I need a Bandsaw for cutting Basswood blocks to varying depths & widths for my new hobby of carving caricature figures. I've found some at usual online outlets but all too large & expensive. Want something smaller & cheap! Don't even need it to cut patterns, just straight cuts but need to be able to have a fixed saw to push wood blocks against,(not a circular saw). Tried using a Jigsaw but problematic for small cuts. Any ideas? ATB Pete.
Looking for very cheapest Bandsaw.
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Irwin and Lee Valley both make "flush-cutting" dowel and molding saws. Maybe 20 tpi.
Consider a coping saw in a vise and blades maybe 12 tpi. Local harware stores here maybe $20 each or less.
Top end would be Knew Concepts frame coping saws for 10X the price. The one I want is $208.00.
Consider a coping saw in a vise and blades maybe 12 tpi. Local harware stores here maybe $20 each or less.
Top end would be Knew Concepts frame coping saws for 10X the price. The one I want is $208.00.
There are some things that a bandsaw is just unbeatable for, but there are also a lot of things that bandsaws get used for that can be done adequately well with the right hand tool. I don't have a bandsaw, but for straight cuts making handle scales and the like, I use Japanese saws from http://www.woodworkprojects.co.uk/. They do rip saws for cutting along the grain, as well as cross cuts. The teeth of these rip cut saws are not ideal for harder woods, although they will work, but for something like basswood they would be perfect. They have thinner kerfs and cut straighter without the need for a spine stiffener than most western saws.
Try a Titan Bandsaw from Screwfix, not got one, nor used one of these particular saws, but reviews seem pretty good and it's cheap
http://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb705bds-80mm-bandsaw-230-240v/5688p
http://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb705bds-80mm-bandsaw-230-240v/5688p
I got an Aldi Workzone jobby a while back, watched a few tutorials on basic set-up procedures, and for £80 you can't go wrong; almost all of what I do could be done with hand tools but the bandsaw is great for old and arthritic hands and best of all it's a huge time saver.
You can get them quite often on ebay for the same price or a little less, just search Aldi or Workzone.
You can get them quite often on ebay for the same price or a little less, just search Aldi or Workzone.
Thanks everybody for the suggestions. Might just wait for the Aldi one as I do shop there a lot. Bought my Jigsaw there recently. I've used handsaws but too time and muscle consuming. Im 67 and although not feeble want the speed and convenience of a bandsaw or similar. Not paying out up to £300 for one though lol. ATB. Pete.
Have a look on Gumtree. https://www.gumtree.com/p/power-saw...straight-or-angled-cutting-£55-ono/1253986040
I've had a bench-top Ryobi ($100) for the better part of 10 years. Approx 8" throat.
Once or twice, I've wanted a bigger one.
1. You can't see the cuts. Make up some sort of mirror on an arm so you can see what the blade is really doing.
2. Dust control. Mine has a DC hole in the back, use my ShopVac for dust. It will totally fill your shop, otherwise.
3. Improve the lighting. I went to LED and added another light.
Once or twice, I've wanted a bigger one.
1. You can't see the cuts. Make up some sort of mirror on an arm so you can see what the blade is really doing.
2. Dust control. Mine has a DC hole in the back, use my ShopVac for dust. It will totally fill your shop, otherwise.
3. Improve the lighting. I went to LED and added another light.
I never go to the saw manufacture for blades, its easyer to go to trucut or bandsaw blades direct.
http://www.bandsawblades-direct.co.uk/Bandsaw_Blades_Direct.html
http://www.trucutbandsaws.co.uk/
I have no affiliation with either of them but have used both and have no complaints, it is easyer to phone them and you can order what you want, just tell them the blade lenght, width, and tpi and they will weld them to size.
for cutting smaller blocks where finer cuts are required a finer blade than the manufacturer would provide is often more usefull anyway.
I have a cheap and cheerful one that I bought a good few years back (either draper or silver line) that is fine for basswood or pine but rubbish for anything else.
I had some knife scales in matched/bookended sets that were a bit too think for my needs that I wanted to cut in half.
The blade wouldn't make a dent in them and simply bent until it was touching the housing.
I only mention as if you will only ever use it on small sized basswood a cheapy should be ok but may be worth considering if you will ever want to use it for more than that.
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I had some knife scales in matched/bookended sets that were a bit too think for my needs that I wanted to cut in half.
The blade wouldn't make a dent in them and simply bent until it was touching the housing.
I only mention as if you will only ever use it on small sized basswood a cheapy should be ok but may be worth considering if you will ever want to use it for more than that.
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I have a cheap and cheerful one that I bought a good few years back (either draper or silver line) that is fine for basswood or pine but rubbish for anything else.
I had some knife scales in matched/bookended sets that were a bit too think for my needs that I wanted to cut in half.
The blade wouldn't make a dent in them and simply bent until it was touching the housing.
I only mention as if you will only ever use it on small sized basswood a cheapy should be ok but may be worth considering if you will ever want to use it for more than that.
A lot of that would be down to the right set up and good blade; for blades the place to go is the Trucut linky in post #12 above, they specialise in good blades for smaller hobby-type saws. A set up is very easy to do and there are a few good videos on youtube which show exactly how to go about it very quickly and without previous experience.
The Workzone one I bought for £80 took ten minutes to set up and the blade cost less than £20; the saw wouldn't have cut a packet of butter in half as it came, but I've cut seasoned Walnut, Oak, Yew, Holly and Rowan without a murmer. Just don't ask the tool to do too much too quickly and remember to give it a rest and not make cut after cut. That's when you need to spend large on a pro model.
I had some knife scales in matched/bookended sets that were a bit too think for my needs that I wanted to cut in half.
The blade wouldn't make a dent in them and simply bent until it was touching the housing.
I only mention as if you will only ever use it on small sized basswood a cheapy should be ok but may be worth considering if you will ever want to use it for more than that.
A lot of that would be down to the right set up and good blade; for blades the place to go is the Trucut linky in post #12 above, they specialise in good blades for smaller hobby-type saws. A set up is very easy to do and there are a few good videos on youtube which show exactly how to go about it very quickly and without previous experience.
The Workzone one I bought for £80 took ten minutes to set up and the blade cost less than £20; the saw wouldn't have cut a packet of butter in half as it came, but I've cut seasoned Walnut, Oak, Yew, Holly and Rowan without a murmer. Just don't ask the tool to do too much too quickly and remember to give it a rest and not make cut after cut. That's when you need to spend large on a pro model.
The Workzone one is not available, at least in my area. Been in touch with customer services and all sold out online and instore. Might have found a way to use my jigsaw just for the cutting of small blocks. Slower but better that pumping away with a hand saw. Thanks again for all suggestions everybody. ATB. Pete.
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