Bandsaw and bender Review / Feedback

[cumbriasteve]

I have had a lot of help from this site so thought it was my turn to perhaps help others.
I have recently purchased 2 items and here are my views:

Clarke Bandsaw: The one that sells for around £220, First impressions was it's a box of bits, there is a fair amount of assembly and it took me just over an hour. The stand is a bit flimsy and the castings are a bit rough BUT I love it, it's brilliant and so quiet to use, mitering box section is so easy and square / solid bar is cut easily. Even the blades from Machine Mart are good and last longer than expected.

Bar Bender; I really needed one of these and was struggling to find one under £150, I did an Ebay search and there is a company selling a blue coloured one called the UB100, the company only auctions and I have seen them go for between £16 and £80, luckily I got mine for £46 and what a great bit of of kit, solid as hell and bends my stuff easily ...flat 50mm x 5mm square 10mm and round 12mm
Do an Ebay search for bar bender and you should find it, they put about 2 on each week...and no I am not linked to them, just trying to help forum members.

 

[Scamp]

I have one of those bandsaws, bought it over 15 years ago, found it to be excellent value for money. Years ago a firm that I worked for had one that we used to chuck in the back of the van for site work. The only down side is they are a bit of a pain when doing various angle cuts all the time.

I came into a bit of money and replaced mine with one of these, but without the roller tables:-

 

[cumbriasteve]

I agree the angle setting could be better, adjusting the vice manually takes time but I have plenty of that...like yours though, as they say..you pay's your money and....

A point if interest, I bought a blade from a supplier who is supposed to be 'good' for quality blades, the Machine mart £35 for 5 pack beats them hands down...perhaps I just got a bad one but doubt it.

 

[mike os]

ah.. I was going to ask for a alternative source of quality blades for just that saw... any suggestions peeps?

 

[Paul G]

I have had one of those band saws for several years.

I have added a couple of strips to stiffen the legs and mounted the wheels differently.
Also a little tank on the back with a submersible (fish tank) pump in it to pump soluable oil onto the blade.
A folded metal catch tray runs from the switch, under the exposed bit of the blade, to the tank at the rear.
I cut stainless exhaust pipe on it mostly and always buy bi-metal blades.
They cost twice as much but last five times longer.

HTH
Paul G

 

[mike os]

blades from where Paul?

 

[chunkolini]

try these guys, mates of mine
http://www.trucutbandsaws.co.uk/ just off the end of the M50, cheap and do a good job.

Chunko'.

 

[Paul G]

blades from where Paul?

Last ones came off eBay.
Do a search for M42 or Bi-metal.

Cheers
Paul G

 

[cumbriasteve]

try these guys, mates of mine
http://www.trucutbandsaws.co.uk/ just off the end of the M50, cheap and do a good job.

Chunko'.

Hi...That was where I got my blade and it lasted no time at all, for some reason half the blade lost all it's teeth and I mean all...it ended up as smooth as the back edge.

I thought it was my fault but the cheapo blade from Machine Mart I replaced it with has cut five times the amount and would still slice your fingers off.

Perhaps it was just one that missed the hardening process so won't pull them to bits unfairly and am sure they sell ok blades usually but also not keen trying again.

 

[bigbadbugga]

Hi...That was where I got my blade and it lasted no time at all, for some reason half the blade lost all it's teeth and I mean all...it ended up as smooth as the back edge.

I thought it was my fault but the cheapo blade from Machine Mart I replaced it with has cut five times the amount and would still slice your fingers off.

Perhaps it was just one that missed the hardening process so won't pull them to bits unfairly and am sure they sell ok blades usually but also not keen trying again.

I got one of those blades from 'dragon saws' before they folded, and mine too lost many teeth.

I got the pack from machine mart and am still on the first blade in the pack, I did however suggest to the MM manager that a selection pack of blades with different TPI's might be a good idea

 

[cumbriasteve]

Thats a good idea, a pack of different teeth would be good, I am amazed how good they are, the one that came with the saw lasted about 4 weeks of daily cutting, it was still cutting well when it snapped...that was my fault, a few days earlier I had dropped it and obviously damaged an area of the blade.

 

[Welderpaul]

Ours last a fair while, its usually when they are cutting heavy section that a tooth snags and snaps off - big flat bar is worst. As soon as it has lost a couple of teeth it is amazing how quickly it starts to cut wonky.
Of course, trying to cut hardened steel also strips the teeth fairly quickly

 

[cumbriasteve]

I find cutting the flat bar edge on works well and am getting square cuts, saying that I am only talking about mild steel 75mm x 10 mm

I was told it's because the blade has less contact time with the steel as it passes and does not build up heat the same, as long as 3 teeth are in contact of course

 

[Mikey D]

Definatly go for the M42 blades , i got vari pitch ones on my clarke saw .

one of the ex dragon saws guys started up again sales@tuffsaws was his e mail .
cheers mike

 

[mike os]

and for stainless?

 

[Rick]

I only use Bimetal or M42, machine mart blades don't last me any time at all, even with little pressure and coolant running.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Strange how we get different opinions on the MM blades, I agree Bimetal and M42 will probably be the better blade but the MM one I have in now has cut a huge amount of 20mm box and various flat and round mild bars over the last 3 weeks, over £2000 of work value and is still going through it as good as day 1...and all for £7.

I am unsure about coolant as well, I used to check the balde occasionaly and only ever noticed it slightly warm, certainly never hot, suppose there is some lubricant benefit which may prolong the life of the blade.

 

[Mikey D]

personally i use a chopsaw for stainless, ask your chosen supplier what he recommends for stainless...

cheers mike