Shootingboard.net

Some details and observations – in no particular order…

Cast iron wheels – factory balanced. Notice the blade tension scale (yellow pointer in the lower left). The scale is demarcated in terms of blade size (ie 1/4″, 3/8″, 1/2″, etc) instead of an arbitrary scale (ie “1-10″) like on many band saws.

Blade tracking window – you can watch how the blade is tracking on the tire without opening the door. There is also a similar blade tension window in the upper door to view the blade tension (see the pic above).

Quick-release blade tension lever. The hand wheels are polished cast iron. Also visible in this picture are the included allen wrenches, with a built-in place to store them. A nice touch.

Two speeds (1510 and 3220 ft/min). Speed changes are accomplished by loosening the belt tension pulley and changing the configuration of the drive belt (pic). I have not changed the speed on mine (it’s on 3220), but I expect that the lower speed will be useful for cutting metals.
Wheel alignment – pitch and yaw adjustment on the lower wheel, to aid in wheel alignment. I have not needed to touch these.

Dust collection – two 4″ dust ports. There are a couple of other good features when it comes to dust collection. There is a partition to direct most of the airflow into the upper port (pic). The dust which makes its way into the lower wheel compartment seems to be effectively eliminated by the lower port. There is a small lower door panel to allow easy cleanup if needed, without having to open the whole lower panel (pic) – I imagine this would be useful in case the lower dust port gets clogged for some reason. Finally, there is a built-in brush to keep the lower tire clean (pic) – another nice touch.
Motor – China’s finest. 2-HP. This motor draws 12.5 amps on 220V – should be plenty of power.

Table – 21″ x 19″. Tilts 45° right and 10° left. Two “T”-miter slots. Note that the slot for the blade comes straight out the front of the table. This means you don’t have to make a 90° turn when it’s time to change the nearly 12-foot blade. This also means that the front fence rail has to come off for blade changes – easily done by removing four plastic wingnuts in just a few seconds. My table was flat to within 0.004″ (pic, pic, pic, pic). Fence – aluminum; seems a bit flimsy at first but locks securely. There is a magnifying bubble on the scale, and the fence is adjustable for drift by using the included allen wrenches. The fence has a removable “bar” for resawing – but I can’t imagine having to use it, since the fence can be adjusted for drift. A miter gauge is an optional accessory.

Rack-and-pinion steel trunion – table tilt is adjusted by loosening a lock bolt and turning the large knob seen on the right. This is very simple and accurate, allowing for fine adjustments. Incidentally, when you want to tilt the table to the left (up to 10°), you do NOT have to reset the zero stop – the zero stop rest simply swings out of the way (pic). Very nice.

Guide bearings – both the upper and lower guides are double ball bearing guides, with in-line thrust bearings (pic, pic, pic). There is no micro-adjust, so adjusting the bearings can be a little hairy. The bearings seem to want to wiggle just as you’re tightening them down. Adjusting the bearings requires an allen wrench (no thumbscrews).

Mobile base – of course this isn’t a feature of the saw. Because of space limitations, I need to keep this saw backed up fairly close to the wall. I put it on a mobile base (an HTC2000) for two reasons. I need to be able to move it out occasionally to provide clearance for very long stock. Also, because the saw is up against the wall, the doors won’t open all the way back; this can interfere with blade changes (especially with wide blades). The mobile base allows me to move the saw away from the wall while changing blades so the doors open all the way.

(more details on the next page)

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