Planning a new workshop

[Yxoc]

Well,
We have just bought a house, and the upside is that a modest shed becomes my permanent workspace. It has an internal space of 3.5m by 6m. So my thoughts naturally turn to working out what machinery I can fit inside.

The first item that will arrive is a drill press that my father is giving to me. In addition I would eventually like to have a bandsaw and combo jointer/thicknesser. The latter two will also need dust extraction of course. So I am hoping that that can all fit in and still be useable.

I have given some thought to what should be my first purchase and I am leaning towards the bandsaw. Not a precision machine of course, but able to do a lot of things with enough accuracy that hand plane work to bring the stock down to final dimensions is not too onerous. In short I think that the bandsaw will give me the most bang for buck in terms of time saving, for initial stock dimensioning. The combo machine will come later as funding gains approval. I think I will be lucky if I fit all that in.

The second hand market for bandsaws is pretty slim so I have decided to probably buy new. I don't want Chinese/Taiwanese and the only european brands available here are Hammer and Minimax. The minimax bandsaws seem to get good reviews and I have been looking at two in particular; the S45n and the S400P:

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The S400P is the more serious machine and this is reflected in the cost. It has a much higher vertical cut of 400mm and a throat of 380mm, whilst the S45n has a max vertical cut of 300mm but a throat of 440mm. There are other differences of course. I hope to make the trip down to Sydney over the next couple of weeks and see them in the flesh. Until then I would be interested in the thoughts of others more familiar with machinery. Is my space large enough to fit the machines I eventually want to have? Is the bandsaw the logical first purchase? What's more important for most work; cutting height or throat capacity? Anyone prefer Hammer?

Derek

[Yxoc]

No willing to advise about bandsaws?

On the Jointer and planer front I see this advertised on a local sale site. It's serious capacity and it appears that the jointer table lifts as a single piece and that the fence remains fixed to the table as it's flipped up. I believe that Robland is manufactured in Belgium but the reviews I have found on the web don't seem to be incredibly complimentary. Possibly too large for my space anyway

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/kings-pa ... 1054314863

[Sal Cangialosi]

I am far from an expert. so just relating my personal experience.

I started woodworking with the purchase of a Jet 14" bandsaw. I found that I was using it primarily for resawing. Although I could get decent results from the saw, it was often frustrating and inconsistent. Moving to a carbide blade from Lennox helped quite a bit. But I remained unsatisfied with the saw as I experienced two parts failures over a 3 year period. May be the cost of learning.

I decided last year to move to a larger unit that would tension a 1" blade properly. That turned out to be the Felder FB600. The difference was unmistakable. Resawing is far more consistent even without the best blades. Tensioning the blade is also easier. And the large solid table is much better suited to working with larger pieces.

For me, a large bandsaw was well worth the difference in cost.

[Chris Hall]

Can you get a Hitachi CB75 in Oz?

[Yxoc]

Sal,
Thanks for your comments. I had decided to steer clear of jet and the other Chinese/Taiwanese manufactured stuff - I've heard only bad reviews. Your Felder is bigger than what I was looking at. I believe that the Minimax S400/500/600 is similar in quality and has the much beefed up spine to handle the blades that need the higher tensions. I guess bigger is always better but I have a vertical space limit of about 204cm. How tall is the Felder out of interest?

Chris,
Nearly zero of the quality Japanese woodworking machinery seems to come to Australia. I keep and eye out in the usual places but don't ever see it. The only Hitachi tools available here are the lowest end powered hand tools, the next thing is an excavator - there's nothing in between. Generally speaking, the good quality bandsaws don't seem to come up much for sale second hand. Seems people will sell their other gear but will keep hold of their bandsaw.

Derek

[Chris Hall]

I think it is really exciting to be faced with the prospect of an empty space that you get to build into a workshop.

Any chance Agazzani bandsaws can be found in Australia? What's nice about that Italian company is that they specialize in bandsaws.

[Matt J]

I have a friend who owns a MM16 (S400p) and is quite happy with it. He got a good deal on it ($1000 US from original owner with light use), and says that he would not have spent full retail price if he had to. My impression is that it is well built but not a truly 'high end' machine. Certainly a step up from Jet, etc., though.

-Matt

[Yxoc]

I think it is really exciting to be faced with the prospect of an empty space that you get to build into a workshop.

It definitely is!

However I want to do it right and make the most of my modest space and budget. This is complicated by my being a complete machinery newb - I don't even have a good feel for how my machinery work flow will be. I guess it evolves as you go along but I suspect that many look back and think 'if I knew then what I know now I would have...'

So I am trying to make clever decisions but without the advantage of being clever . I just discovered a local woodworking group that has a workshop that members can use. Thinking I may join for a while to just use some machines and get a feel for things before deciding exactly what fits my needs. I expect that machinery churn would be a good way to burn cash for me, I always seem to be the worst of the two negotiators in any deal I get involved in.

After a search I did find one Agazzani stockist but they are on the other side of the country and checking out the machinery in person won't happen in the short term. The prices seemed reasonable compared to similar sized minimax gear.

Matt,
Thanks for your comment. It's interesting to hear that feedback. Their prices in Australia at least make me think that they should be high end!

[Chris Hall]

I think Matt is correct in his assessment of the relative quality of Minimax compared to other commonly available bandsaws. A step up, but not top of the line. I understand prices in Australia are high for most items which are imported, due to tariffs slapped on.

[Chris Pyle]

I heard/read that Agazzani was purchased by PanHans in Germany. I reached out to Jesse at Eagle Tools machinery (our stateside supplier of Agazzani). He said he'd have a price list shortly for all their bandsaws. I know you are outside of the US but I can post the price list here once I receive it.

I asked Jesse if he'd have access to any of the other PanHans line and I haven't received an answer.

Here's the website http://www.panhans.de/pan_en/, they look like they produce some really nice tools so I doubt the quality of Agazzani will be lost but it should be noted, they will no longer be produced in Italy. The shop in Italy was liquidated and production was moved to Germany under the PanHans group. Apparently they spent a great deal of time in Italy learning the production methods, then recreated it at their facility.

I'm sure the PanHans line is up there with Martin so it may not be accessible but just wanted to share. Perhaps you could keep your eyes peeled for some used items?