Official Luthiers Forum!

I currently own a minimax s-45 about 15 yrs old, that is starting to age, Have been using it for carpentry/cabinet/luthiery work. Considering upgrading to a bandsaw with a lot more power . Have read rave reviews, about minimax mm2o bandsaw and some about laguna. I would like to hear your experiences , pros and cons about owning a big bandsaw. Most of the reviews I read were from amateur/pro cabinetmakers. So I would love to hear about why you like your big bandsaw for luthiery work?

Hello,

I have a big heavy bandsaw, from the brand BÄUERLE, and i like it a lot for resawing back and side sets, its my addiction.

best regards, alex

Man, I can kick myself.....I had a MM20 on order years ago, they were backordered for a few months so I got the MM16, don't get me wrong the MM16 is a GREAT saw, just wish I had the MM20.....mostly for the larger table and horizontal space between blade and frame.

Greg

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Gwaltney Guitars

Not sure what your budget is but these are nice:

http://www.felderusa.com/us-us/products/bandsaws.html

Made in Austria, well supported in the US

-C

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Freeborn Guitars
and home of BeauGuard©

If you aren't resawing, you have little need for a saw bigger than 16". If you are resawing, a 20" saw with 3 or more horses is great.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

That's the word I was looking for Todd..."Throat" .....many times I had wished I had waited on that 20" saw for the added throat space, comes in handy.

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Gwaltney Guitars

I have an older DoAll. The only downside is that it does not like thin blades as they tend to run on the edge of the wheels and outside of the guides. I'm sure with a litttle tweaking I could adjust the saw so it would work but would then just have to change it back for my evereyday work. Would like to eventually find something smaller to complement it for doing scroll or tight pattern cuts. For resawing it's great and with a 5hp 3ph motor it's hard to bog it down.

Tim

I'm getting excellent results with my Bosch jigsaw and the Bosch Xtra-Clean Blades (T380B, T380B0) and splinterguard for jobs requiring a deeper throat than my small bandsaw with a scrolling blade. It saves me from having to change blades from the wide resaw/rip blade I keep on my 18".

Talk about thread creep. How did we go from 20+" bandsaws to Bosch Sabre saws?
I too have the MM S-45, and it is on my hit list for replacement one day. Even with a Baldor motor (burned out original one re-sawing Oak) and Carter guides, its never been a great tool. The MM 16 and 20 are far better machines than the S-45.
There are 4 groups as I see it. North American made (Powermatic, Canadian General, etc), Italian (MM, much of Laguna, SCMI, etc.) Asian (too many to list) and Germanic European ( Martin, Felder, etc.)
For instrument making I think the bandsaw is crucial, so I still say spend as much as you can. When I upgrade I'll look seriously at the Felder.
Re-saw capacity is not a function of wheel diameter. Power needed to re-saw is a function of blade condition (sharpness) and suitability (correct tpi and tooth type), blade kerf and feed rate.
-C

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Freeborn Guitars
and home of BeauGuard©

Yep Chas....more than one way to skin a deep throated cat if you're happy with an existing bandsaw or like most of us, don't have the budget/space/power capacity for a monster bandsaw. I was just throwing out an option some folks may not have considered because sometimes we get stuck in a "I can only use X tool for Y job" mode. These blades are relatively new. If you've not tried them with a good jigsaw the quality of cut on <8/4 stock is amazing. They beat spending +$3k, adding a 30-40 amp 220V circuit and occupying space needed for other things if you don't have to. I hate changing bandsaw blades and I'm happy with the resaw and ripping performance of my 18" bandsaw. These blades solve a problem for me.

Hope you understand where my head and heart is. Just trying to be helpful and share my experience outside this sandbox.

Thanks guys . Have been leaning towards minimax mm20 A local woodworker allowed me to resaw osage orange, and the bandsaw worked flawlessly. Chas , you mentioned the felder bandsaw, have you seen or tried one . I am not familiar with this brand. If you can chas , could you please tell me the difference between the MM20 and the felder?? in your opinion thanks ernie

Filippo, I believe you have started using a random avatar generator?

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

I've seen the Felder equipment at trade shows - superb quality Austrian made. They have somewhat recently branched out to the smaller shop market with their Hammer and Format line ups. Before that they were pretty much catering to the industrial market. A feature that I like about the Felder is the built in blade tension gauge.... that would be a step saved. Read through their website and call them up. The rep I ordered my jointer planer through was very knowledgeable and very attentive. Their point of entry to the US is Delaware, so service to the East Coast should be very good.

MM 20's are pretty common. A friend has one, and I'd say it's a step up from the S45. Mini-Max is the small shop line from SCMI. I don't know how much cross-over there is between their lines, but as said I fried the OEM motor on mine, and at the suggestion of the SCMI rep, upgraded to the American made Baldor.... Iturra tells me that Mini Max didn't even make the S-45; it was a Griggio, or some such. I've never been able to get it up to the recommended tension with the 3/4" blades I use for re-sawing before the whole frame of the saw flexes.

As for Laguna, I do not know all the details of their sources. I do know that their jointer planers used to be Dutch made Robland, and then Mini Max, now I think they're Asian. Bandsaws were Italian when I was looking at one some years ago, but I haven't kept up with their line.

-C

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Freeborn Guitars
and home of BeauGuard©