New bandsaw

[Pierre]

My old Kity 673 bandsaw is beginning to break up with overwork, I regularly have to make new inserts out of plywood when the grapevine catches with a void etc the blade guard has come adrift from the blade guides and the blade guides are no longer available but are worn, so I am searching around for a safer more reliable option and I came across this as a potential buy.

Clarke CBS300 305mm Professional Bandsaw & Stand

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-cbs300-305mm-professional-bandsaw-sta/

The question is does anyone have experience of these machines and their reliability build quality etc. And of Machine Mart in general?

My other option is this Axminster Hobby Series HBS310N Bandsaw - Wood Cutting Bandsaws - Bandsaws - Saws - Machinery | Axminster Tools & Machinery but having had a look at it, I note that the last reviewer on their site had it all right ie the glass viewport for the dimension scale interferes with the wood as it slides through and getting the bearings to close and align is difficult!! The next model up is stretching my budget a bit far.

Thanks in advance.

PG

 

[rayf6604]

I work by Machine Marts head office in Nottingham and the number of pallets of returns of Clark machinery I see being loaded onto trucks week in week out I wouldn't touch a Clark machine with a barge pole.

Sent from my SM-G928F using Tapatalk

 

[wm460]

They do have an interesting fence on them.

 

[Dalboy]

I have the older Axminster one of this model. Yes I found the sight glass screws hit the wood at first but all I did was adjust the fence guide slightly and no problems as I had fitted it to high so that is not a problem with the machine. Like most bandsaws they need a little adjustments when first fitting/changing a blade but is well worth the trouble setting up it is not as though you need to change the blade every 5 minutes.

Out of the two you mentioned I would definitely go for the Axminster one.

Clarkes use to be terrible if you needed parts as well took the company 9 months to get a screw in plug for a water pump and we were agents for them when I was still at work that was

 

[Pierre]

Thanks both of you it look like the Axminster one may be the one but when I looked at it there was no slack to adjust downwards ie if the bar was adjusted downwards then the fence did not fit so the only solution would be to remove the magnifier glass which then defeats the whole object for someone like me who needs glasses!!

The problem is that being where I am, major guarantee work is a problem, small stuff is easy and whilst Axminster does have an excellent after sales service sending large things like lathes and bandsaws back is a nightmare.

PG

 

[Bammer]

I visit a Machine mart quite often, only a block from me. I looked at this very machine last week while just having a mooch round. I didn't like the way the fence locked on only one side so dismissed it straight away. I think in general clarkes at at the lower end of the market. But Machine Mart are invaluable to pop in. I have purchased a log splitter from there and it does what it's supposed to.
If you ever need shelving for the worship theirs are great, easy to assemble and take 350kg per shelf

 

[Grump]

As with many things, same product under a different badge, I know Scheppach did the same model and probably others did too.

I would say rebuild what you have, spares must be available if under another name init?

 

[Walter]

Is the Kity not the same as the Scheppach 3H which is still manufactured? Might parts be interchangeable? Certainly looks pretty similar.

Parts list and drawing here for reference.

 

[Penpal]

Pierre thats a grand in our money what happened to wheel sizes being the go for bandsaws? another important feature. The blade length seems long so blade life good everything is so expensive in the UK. Our govt is looking to pick up our slack with extra charges, rates and so forth envious of the UK charges.

Peter.

 

[wm460]

The problem is that being where I am, major guarantee work is a problem, small stuff is easy and whilst Axminster does have an excellent after sales service sending large things like lathes and bandsaws back is a nightmare.

PG

I feel for you, I know what that is like being over 2500km from the nearest dealer.

 

[Pierre]

bandsaw

Thanks Walter and Grump (Init) ,

I have already had a chat with Scheppach and KITY France, in actual fact some of the parts still exist but not all and not in the right bits to repair my bandsaw, sadly some of the old parts were those that failed the most and so broke the '100 off ' list that they used, which is in part why KITY got bought out by Scheppach (I managed to find one of the old warehousemen from KITY now employed by Scheppach) and spoke to him in his native language he was not very complementary about KITY. The fundamental problem about the KITY is that the insert casting was flimsy and the 'bronze'. blade guides were base metal so over all a bit of a con. The variable speed motor system was a dream but the rest was cheap other country.

So with that in mind I am in the market for a new reasonable quality machine. I don't have room for one of the old 1950s cast iron, 'can't be broke' things at 100€; I have the option of 3 of those locally but they are massive ie 2.5 metres high and tables 1 metre by 1 metre but I would need a crane to lift them and one of them has a 3HP motor which you have to bolt to the floor a metre away from the machine (no guards for the belt drive and certainly no guards anywhere else (but it can eat an oak tree!!)

If I really push the boat out and the kids repay some of their student loan and 30 years upbringing I might get 50 quid at Xmas which will help me towards the higher priced Axminster, The only problem with that is that I also need a decent pillar drill and 'Dragon Ops' won't stand for 2 good tools.

I had a sneaky feeling that the Clarke was too good to be true and the old adage you get what you pays for probably stands, or it was Grumps that invented it (INIT)

PG

 

[Grump]

Understand where you're coming from Pierre but I am still a make do and mend merchant, adapt, adopt, convert, pervert whatever.
Somebody sent me a set of their old blade guides and I have since gotten rid of that saw so they are begging if you want them, I'll see if I can find them tomorrow and post a pic.
Assuming I can get to my shed without being assaulted by our rubbish bins or a loony tart.
You may be able to adapt them with the aid of a bit of square tube or some such gizmo init?
I now have 3 old Emco Star mosheens and am over the moon with the construct quality of them infinity pervertable with a bastard and spanner.

 

[Pierre]

I feel for you, I know what that is like being over 2500km from the nearest dealer.

Hi Mark I had a look at your village on google earth and then I zoomed out!! When you showed your thermometer reading I thought that you had forgotten that you were upside down where you live in Australia and it really read 19 C. BUT on the zoom out you really are in the lost and forgotten.... I mean that there isn't even any grass for fresh milk Not even vineyards for wine. You are going to have to educate me as to what happens in Tennants Creek; Like you must know everyone..... even my own villages either side have more houses and I thought I was in deepest darkest France!!

Seriously, I only went to Australia once and then for 72 hours in 1969 so I do not have a clue, I have a cousin in Sydney and friends in Canberra but none have tried to describe their place or even the reason that their place exists.

What is life like where you are ? apart from hot.

Lets make it a separate topic and I will try to describe my area

PG

 

[Pierre]

Understand where you're coming from Pierre but I am still a make do and mend merchant, adapt, adopt, convert, pervert whatever.
Somebody sent me a set of their old blade guides and I have since gotten rid of that saw so they are begging if you want them, I'll see if I can find them tomorrow and post a pic.
Assuming I can get to my shed without being assaulted by our rubbish bins or a loony tart.
You may be able to adapt them with the aid of a bit of square tube or some such gizmo init?
I now have 3 old Emco Star mosheens and am over the moon with the construct quality of them infinity pervertable with a bastard and spanner.

Thanks Brian and I really appreciate the offer BUT, 2 reasons for a gentle refusal,

A. Kitys blade guide holders aren't standard, I have 3 sets that don't fit!! and
B. I have done rebuilds, my first 5 cars were that, a mini van, a spitfire, an MGB, an MGC and an Austin Marina with caravan springs.... then I got the taste for new and flash so I have reverted to teddy boy in my old age (collect my pension next month).

So I am determined this year (maybe next) to have a machine with new paint and nobody else's finger prints as well as few faults as possible.. This time my bowl blanks are going to rock and not roll!!

PG

PS but don't let that refusal stop you from sending me some beautiful spalted wood or some fantastic pieces that you can't use because some neighbours dog or cat peed on it, I have the ultimate smell remover here called loads of fresh country air and neighbours a long way away.

 

[Grump]

Polite refusal accepted Pierre, yep built / rebuilt a few ol shitboxes meself, funny enuf I had a customer in Hitchin a few weeks ago who had one of my ol kit cars in his garage.
Brought back some memories and had a goodly chat with him, he is too old to drive it now but his son comes up from the smoke and gives it a run now and then.

A for spalted wood mate, no chance init, in my garden it spalts one day and dissolves into the ground the next.

 

[qquake2k]

The Axminster bandsaw looks a lot like a Rikon sold here in the states. I have a few years old Rikon, and I really like it. Haven't had any problems with it.

RIKON Power Tools

 

[wm460]

Hi Mark I had a look at your village on google earth and then I zoomed out!! When you showed your thermometer reading I thought that you had forgotten that you were upside down where you live in Australia and it really read 19 C. BUT on the zoom out you really are in the lost and forgotten.... I mean that there isn't even any grass for fresh milk Not even vineyards for wine. You are going to have to educate me as to what happens in Tennants Creek; Like you must know everyone..... even my own villages either side have more houses and I thought I was in deepest darkest France!!

Seriously, I only went to Australia once and then for 72 hours in 1969 so I do not have a clue, I have a cousin in Sydney and friends in Canberra but none have tried to describe their place or even the reason that their place exists.

What is life like where you are ? apart from hot.

Lets make it a separate topic and I will try to describe my area

PG

I will do this soon once I sort out all my photos just found a couple of lost memory cards.

 

[Pierre]

So having almost decided to go Axminster I then saw this!!

Charnwood W730 350mm Bandsaw http://www.snaintonwoodworking.com/index.php/machinery/band-saws/charnwood-bandsaw.html , so the question continues does anyone have experience with this and is it a serious contender?

PG

 

[Phil Dart]

Call me a cynic, but did you say Charnwood? I thought you were looking for a reasonable bandsaw.

 

[Penpal]

Thats a thousand of our bucks I would seek out better value also Pierre.

Peter.