Bandsaw / general machinery recommendations?

guitargeek62

I'm window shopping atm and leaning towards one of the Record Power options given that I can get them (and spares) locally very easily. I'm happy to entertain others though, and I'm curious what size & power etc most of you lot use in your day-to-day... e.g. I can't see myself needing a 14" throat depth anytime soon, but who knows!  


*edit* Updated to include your major 'shop machinery of choice, e.g. pillar drills, planers*,  etc.


*still not convinced that I actually need one for my purposes and output, a router sled & jig should be ample!

Sporky

Budget?

Mine's an Axminster White; equivalent of the current Professional range, which are around the £2k mark. 

guitargeek62

Budget is... 'comfortable' - space is the more-limiting factor, and personal justification that whatever I'm buying will actually get used!   For comparison, I'd been eyeing up the Record Power BS350 and the (about-to-be-released) Sabre300, both of which are in the £0.8-1.3k range.

I've got a roughly 3.5*4.5m area to work within, so it's smaller than I'd like, but still enough to do what I need to do with some careful planning and workflow management. The only things I've bought so far are a couple of bits of extraction that were on offer and that I know will serve my purposes

Sporky

Might be worth a browse and ask at the UK Workshop forums, they'll be more up to date than me. RP always had a decent reputation though.

Definitely bearing guides, not blocks, and Tuffsaw blades. 

chickenbonejohn

I've got a Record Power BS300, bought 2nd hand. Having a slightly larger throat would be useful, especially for bigger stuff like cutting out a body for a solid guitar, so my feeling is get something a bit bigger than you might think you need. A bigger table and a bit more power is always handy, but having said that I'm happy with the BS300 bandsaw. I'm not mad keen on the blade guides, but I've learned to live with them. Try and keep it reasonably sawdust free, check the bearings regularly and be prepared to replace blades fairly frequently if you are doing lots of heavy work.

Revolutions

I’d go for the HM-2

Roland

It depends a lot on what you’re going to make. The advice I was given is only to buy a bandsaw when you need it for a project, and then to buy the best you can afford so that you won’t need to upgrade for future needs.

In my case I wanted a 13” cutting height so that I could cut tree trunks into slabs for body blanks. I also prepare bowl blanks for turning, often working from tree trunks, so wanted a 1.5hp saw, which I think is the most powerful saw I can run on single phase. I looked at the Record Sabre 450, but preferred the Laguna 14BX for its blade guides. Whatever you choose don’t get manufacturer’s blades. Instead look at Tuffsaws.

Like you I don’t have much space, less than 3x4m. My bandsaw, tablesaw, and planer are on 4” locking castors. My pillar drill is floor standing so that it doesn’t take up bench space. It’s top heavy, so wouldn’t be stable on castors.

 Tablesaw, planer and lathe were picked up second hand. Jet pillar drill was bought new because the only secondhand ones I could find were bench mounted. 

There also a Record Power air cleaner hanging from the roof. Dust extraction doesn't get everything, and you need to clean the air.

guitargeek62

Sporky said:

Might be worth a browse and ask at the UK Workshop forums, they'll be more up to date than me. RP always had a decent reputation though.

Definitely bearing guides, not blocks, and Tuffsaw blades. 

Good call - I hadn't actually looked for other forums, ironically!

Aye, I've heard that about bearing guides too - seems logical. I'll check out Tuffsaw too, thanks.

@chickenbonejohn - interesting, the 300 was on my list too but there's only ~£130 between that and the 350 but the 350 gets me +40mm cut depth (230mm max), larger table, and heftier motor so that feels like a worthy upgrade to me. 

@Roland - this will all mostly be for guitars, but probably with the odd furniture project too. Mostly hardwoods, and right now I'll be surprised if I'm cutting anything deeper than neck & body blanks on the whole, though I might end up resewing some caps etc so I'm allowing for a 7.5/190mm cutting depth at min. to cover off the usual sizes.  The Lagunas look great and have a fantastic rep from what I've heard, but are likely over what I'm prepared to spend for my immediate needs... ask me again in a few years!   That sounds like an impressively organized layout you have there for such a space - would you mind sharing any pics / sketches of the layout for inspiration please if possible?  I'm converting the rear ⅔ of my single-brick garage, so it's pretty much a blank canvas within those outer 

I've also got one of those RP air filters/cleaners too for the ceiling, they're a great system and pretty great value really considering how much they help.

Roland

Impressive layout it is not. Rather it’s a storage zone, where I move things around as needed. 

Far left, and mainly out of shot, is my lathe. The sharpener normally sits on the end of the lathe bed, where it’s convenient for use. It gets moved off if I’m turning a large piece. Hidden behind the dust sheet is a scroll saw. To its right is a planer/thicknesser with its face to the wall. Then the table saw. 

Far right you can just see the face of my floor standing pillar drill. Then a heavy duty workbench with vacuum and storage underneath.

Power and light are important. There are five banks of four 13amp sockets around the walls, and another two banks on the beam which supports the air cleaner. When I’m working in the middle of the floor it’s convenient to drop power cables down rather than trail them across the floor. Lighting is LED strips, plus spot lights on key areas: lathe, drill table, and work bench.

I’m currently cutting bowl blanks and firewood, so the foreground has boxes of off-cuts, and the slides I use to move heavy logs across the bandsaw table. It looks chaotic, but works well. The alternative would have been to build a workshop in my 6x9m hay barn. That would have needed insulation, upgraded electricity supply, re-wiring, heating, and security. Nice to have, but more cost and effort than I thought worthwhile. It would also have cut me off from the house when working.