Buying a band saw.

[garywayne]

Hi all.

I am contemplating buying a Startrite ST401e.

Has anyone any experience of this machine? If so, is there any reason why I should not buy.

Any input greatly appreciated. A lot of cash, I don't really want to c*ck up.

I was thinking of 12" depth of cut, but I read one ought to buy bigger than expected. The wife now tends to obtain tree trunks to be cut for her carving and turning. Also I will be cutting veneers.

[stevep]

I've got a 352 - it's about 20 years old now and has been very good, but there are better machines around, especially now. I've modified the blade guides by using the ball race type that Axminster sell.



The original Startrite ones were horrible to set up correctly. There are a few bits of all Startrite machines that are a bit like this - mickey mouse engineering which sort of works - just. Don't be fooled by the 12" depth - it won't do it. I've done 8" oak on mine, but it was a struggle. 4" is ok with a new 3/4" blade.
I'd look at some of the ones Axminster sell for starters, including their own brand ones. Make sure it has roller blade guides, an accurate fence that you can adjust for squareness and a big motor.

edit: Just noticed a couple of recommendations for blades from Dragon in the other thread about bandsaws further down - not tried them myself but now I've seen that post I'll be buying some from them in the future.

[garywayne]

Thanks for your reply steve.

Whar do you think of the Axminster AP5300-H3?

Any thoughts much appreciated.

[salvage]

Nov 8, 2008 13:08:26 GMT garywayne said:

Hi all.

I am contemplating buying a Startrite ST401e.

Has anyone any experience of this machine? If so, is there any reason why I should not buy.

Any input greatly appreciated. A lot of cash, I don't really want to c*ck up.

I was thinking of 12" depth of cut, but I read one ought to buy bigger than expected. The wife now tends to obtain tree trunks to be cut for her carving and turning. Also I will be cutting veneers.

Got a 401e and it DOES cut upto 16"

( I've got a Dragon 1 tpi blade on it at the mo )

Cuts straight and true , plenty of power.

Good tension , fairly hassle free to set up the guides .

It's not the quality of old school engineering but it's as good as any
modern build IMHO

If your thinking of buying DO NOT take the ceramic guide option, ( talked to one of their service techs and he said they are TOO brittle to be practical )the standard guides are fine

If you want more info just ask

Salvage

[jake]

I've ceramic guides on my 401, never had a problem with them - the reverse, I love them. So hassle free.

What form does the brittleness problem take?

[salvage]

Nov 10, 2008 22:27:56 GMT jake said:

I've ceramic guides on my 401, never had a problem with them - the reverse, I love them. So hassle free.

What form does the brittleness problem take?

No personal experience here , just passing on the info I was given by one of the guys at Startrite.

Maybe they've had one too many User errors to deal with

If yours are working out ok that info is more relevant than the hearsay I have from suppliers

Either way the machine itself performs as it should , and with the right blades is capable of some fairly serious work

Salvage

[jake]

They have more experience than me - hundreds/thousands etc times more machines/users/hours of use.

I wouldn't pay for them, just because they are so stupidly expensive. I bought mine s/h when they were standard

[mrgrimsdale]

I've had a Startrite 352 for about 30 years and done loads of work with it, including rough stuff with scrap, logs etc for firewood. Still has the original guides. Very reliable. 2 new bearings is all so far.

cheers
Jacob