Brent Grooms
Member
- Messages
- 46
Well, I got power over the last weekend and finished assembly and tuning last night so I figured I could share my observations.
Overall, I am very pleased with this purchase. It should do everything I can concieve of needing to do at this moment. Very robust and sturdy design. It is not a Mini-Max or Laguna etc. but I don't think it was intended to be. I would like to have access to the Grizzly/ Rikon/ Jet and Delta offerings of this size to make further comparisons. (if you have one and would like to have hands on access as well, give me a shout)
Assembly was very straight forward, there are a couple of details that could have been mentioned in the manual. (had I taken pictures/paid more attention at the show it would have helped) Specifically the orientation of the angle iron for the rear fence support and that the "goo" on the trunion mounts for the table was actually assembly grease (to save you from having to do it when installing the table). Actually, assembly consists of... uncrate everything, install the table, install the fence and rails and go thru set-up adjustments.
I did find two things that are annoying and will be calling after the holiday about... 1. blade clearance insert. This has to be modified (at least on the one shipped with mine) to clear the blade.
Thankfully, I put it in and was turning the wheels by hand and heard the set of the teeth making contact with it before I started it.
The next I didn't notice until I had been running it for a while and smelled something like a burnt belt. I opened the lower cabinet and saw some black 'soot' at the bottom... did some checking and found the culprit...
The wheel brush was smashed down against the tire. I broke out the wrenches to adjust it... one slight problem... it was already adjusted to the limit. For the time being I am going to live with it but it will be mentioned.
One more review, comment... I ordered a number of blades from suffolk (timberwolf) I installed one of the 1in blades (ordered 2 one of them as a spare)that I ordered. Setup as instructed (flutter test etc...) and the first 1in blade that I tried I could not get to settle down and run smooth. I was cranking on the tension to the point of hearing the motor change pitch. Backed off the tension some, shut it down switched blades and this one had no issue fluttering and getting back to stabil. I can still hear the weld as it hits the tires but it isnt nearly like the first blade. I am assuming there is a bad weld on the first blade that I tried resulting in unstability and noise? If this is the case... might suggest ordering in pairs in the future...
I still have a lot of learning to do with bandsaws and this bandsaw but with anything... it takes time. I have no doubt that this was the right decision for me at this point. Some minor annoyances but I am assuming that I would have critisizms of any bandsaw that I purchased.
Overall, I am very pleased with this purchase. It should do everything I can concieve of needing to do at this moment. Very robust and sturdy design. It is not a Mini-Max or Laguna etc. but I don't think it was intended to be. I would like to have access to the Grizzly/ Rikon/ Jet and Delta offerings of this size to make further comparisons. (if you have one and would like to have hands on access as well, give me a shout)
Assembly was very straight forward, there are a couple of details that could have been mentioned in the manual. (had I taken pictures/paid more attention at the show it would have helped) Specifically the orientation of the angle iron for the rear fence support and that the "goo" on the trunion mounts for the table was actually assembly grease (to save you from having to do it when installing the table). Actually, assembly consists of... uncrate everything, install the table, install the fence and rails and go thru set-up adjustments.
I did find two things that are annoying and will be calling after the holiday about... 1. blade clearance insert. This has to be modified (at least on the one shipped with mine) to clear the blade.
Thankfully, I put it in and was turning the wheels by hand and heard the set of the teeth making contact with it before I started it.
The next I didn't notice until I had been running it for a while and smelled something like a burnt belt. I opened the lower cabinet and saw some black 'soot' at the bottom... did some checking and found the culprit...
The wheel brush was smashed down against the tire. I broke out the wrenches to adjust it... one slight problem... it was already adjusted to the limit. For the time being I am going to live with it but it will be mentioned.
One more review, comment... I ordered a number of blades from suffolk (timberwolf) I installed one of the 1in blades (ordered 2 one of them as a spare)that I ordered. Setup as instructed (flutter test etc...) and the first 1in blade that I tried I could not get to settle down and run smooth. I was cranking on the tension to the point of hearing the motor change pitch. Backed off the tension some, shut it down switched blades and this one had no issue fluttering and getting back to stabil. I can still hear the weld as it hits the tires but it isnt nearly like the first blade. I am assuming there is a bad weld on the first blade that I tried resulting in unstability and noise? If this is the case... might suggest ordering in pairs in the future...
I still have a lot of learning to do with bandsaws and this bandsaw but with anything... it takes time. I have no doubt that this was the right decision for me at this point. Some minor annoyances but I am assuming that I would have critisizms of any bandsaw that I purchased.