Gary Murphy 1 Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 I am about to buy a bandsaw and a bit lost on the brand to go for.Admitadly I am going for the lower end ,apx £150 and several seem to be the same look wise.I have a liking for the look of the Axminster hbs205n. there is also a brand which I have forgotten exactly,schep.......? Don't know what to go for. After buying a DRAPER bench sander,disk and band sort,i will not get Draper.It arrived faulty and in my eyes very poor quality. Also can I just ask about blades,what kind of teeth count would I needed for balsa 1/8 up to 1/2 and plys 1/16 to 1/2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David P Williams Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Interested in the answers to this myself Gary, coincidentally this just appeared on the BMFA site..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flying Flea Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Hello Gary, We use the little axminster bandsaw at work and it's pretty good. You will probably find that most machines look similar, because they are mainly made in China and then re-badged. The Schepach on the other hand is of German origin, I think and again is a nice little machine. The axminster is used nearly every day and has proved to be reliable and accurate, just take your time setting it up at first and away you go.Regarding the blades, we generally use a 6mm (1/4" wide blade with 6-10 Teeth per inch, this gives a good finish and is a good general purpose blade for cutting curves and straight edges. If it's mainly just straight cuts you're after, you could go for a 12mm (1/2" wide blade. The wide blade is better for straight work and the narrower blades are better for cutting curves. Hope this helps a bit, good luck, Kieran. p.s. Make sure to keep your fingers well away from the blade when cutting and use a push stick if you do go near it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read 2 Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 A very timely thread! I've been putting off buying a bandsaw having read comments on various machines about not cutting straight, having to shim to get rid of play, lack of guides on some models etc. Really interested to see which brands people use and how they rate them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Murphy 1 Posted August 6, 2014 Author Share Posted August 6, 2014 Tony,I agree totally about the cutting probs ofsome machines.I read the reviews that are there and the first few are good then you get the 2 that have probs! I have a Proxxon table saw the smaller one,the larger was to costly for me,i don't really rate it,even though the blades and not very large in dia I find they move a fair bit,so I am not even going to look at the proxxon one. for me its axminster or the schepach. Schepach I can get from screwfix locally but axminster dealer is 35 miles away.Not going mail order route,i have had issues with larger items carrier wise. Axminster or schepach, any users ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary52 Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Gary, I bought the small Scheppach bandsaw a few years ago and after setting it up it has been very good. The rip fence and the mitre fence work well and I get straight cuts on a 1/4" blade (with the right number of teeth for the material. I agree on 6-10 tpi for general work. Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Murphy 1 Posted August 6, 2014 Author Share Posted August 6, 2014 Gary, Is there a echo here? Gary Thanks for info,think it might be the Schepach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 THIS any good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin b Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Not really Cymaz. 2 important requirements with a bandsaw. 1. As deep a throat as possible to allow for rotating the work 2. Standard size blades, for availability and low price. Most of the Chinoise machines also have a rotary sander attached, which comes in quite useful. I use a Machine Mart model, which works ok for me. You can buy expensive versions of any tools, but I always balance cost against usage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tee Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 I have a Record BS10 (£179) bench mounted. Very happy with it so far although it took a bit of setting up. Apart from the colour looks identical to the Carsmetic in Cymaz's link. Only thing I'm not too happy with is the mitre fence is a little sloppy in the groove which makes accurate angles difficult - can be about 1 degree due to play and then the plastic mitre fence is not too accurate. Cuts all I need to do. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 I would forget about a bandsaw for modelling use. They are heavy duty and will not go around tight curves. Get a scroll saw instead since they use much narrower blades which are available in a variety of sizes. I use 24 TPI which are cheap on ebay. The one I have came from B&Q and cost £100 about twelve years ago but I believe that the Axminster ones cost rather less and to boot the blade can be rotated 90 deg. which would be very useful on 36" balsa. Take a look at `Martins i/c Mustang` on the forum for a pic. of mine. Hope this helps. Martin Mc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Murphy 1 Posted August 7, 2014 Author Share Posted August 7, 2014 Martin,if a gauge/fence was fixed to the table would you be able to cut a straight line? of any good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broken Prop Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 I use a Record BS250 for roughing out or cutting from large sheets of ply. Having a larger table to support the workpiece is helpful. The fence was rubbish and I have replaced that with an aftermarket version from Axminster . I don't think a bandsaw is good for fine accurate cutting apart from straight lines with a good fence. It is a bit too powerful. I use mine as above, either finishing the piece using a disc sander or fine cutting with a power scroll saw and then sanding. My scroll saw is a Draper cheapie, not much good for 'proper' woodworking but OK for thin ply or balsa. There are sometimes good secondhand offers on EBay, which is how I bought mine. Watch out for delivery costs though. My one had to be palleted, which cost 50 quid and somewhat negated the bargain......... Good luck! Pete Edited By Peter Ward on 07/08/2014 10:29:39 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 I have thought about rigging up a fence but not bothered since cutting straight lines is quite easy by running the outside edge of a sheet along your finger. Curves are another matter and require practise since a fixed blade is quite different to using a hand saw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 I have all the tools mentioned, not the most expensive ones Titan etc, a bandsaw is very useful, fitting a fence is no big deal. I am with Kevin as it's just for hobby items I don't splash out. If it was a work tool fair enough. Bandsaw, Scrollsaw and Belt sander...sorted John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martyn K Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 I have got a 40+ year old Burgess BBS. It was my Dad's and it gets used most days. Probably the 2nd most used power tool I have. Set it up carefully, cut slowly, use a fine tooth blade band and don't expect miracles. Its great for ply and thin aluminium and plastic sheet and thick balsa. All materials cut will need a final finish so cut on the waste side of the line, not on the line. Martyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Barlow Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Posted by John Tee on 06/08/2014 20:16:53: I have a Record BS10 (£179) bench mounted. Very happy with it so far although it took a bit of setting up. Apart from the colour looks identical to the Carsmetic in Cymaz's link. Only thing I'm not too happy with is the mitre fence is a little sloppy in the groove which makes accurate angles difficult - can be about 1 degree due to play and then the plastic mitre fence is not too accurate. Cuts all I need to do. John John If the fence is a slack fit in the bed guide you can try metal shims until you get a snug but not tight fit and use cyano to glue it to the side of the slide on the fence. Cut the shims to the correct height with scissors! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Depron Daz Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 I use a Delta 28-185 bandsaw and have had it for around 10 years+. Absolutely awesome machine. One tip, no matter what bandsaw you buy, throw the kit supplied blades away and get a decent set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 Bandsaw? Essential. And has been mentioned 1/4 blade and 10 tpi. I steered away from the 3 wheel type as they were so unstable, particularly the ones with a built in sanding disc - go get a proper sanding machine 7 dust extraction. Funnily enough I have an ELU flip saw, with an 80t blade. cutting liteply (3mm) to width is a doddle and really precision! However spend some time setting it up properly. A good flat cast iron table really helps too. I did have a scroll saw. Never used it at all. Sold it on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tee Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 Chris . Thanks for that I didn't think of metal shims but did fit 1/32 ply strips sanded down which made a difference but it wasn't too successful as they didn't stick too well. Will try your suggestion. Ruined my first blade by setting the guide rollers too far forward and wore off the kerf on the blade. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toni Reynaud Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 I've had a Dremel scroll saw for the last 30 years or so. It cuts all balsa and also ply up to 1/4" no problem. The blade will rotate 90 degrees for the 36"/1M balsa, and for long straight cuts (making strip from balsa sheets) I clamp a temporary wooden guide to the table. The only problem is that the table tends to wander a little from the 90 degree setting. Works for me. Bandsaws are great for heavier work like roughing out a canopy blank from 2" pine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read 2 Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 Gary, which one did you end up getting? Do you think you made a good choise? I've put buying one off for as long as I can but need to get it sorted now. I've looked on Ebay but could easily end up with a bit of a turkey, so thinking of getting one of the Scheppach range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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