Recommend me a 240v vertical bandsaw

[AgentWayward]

Been looking around, would like a nice startrite, but a bit pricey.

The Clarke one looks terrible, the stand is atrocious but the saw itself might be ok.

Any ideas? Looking to spend less than £300.

 

[bigegg]

Metal or wood?
Size?

 

[tab]

I have a clarke one and your right, the stand is terrible BUT it just means i have another project as for the actual saw, with a better blade and a bit of tweaking for everything i have thrown at it its served me well and i really cant complain!

 

[AgentWayward]

For use with metal. Cutting up maximum of 8mm plate and for cutting tube / steel stock.

Considering the Clarke / Draper one, could easily make a new stand.

 

[AgentWayward]

Cheers! Do you use it vertically much? How good would it be for cutting 8mm plate? (not all day obviously, but occasionally)

 

[astro_al]

There are often small startrite bandsaws on ebay that fit your description and are 100 x better than one of those horrid clarke 'tools' (which I also had, many moons ago).

Don't waste your money, save it and get a real tool.

Al.

 

[AgentWayward]

There are often small startrite bandsaws on ebay that fit your description and are 100 x better than one of those horrid clarke 'tools' (which I also had, many moons ago).

Don't waste your money, save it and get a real tool.

Al.

I agree, but not seen a metal startrite for sale at a decent price yet.

Lots of wood ones though.

 

[astro_al]

There's a few on ebay right now, and there always is.

Don't get hung up on fifty quid one way or the other. I promise you'll be looking to sell & upgrade the Clarke before long. You're actually saving money. Consider a motor swap from 3 phase to save cash.

Al.

 

[tab]

Cheers! Do you use it vertically much? How good would it be for cutting 8mm plate? (not all day obviously, but occasionally)

Not really had the need to use it in verticle position yet, i often cut 1" stainless round bar on it, with standard blade it took quite a while but with the new blade doesn't take long at all really. Closest i've cut to 8mm plate is probably some 50x50x5 mild steel angle, again with new blade no problem at all and not that long to cut it so i'm sure you'd be fine cutting 8mm. Dont get me wrong i'm not saying its the best thing ever but for my hobby use i find it well worth the money.

 

[garethp]

I've got a clarke and its fine although i've never used it the vertical mode, the table was missing when I got it.

From what I've read the vertical mode/table isnt very good as the saw was designed to use horizontally, the vertical mode looks like an afterthought.

 

[AgentWayward]

There's a few on ebay right now, and there always is.

Don't get hung up on fifty quid one way or the other. I promise you'll be looking to sell & upgrade the Clarke before long. You're actually saving money. Consider a motor swap from 3 phase to save cash.

Al.

Good advice, how much do you think I might get a suitable 240v motor for?
£50?

 

[AgentWayward]

Couple of monster old Startrites on ebay, 3 phase. Would fitting an inverter to one of these be a plan?

No experience of inverters.

 

[astro_al]

It would.

So would a motor swap. The motors are really simple to replace, I would do that. You could even gear it down a bit at the same time if you wanted to cut steel with it (if required).

The upshot is, you can do it in numerous ways. Probably best to get the thing then give it a good look over and see what you think.

Al.

 

[AgentWayward]

its a startrite sabre. beast of a machine.
what's the pros and cons re motor swap or inverter?
its a multi speed machine as it is. been used for steel at the moment.

 

[AgentWayward]

So, I got the bandsaw. It's a beast!

Beautifully made and in great condition, however, it has a very old fashioned 3ph motor which isn't dual voltage, so needs an expensive dual stage inverter which is about £350.

Either that or a replacement motor, new 1.5hp motor is about £290 as it's a low speed unit and has a 5/8" shaft.

Tempted by the inverter as it will give me a brake and variable speed (no belt changes) and I get to keep the original, monster motor which will never die.

The saw has a 2 speed gearbox, so 10 speeds. The original motor runs at 700rpm, replacements run at 1400 rpm minimum, so would lose the capacity to run at super slow speeds with the new motor approach.

Only paid £240 for the saw, so I reckon £590 in total for a fully sorted, monster bandsaw would still be a result.

It's a Startrite S10 "Sabre". Took 4 blokes and a crane and a lot of 'fun' to get it out of my VW T4 van.

It's lush, brass indices on the table, even the fence looks like a work of art.

Nobody makes stuff like this anymore. Even found a brand new set of wheels inside the case and it came with a bunch of unused blades.

 

[stuvy]

sounds like a great buy!

 

[astro_al]

Just get a used 1 ph motor off ebay for a few tenners.

You see now what I mean, very easy to swap.

Was this the one in Wiltshire, Trowbridge was it?

The spare wheels are a bonus, but remember the blades might not be for steel cutting, check the spec if you can.

Spares are still available.

Al

 

[AgentWayward]

I'm not seeing a cheap motor swap here. It's 1.5hp and 700rpm.

The saw has 10 gears, but most modern motors are 1400rpm minimum.

I can't find anything on ebay or anywhere else that's going to be any use, less than nearly £300.

Ideally, i'd like an old 1.5hp single phase motor but there's none about.

The blades are all for steel except one wood one, yes it's the one from Trowbridge.

 

[astro_al]

So fabricate a bracket and a 2:1 pulley. Could do that for a tenner. Machine mart have motors for 100 quid, without looking around for a cheaper one. Done.

Al

 

[Wedg1e]

I'd go with a big inverter, with a bit of thought you can use it to power other tools as well, which opens your scope for further machinery in future.
I run my Boxford lathe and one of my mills from a 3HP inverter, paid £250 second-hand. It'd have cost me more than that to put single-phase motors on both machines, and if I had to I could wire in extra machinery easily enough.