Thread: Bandsaw Brand Opinions

The shops old Kalamazoo band saw is no longer "cutting" it. Our budget is under $2500. We manily cut tool steel so coolent is s must. I want to stay away from the China crap. I have been looking at new and used and have a few that I am on the fence about. The used ones are DoAll and Wells, which are rock solid band saws. The one I am not shure about is the new Clausing KC812W. It is their smallest saw, and actualy made by Cosen.

http://www.clausing-industrial.com/d...B&m=CKHBKC812W

Anyone have any opinions on the Clausing/Cosen Bandsaw?

Thanks,
Dan

That clausing is more than 2500 dollars. It looks chinese, it is similar or identical to many of the chinese saws of that size. The chinese saws are more than 2500 bucks for that size.

Originally Posted by daniel@kadee

.......old Kalamazoo band saw is no longer "cutting" it. Our budget is under $2500. .....,
Dan

Why not fix it ?
Is it too small ?
A DoAll would be good but but I'm afraid for under $2500 you may have to fix it anyway.

SM

Originally Posted by SlicerMan

Why not fix it ?
Is it too small ?
A DoAll would be good but but I'm afraid for under $2500 you may have to fix it anyway.

SM

That's what I was thinking too. I am not an expert in saws, but it seems like you are either going to:

A) pay a lot more than $2500

B) buy a worn out saw that needs rebuilt

C) get a Chinese unit that probably isn't that great.

I just bought a new Clausing / Kalamazoo that I was told was US Made and they had 5 saws "in stock" - on the order confirmation they showed shipping from stock so I was surprised to hear that they really had 5 on the boat from Taiwan. As it turns out, it is almost identical to a Cosen made in the same factory. We bought the 1218 with automatic "productivity" kit which has the pneumatic vise and auto raise after cut.

The saw you are looking at is pretty small - eBay - Kalamazoo KC812W and various sellers will give different levels of discount. We ended up buying from Norman Machine Tool, LTD. in Maryland. Didn't seem to matter where we bought it, it shipped from the same place for the same price. If you need to buy infeed or outfeed conveyor - Omni Metalcraft is about as good a deal as you are going to find. http://www.omni.com/mypage.asp?home=...subset=COMPANY


The Cosen comes with a 1 year guarantee while the Clausing / Kalamazoo is nearly identical with a 2 year guarantee.

I have a mitering bandsaw about the size of that 812 that I will likely be moving to our electrical shop - if they don't want it, I'll make you a deal on it.

Mitre Band Saw Comparison :: Band Saws :: Ellis Mfg

Regarding any bandsaw, you can search the board for previous posts.

For Wells, you will find a preponderance of "Parts Wanted" threads. Wells is still in business, but it seems the parts prices are a shock to anyone who bought a fixer-upper.

Baxter Verticut Inc. - Models

Neighbor has one of the small models in his garage. I think the construction looked
quite stout.

$2500 is gonna be tight.

There are 2 Roll In saws in this Tooling & accessories section right now. Cheap at $850.00 each. I love mine. Very easy to use,and easy to make parts for,too.It could saw 9" dia. metal with proper clamping.

Cons: The clamp that comes with the saw only will clamp about 3" stock. I want to make a larger clamp capacity for mine. The hole on the corner of the miter gauge that holds the clamp's rod broke off. I could use a large piece of angle iron and make a better miter gauge,but I have just been using a deep throat clamp to hold the metal for now. Nothing at all wrong with the way the saw cuts,though. And,all the parts are very simple. A new "miter plate" was only about $200.00,but I want a steel one,not cast iron.

Originally Posted by gwilson

There are 2 Roll In saws in this Tooling & accessories section right now. Cheap at $850.00 each. I love mine. Very easy to use,and easy to make parts for,too.It could saw 9" dia. metal with proper clamping.

I thought of that too, but his requirement was for coolant.

Of all the roll-ins I've seen, I've never seen coolant on one, even home made afterthought.

But I see roll-ins in tool shops everywhere.


If the roll-in will work, the Baxter link I provided, makes a roll-in copy for a bit less
than the genuine roll-in.

I bought a Roll In copy for work when I took mine home. There were a few problems with it: The cord in the electric box at the back inside of the saw was situated so that the rotating lower wheel would soon saw through it,and NEARLY HAD during a factory test run. I had to re situate this wire to the side of the box before using it. Wanted to avoid getting electrocuted.

The saw itself (the bandsaw part,running on rollers) didn't seem as heavy as the real Roll In. This was a Wilton/Jet saw. It jumped up and down if too rapid a feed was used. I had no such problem with the real Roll In.

Pros: The copy had a chip pan under the saw,which the Roll In certainly could benefit from(unless my used one was just missing the chip pan). There was a knob on the front for regulating the feed. Nice touch. The Roll in has only a little knob on the air cylinder,but it is no problem to adjust it,just not as refined.

I am pretty sure the Jet used 10' blades,which will last a little longer than 9' blades. I think there was also a Doall style feed/speed chart (not needed by experienced operators) on the upper saw cover.

All in all,I preferred the Roll In. I THINK I had to place a big block of steel on the horizontal area over the lower wheel to add weight to the actual bandsaw unit on the Jet.

Originally Posted by gwilson

I bought a Roll In copy for work when I took mine home. There were a few problems with it: The cord in the electric box at the back inside of the saw was situated so that the rotating lower wheel would soon saw through it,and NEARLY HAD during a factory test run. I had to re situate this wire to the side of the box before using it. Wanted to avoid getting electrocuted.

.

Gwilson,
that was the Jet chinese copy, and your results are to be expected.

The baxter copy is made in Ontario, and seems heavier than the roll-in, has some improvements.

My roll-in (which I just sold) actually was made in Parma, Mi. From what I read, the original
was made there, then the dad passed away, the sons split, the one went to Parma, Ohio
and that is what is called the "roll-in", the other one is called the "work-a-matic",
which I see dake has taken over:
http://www.dakecorp.com/products-det...-A-Matic%20SXC

Our Kalamazoo requires too many repairs and isn't worth the amount of money and time that we would have to put into it, and retrofit it with coolant. This particular saw came from a machine shop near Mt. St. Helens when it blew. It had ash baked into every crevice of it, and craked part of the casing. It has be fixed more times than it should have. We are keeping it for cutting wood and aluminum. $2500 is a tight budget on a nice bandsaw. I went in circles about it with the owner (my grandfather), but that is what i'm allowed to spend.

No roll in style saw for us. We have a Doall verticle for those aplications. Coolant is a must, and I would hate to see the mess on a roll in style saw using coolant (mainly because I would be the one cleaning it up).
I can that Clausing Bandsaw for under $2500. I didn't know wells parts are hard to find. Mabyee I will lean more to a Doall.

That Baxter saw looks nice, but outside of my budget. I would love to get an Ellis, but they don't use coolant, and if you use coolant you void the warrenty. The college machine shop 2 doors down from me has an Ellis Bandaw that was equiped from the factory with coolant. Wish they still made them like that.

Thanks, for your suggestions guys

Thanks,Digger. I had a museum budget to work with at the time. New Roll Ins were pretty outside what I could spend. The 2 Roll Ins for $850.00 each seem to be good buys. I paid $1400.00 for mine,but it was close to new condition. Only ever cut plastics from the chips in it.

I'm wondering how old mine is,since it takes a 9' blade. Newer ones take a 10'. Mine must have been in a well heated,cooled shop,because it certainly looked pretty new. Anyway,I have gotten a lot of use out of it. We used to make all of the steel tires for the wagons in Williamsburg. It was a very handy saw for cutting them to length,and beveling their ends for welding. Those tires were plenty heavy at times. Some of the wagons had large wheels and thick tires. We just propped them up on stands and let the blades just roll through them.

Originally Posted by gwilson

We used to make all of the steel tires for the wagons in Williamsburg. It was a very handy saw for cutting them to length,and beveling their ends for welding. Those tires were plenty heavy at times. Some of the wagons had large wheels and thick tires. We just propped them up on stands and let the blades just roll through them.

Not to drag off topic (the O.P. has gotten the answers he needed) but,
I thought willamsburg was supposed to doo it all the old fashioned way ?

coolant a must

has any one ever tried stuff like this

FMSC - Castrol Stick Wax Lubricant
?

we have one of these little dakes

http://www.dakecorp.com/products-det...=Standard Duty

its used about the shop for small cutting
they have a little bigger blade than the minies and are wet or dry
not sure how it would do on stuff over a couple inches, but there probly in your price range

all I can say is ebay may be your friend. In horizontal saws there are saws and there are true money makers. I have no complaints with any doall horizontal saw I have ever run, but thier newer miter saws swing the arm out past the coolant pan = mess on the floor at least the one I was around don't recall the model but it was newer than 2000 year and about a 12 inch cut, hydraulic hand valve downfeed). Best saw I have experienced I still own, a HYD-Mech H-12. People have been impressed with AMADA saws, and there are probably a couple brands I am overlooking. Look at all the local auctions, know what you want, know how to evaluate it, and know how saws cost money. some of the production saws will whack up a bar into a programmable length and are bar fed, if someone stands in front of the saw all day that can be doing better paying work you can use that in your purchase justification. If you have never run a saw like that it can be a real eye opener how long you sit watching the bandsaw.

you asked for an opinion, well mine is the fact that many jobs start at the saw so its the first tool to hit metal. It can be the #1 bottle neck for work flow.

Not the place to go too cheap. Save that money, fix the old one and save up a bit more.

As far as coolant there is nothing to fabricating up a pan with a sump and submersible pump, run a hose to a valve on the rear blade guide and a piece of copper tube to rub the back of the blade to hose it down.

I read decent reviews of the DoAll and Wells band saw machines at Quality reviews for over 3,500 bandsaws | BandSawReviews.com. There was one review for Cosen band saw but not the same model as you have.