. Ian(tuffsaws) has come back to me and apparently there are two blade lengths listed for the saw so i'vegot to measure what I have - just need to find a fabric tape which seems to have gone missing - or a piece of string

 

[Lons]

Yes washer working (thanks Lons) which got the couple of emergency cuts done (to finish off a wall cladding), just got to sort out the replacement for the socket handle that it's holding and a couple of blades. Ian(tuffsaws) has come back to me and apparently there are two blade lengths listed for the saw so i'vegot to measure what I have - just need to find a fabric tape which seems to have gone missing - or a piece of string

Hi Paul
It wasn't me who posted you the washer so thanks to the wrong person in this case, didn't Eddy send it?

Things are looking promising though so hopefully it will be in good working order soon. What I suspect is that the previous owner has lost the upper thrust rod and the nearest thing he had in diameter was the handle, I can't see in the photos but if this has a groove or grooves cut into the end then that's most likely to be exactly what's happened, if there's a threaded hole then he's possibly had a sacrificial bit fixed on at some time. Whatever, it does need sorting as whilst imo it's no more dangerous than using an original mild steel rod where the tip has come off it's a bodge and not clever.

 

[LarryS.]

Hi Lons yes it was Eddy (thanks again), that’s the danger of responding to messages on my phone whilst watching tv

 

[Lons]

Well my missus keeps saying men can't multitask. She still hasn't worked how I can be on my laptop, watch TV, read and take a nap all at the same time.