Cheap Bandsaw for Resawing

[Tom Trees]

Here's some examples of the ACM star/SNA 500, badged by Felder, who also sold a FB440 at one time,
(I think Felder might've dropped the smaller lines of Italian saws recently)
These have solid wheels compared to the x40 SNAC series.
(though Felder's x40's, or possibly Laguna unsure if they also have also badged x40 series, from say a decade ago...not looked, but it might be a different story than today)
That said, I'm unsure if you can get the x40 series with solid disc type wheels optional or only now, as the SNA/Star line was dropped, (parts still available)
whether that's standard or no more, I haven't looked that up, Laguna's new ones are solid from what I've seen.

This 500mm wheeled machine is about 200kg, so with some decent casters and dependent on your floor, might be very reasonable, or slightly an annoyance,
but then again it could be said, perhaps with any saw, it might have you considering logistics, like a bit of a makeover to the shed!.

Here's something what might just be about bargain aged, (with original rubber still remaining)
The older FB 500.
Older felder fb500 2.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/cCfcJ38r/Older-felder-fb500-2.jpg

I think the mitre slot is standard on these, and Laguna saws are specified with deeper slots
Older fb500 standard table.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/jdTXxdmV/Older-...dard-table.jpg

And perhaps another reason such a saw might be had for a lesser sum than other saws, the motor might be a tad underpowered at 2hp
Older fb500 sticker.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/QtrBQVph/Older-fb500-sticker.jpg

That is... for someone who's not looking for the newer version
Newer fb500.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/kXhBjTxj/Newer-fb500.jpg

With 4hp motor, that is.
Newer fb500 label.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/KYtj8FCV/Newer-fb500-label.jpg

I'll leave out the Laguna LT saws, as my browser doesn't work for most USA websites, and I likely wouldn't be able find out motor details through the years.
Not to say I've documented things fully with Felder's line, things could be differing in the USA, just making note of what I guess is likely the case there.

Though posting the snazzier of the two might indeed inspire, should they stumble across something fairly similar in need of a paint job,
and don't wish to buy two colours.

Good luck on the hunt!
Tom

[Jimmy Harris]

I found a 17" Grizzly G0513ANV for a great price and picked it up yesterday (8 hours of driving a U-Haul trailer on back roads was no fun). The trunnion was broken, one of the thrust bearings was shot, and the bottom tire was torn up, but for the price he wanted, I can replace all of that and still come out way ahead! I am shocked at how cheap Grizzly's parts are. Most of the time I've bought parts from manufacturers, they want like $30 plus shipping for a single screw or whatever. Or they make you buy a giant assembly when all you need is a felt washer.

So I'm very satisfied with how it all turned out. Now I just have to get it all wired up and repaired and I can get to resawing!

[Rod Sheridan]

Tom, Felder saws such as the FB540 have flat cast wheels with no shoulders, if the rubber needs replacement you send the wheel out to a company that can mould a tire on and grind it to a radius.

The mitre slot is metric, not imperial

Regards, Rod

[Edward Weber]

Sounds great, hope it works out for you

[Tom Trees]

I wasn't sure TBH if it were an optional thing or not, and whether that might be related to the older models, though worth noting the FB 640 on the website
has spoked wheels, which up until recently has been the standard thing on the SNAC/x40 lines.
Laguna have seemingly always speced solid wheels, as with SCM now, so interesting to see Felder opt for spoked seeing as they weren't the most standard option
of saw from Novellara.

There is a generous amount of rubber on these, so a little dressing is likely all needed, and seemingly not very many folks providing services of such
which is my point.


Sorry for the confusion, I mean't standard as per the base model regarding the mitre slot, and not what Laguna and SCM spec from ACM.

I see Jimmy has got himself a saw in the meantime, good luck with it!
Regards
Tom

[Sam Force]

I think you will like your "new" saw. I do enjoy mine

[Jimmy Harris]

I think you will like your "new" saw. I do enjoy mine

I think I will too.

It's gonna take a while to get it set up. It's filthy. So I've got to do a deep cleaning. And there's some repairs I need to do. Plus, I need to run wires for the power and that requires going into the attic. And I've got so much junk in there above the garage that it's going to be a pain to do that by myself. But it's all stuff I can handle.

The previous owner said he bought it several years ago, put about 40 hours on it, and then got out of woodworking. So he was likely unaware of how much prices had increased recently, which is why I got such a good deal. He was only asking $750 for it. It was only listed for a few hours when I contacted him, and I was the second buyer. The first never showed up, thankfully. And the previous owner obviously didn't know what he was doing it with, hence why it had so many broken and worn-out parts after only 40 hours of use. The lower thrust bearing had a groove in it because he was using that to keep the blade from wandering on the tires, and burying the blade into it. The bottom tire was torn up from trying to feed wood too fast and locking the blade up. And the trunnion was broken from it being moved on its spine with the table still attached (the paint is heavily scratched on the back as well). But less than $100 in parts ought to get it back to good as new. And I was especially pleased to find out Grizzly still has touch up paint for it!

Now I just need to figure out dust collection. I don't have room or budget for a fancy, permanent DC setup. I'm gonna try it with my shop vac first and see how it goes. If nothing else, that'll give me an idea of what I need.

But it's just about the perfect size. Any bigger, and it wouldn't fit in my garage.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I'm glad you found a good deal. It sounds like you've got a lot of work to do up front, but I'm sure it will pay off. I had looked at that model of saw before I ended up buying a much older one, and it seemed like a nice machine. If you need a cheap dust collector you might be able to find about a 1 hp portable one that could be parked near the saw. They can often be had used for $100 or sometimes less, at least around here.

[John Kananis]

Jimmy, congrats on your diamond in the rough... skip the shop vac idea though. Bandsaws are one of those machines that frustrate even dc users (sometimes) with the about of dust created, especially when resawing.