Mini Max support

[William Addison]

I have a MM16 that I bought new a few years ago and while it's a good saw, it's got some design features that I did not expect to find in a machine with it's price tag. Early on I had a couple of issues and called support. Once there was a problem with the micro switch on the foot brake and after talking to the tech a few minutes he said he really did not know much about the machine. I figured it out myself eventually. With blades over a half inch there has always been about 1/8 inch oscillation, the first time I called MM, the tech assured me it could only be the weld (not their problem) but it did that with several brands of blades from different vendors. Finally, I just decided to live it. Recently I got some Mesquite that I want to take some thin slices from but the cut quality won't allow that. I just got of the phone to MM and I'm not sure if he knew what he was talking about or not because his English was so limited. Right now, I wish I had looked more at other saws .

[David Kumm]

Electrical issues are about the only problems with the MM bandsaws. Have you talked to Erik Loza or Sam Blasco about it? They are good guys and will get you some support. Also take a look at www.solowoodworker.com. Charlie Plesums site and he knows a lot about MM stuff. You might have a tire issue. Sam should be of some help. You have a good saw. All machines can have problems but the MM basics are good so you can fix your issues. Dave

[William Addison]

It's an OK saw but at the moment my complaint is more with support than with the machine. Why companies hire someone that can't speak English to help customers is a mystery but a lot of them do. I have never called customer support for any of my tools much because I can fix most things, but my experiences with MM support will keep me from buying another of their machines.

[Will Blick]

William, you are not alone..... while my MM20 saw is solid, its not without issues, plenty of them....and I too struggled with support, I eventually gave up and rely on other users for help.... MM seems to be OK with how they support customers, you should feel privileged they sold you the saw...ok, a bit of exaggeration to make a point. The part I was surprised to learn over many years is, the same problems surface over and over, it seems word never gets back to the maker in Italy to use new switches? Strange.....

I hear lots of good things about Sam...but I am not sure he is employed with MM... Maybe someone can correct me, but I think he just helps fellow ww's as a courtesy?

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

I hear lots of good things about Sam...but I am not sure he is employed with MM... Maybe someone can correct me, but I think he just helps fellow ww's as a courtesy?

Unless things have changed in the last few years, Sam makes his living selling and supporting MM equip. He also has a commercial shop in Smithville, TX where he runs MM seminars.

I bought from him and flew there to take his class.

[Van Huskey]

It's an OK saw but at the moment my complaint is more with support than with the machine. Why companies hire someone that can't speak English to help customers is a mystery but a lot of them do. I have never called customer support for any of my tools much because I can fix most things, but my experiences with MM support will keep me from buying another of their machines.

You have a saw with an issue... the MiniMax are the top of the food chain in steel framed saws. Lets try to get your issue sorted so support becomes a non-issue good or bad. Start a new thread with your issues.

There WERE some electrical issues BUT I haven't heard of any on the updated saws (maybe 6 years now) but they could still exist. The changed parts manufacturers.

[Jim Matthews]

Oscillation front to back or side to side?

Oscillation front to back indicates a weld that isn't straight, where the back of the blade is joined at an angle less than 180 degrees. \ _ versus _ _
Oscillation side to side "flutter" indicates that you can't apply sufficient tension to the blade. Either the blade is a hair too long, or the tension spring has compressed.

It's also possible that your tires have worn, but they're pretty tough.

Does this wobble happen with every usage, or under certain loads?

jim
wpt, ma

[William Addison]

As I said in my OP, it's not a problem with the welds, the tires are fine, and I've tried varying tension all the way to the high twenty seven range. This week I'm going to try something I have not done before, I'm going to put a blade on, tension it, put a dial indicator on the back of the blade, and experiment with the tracking of the lower wheel. I've pretty well eliminated everything else.

I'm still amazed that MM has such incredibly bad support, I just hope I never need repair parts.

[John A langley]

William - I understand your frustration I also own the MM16. Although I've not had any problems with it - it cuts wonderful. I owned their 315 slider, their 20" thickness plainer and their hot air edge bander. The slider I have had an issue with the scoring blade. It took them almost two weeks to have somebody call me. I finally fixed it myself. But it would have been nice to have some insight on the problem in the beginning. The saw itself is excellent. The thickness plainer has a fuse in it. Nothing in this country matches up to the fuse that I could find. It took 3 weeks to get one out of Italy. In their infinite wisdom they did not stock them in this country at that time. The plainer itself is excellent. I have not had any problems with the hot air edge bander. Hot air edge banders were not the best choice but with no more edge banding than I do it works well. I would think that a company that puts out really very good machinery would back it up with good customer service. I hope you get your problem solved. And I do not intend this post as a rant.

[Andrew Joiner]

Oscillation front to back or side to side?

Oscillation front to back indicates a weld that isn't straight, where the back of the blade is joined at an angle less than 180 degrees. \ _ versus _ _

If several blades from different suppliers give a front to back oscillation it could be the wheel bearings are bad. It's odd that only blades over a half inch give you the oscillation.

[Chris Fournier]

If several blades from different suppliers give a front to back oscillation it could be the wheel bearings are bad. It's odd that only blades over a half inch give you the oscillation.

If you're getting that kind of oscillation, you would be looking at some "ready to frag" bearings and I believe that you'd know this while turning a wheel by hand. I highly doubt that this is the problem. Look at the wheels and tires first.

As far as service goes I have been happy with the SCM support that I have recieved on an old Samco pin router and on my CU410 Elite S. There's simply no point in complaining that service from any supplier is not delivered perfectly in your mother tongue - although my calls were. After sales service is being contracted out in all industries these days because North Americans don't want to pay for North American delivered service and North Americans don't want to work for what North Americans are willing to pay. Hello Bangalor.

[Van Huskey]

I doubt it is a bearing it would have grenaded by now with that much movement. Wheels, tires or tune is most likely.

I am currious where on the tire the OP is tracking the wider blades.

[Larry Edgerton]

William -. The thickness plainer has a fuse in it. Nothing in this country matches up to the fuse that I could find. It took 3 weeks to get one out of Italy. In their infinite wisdom they did not stock them in this country at that time. The plainer itself is excellent.

I have a S520 planer and although I have had no problems other than the boots rotting [Need to fix] I would love to have that part # and get one of those fuses in stock. If you have it handy I would appreciate it. I'll order it with the boots.

Thanks, Larry

[John A langley]

LARRY - I HAVE SP1 year 2004. I can't find the fuses in the electrical diagram mostly because I'm not very good at reading them. We blew the fuse shortly after getting the machine. I wasn't by the machine when it happened but the best I could get out of the person that was operating it was that he just kept his finger on the button that raises the table after he had hit the limit switches. I'd have to tear into the machine to find it and I'm really not wanting to do that because I usually end up screwing something else up. Wish I could be more help. PM me if you want to talk about this a little more. I would be happy to call you. And of course this happened 8 years ago and my memory isn't that good.

[Andrew Joiner]

I had a new Rikon 18" that had the same oscillation with several good 1/2" blades. The blades were straight at the weld. Rikon ran me through all the steps to fix it , including replacing the top wheel spindle. When none of that worked Rikon wanted me to replace the wheel bearings. The top wheel had a tiny amount of play to it. The play was barely noticeable and I didn't see how it could cause the blade to oscillate as much as it was. I returned the saw for a refund. Maybe even a slightly bad bearing magnifies to an extreme and could cause 1/8"oscillation? Just a guess based on my experience.