I am ready to buy a bandsaw, I need he…(follow up) I got the Hammer N4400

[Fidel Fernandez]

Well,

I need to make a follow up, but my last post got locked out, not my fault.

Felder came through and exchange the old Hammer N4400 for a brand new N4400. It didn't cost me extra, they sent the new one and schedule to pick up the old one one day later.

I was able to use the Used/demo while I was getting the new one.

I only used 14" delta clones before (Grizzly and Rikon), I can testify only the difference between those and the Hammer.
It is an amazing machine, a lot of power (3.5 HP) and with 17" wheels it is a lot of inertia to cut without any problem. No vibration, that is big step from the old BS that I had previously. The old ones where like an old washer , very noisy. This one is just a hum sound and when it engages the wood, of course there is more noise, but not even close at before.
The guides are easy to adjust (european guides), but the BS provides enough tension that they seldom touch the rollers when I am resawing. I need to start cutting curves to test, but that will be later.

I have to get used to the lower table, not big deal just different than the clones.

I ordered some Lenox blades and they are great, but I also used the Felder regular metal blades. I can see the blade marks with the Felder blades, but it is a lot less than the clones made. It is not much work with my hand planes to remove the marks. The Trimaster left so much less and I can use it like that, if it doesn't require much precision (i.e. precision required for joints)

I am building my Kitchen cabinets and I made a mistake so I have to add some strips between the carcass and the under mount Blum slides.
I resaw maple 8" using the trimaster and I needed 19mm width for each strip. I measured it close to 19.5 mm to go down to 19 with my hand plane. I didn't have to, the end result was that good that I decided to use the wood strips out of the BS. I just had to cut to the right height.

So, this was a test for the blade and the bandsaw, It was able to handle the tension for a carbide blade and keep it straight.

In other words, I am happy with my new toy.

[Rich Riddle]

So you ordered a Hammer bandsaw and they sent you a previous model instead of the current one? Is that what you were saying?

[Fidel Fernandez]

It was an honest mistake from them. It was cleared with just one phone call.

[Rich Riddle]

What differences exist between the two models? Are there upgrades to the new one?

[Erich Larson]

I had an interesting experience with Felder recently. Last week I went to their New Castle showroom intending to look at their A3 planers/jointers and the FB510 bandsaw.

When it came to discussing the bandsaw they recommended the N4400 to me pretty strongly, mostly I think because it would be more appropriate for the size of my shop. I think this is maybe the first time anyone recommended a less expensive purchase to me.

So anyway can you let me know which of the Lenox blades you purchased? It sounds like I may end up going this route.

[Fidel Fernandez]

There were a few ones, mostly cosmetic/convenience.

- Clear window to see tracking blade with the doors close. The old one didn't have that one, so to track you had to do it manually with the doors open.

- Safety switch to prevent the machine to start. The old one had a simple way to do it, You have to turn the off button (red one) clock wise before you could press the on switch.
The new one has a big box in the back where you can turn off the machine and it won't start until you switch it back.

- The door lock mechanism is better. You needed a key to open/lock the doors in the old one, the new one just some plastic wheels you turn to open the doors.

You don't see the brake pedal in the website, but both models (2011 and 2014) have the break pedal.

That is all that I can see, maybe I will find something else later on.

[Fidel Fernandez]

I bought the Trimaster 13' ½" ¾ 3S tooths.
and I also bought the diemaster ½ and the ¼ width.

One of the reason that I bought the N4400 is the weight. The other brands and Felder bandsaw were a lot heavier.
This BS was "easy" to move from the pallet and put it into the Vega mobile base.

[Erich Larson]

Thanks for the blade info. The nice thing with the N4400 is that it will save a bit of space for me and there are a few parts in common with the A3-31 I'm getting too like the extension tables.

[Rich Riddle]

I looked at the N4400 very hard a couple of years ago but ended up with a Agazzani 600 (24" model). The extra throat depth comes in handy. It was a hard decision based on the fact I purchased the Hammer Winner K3 and like that saw quite a bit. The older model N4400 you sent back looked very tempting indeed. They had it on the floor in Delaware and it cut extremely well. You likely won't have any regrets on this purchase.

[Fidel Fernandez]

I just started a new project for my wife.
She wants some tables around the house, next to the main entrance some other areas.

I bought Cocobolo today and resaw it this afternoon. The BS didn't hesitate at all and the Trimaster blade left almost no trace at all.

I started slow because I know the wood is dense and oily, then I got more confidence and picked up my pace. It was really easy.
I really like this machine more and more.