Calling all Kiwis - What Bandsaws are you using?

[seeaxe]

This post is aimed my New Zealand colleagues....

I have been a bit quiet of late for various reasons, mostly relating to doing a lot more learning to play rather then learning to build, but as things are warming up and the workshop beckons, I am thinking of upgrading my aging but still OK 14" Dyco bandsaw. It will make more furniture and toys for grandkids than guitars in future but I like the idea of resawing timber so was keen to get something that would maybe do a back set.

In NZ my options seem to be:
a) The standard Taiwanese machine, badged in various colours from either Carbatec, Machinery House, Amac, Macma, Somac, etc etc - all seem to be pretty much identical, I can get 14 or 17 inch
b) Scheppach 14 inch
c) Jet, which now replace the Carbatec models in the NZ store, 14 or 16inch

Of course, I did a search of the forum and found all sorts of threads on this topic, but the latest ones end up recommending a brand I cannot get here (Laguna)
It seems to me that the general feeling is that, of the brands available here in NZ, the Jet equipment is generally a bit better, then the Carbatec because they are better spec'd and then the Taiwanese brand.

Does anyone have a contrary view?

I wonder what my NZ colleagues are using and what they think of them. Specifically has anyone got a 14 or 16" Jet and what do you think of it. Its a lot more expensive than the others.

I also have a sneaky feeling that going to a new 14" might not be an upgrade at all.. I have had the Dyco for 30 years plus and all its needed is a new switch and new rubber tyres.

I would welcome any comments

Cheers

Richard

[mqbernardo]

can´t help you much, but i think i saw somewhere that Laguna (which in earlier years was importing and re-branding saws made in italy by ACM) was now outsourcing their stuff from either China or Taiwan, but with stricter quality control than the generic OEMs.

can´t the Oz laguna dealer help you (http://www.gregmach.com/) ?

best of lucks,
Miguel.

[lauburu]

I traded in my old 14" Tanner to buy a 14" Ascent from Jacks. It's a bit better spec'd than most of the other Chinese offerings and a giant leap forward in technology from the old Dycos and Tanners.
I can resaw tenor ukulele backs with ease but haven't tried anything wider. Jacks are a longstanding firm and I found them good to deal with.
Miguel

[Eric Scheper]

I recently got one of the 14 inch Taiwanese models (Tool Shed) which seems made well enough and has performed satisfactorily for most tasks. It's only a 1hp motor and I tried to resaw some tenor uke sized backs and tops and it really didn't have the power to do it well enough. I'm surprised to see the Jet 16 inch only has 1.5hp motor as I'd think the reason to get a 16 inch would be for resawing and I wonder if that would be enough.

[christian]

I can't help a great deal either as I only have an old 14" promark with a few mods. It struggles to cut through much more than 150mm of anything. I just take my wood down to the local sawmill and have them re saw it to my specs.
Whatever you buy is likely to get a hard time re sawing, so good after market service might be worth considering. Carbatec were very good to me when my sander packed up.

Cheers,

Christian.

[martintaylor]

+1 on the Carbatec Bandsaw. I know it is only a cheapie but I have the 14" 2 speed and after changing over to the 3tpi 25mm blade I have been resawing to my hearts content. I can resaw 205mm wide boards and that is just wide enough for my dreadnoughts (and other shapes). I am successfully resawing down to 4mm with little to no blade swaying and I have put through some fairly hard timbers too. I have also resawn some Australian Cedar and some King BIlly and they were like cutting through butter (well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration but they were smooth!). Changing to the 3tpi blade made all the difference for me.

Martin

[seeaxe]

Thanks all

And Hi Eric, nice to hear from you

Martin, do you use the different speeds much on your 14" saw? Some have this and some don't (Jet), I wondered about the usefulness
I think the motor size is going to be pretty important.
I will keep looking and let you know how I get on.

Machinery House have a sale on next week.