Forgetting to tension the blade is a problem with all bandsaws. What I do is when I un-tension the blade, I first open the top door. Then when I re-tension the blade, I close the top door. I just got used to only tension/un-tension the blade with the top door open. This has a lot of benefits for me: * For setting the blade tension the correct way, you need the top door open anyway. I'll explain below. * I never forget to put tension on the blade: because the door is open so the machine will not start. * I (almost) never forget to un-tension the blade: when I look through the shop when I leave, I see that the door is still closed: that means I forgot to un-tension the blade. * The top door has a circuit breaker: this means it is an extra safety measure helping with kids in your shop. Let me explain why the top door needs to be open when tensioning: Setting the correct tension is never done using the useless indicator on the machine. I moderately press on the sawblade along the length of the column on the left. I can only access this with the top door open. I just eyeball the deflection to be, let's say 10mm to 20 mm or so depending on the blade type. You can only do this along the left column, as there is nothing like blade guides influencing your measurement.
Thanks for the review. One trick I use when I remove tension on my saw I clip a mini clamp on the blade just above the table. Never mistakenly turn on the saw after this.
I have a N4400 and have the same problems with the guides and post. for a reminder about the tension I jus put a magnet on top of the table in front of the blade every time I take the tension off. great review. Thanks and good luck
The only review where you said that the saw has no quick release tention switch to lower the tention of the blade after work. This was really helpfull for me! Thx for that.
I also have the N4400 and been using it for a good few years now. The wiggle in the guide rails is a pain but once you have that setup properly and the blade properly aligned you can go quite thin on veneers. Got some blades from Tuffsaws in the UK and that transformed the saw for me...Keep up the good work :)
Hi, To set the table to negative degrees, you dont have to remove to 0 degree stop, its enough to slide it away and then you can tilt the table easily. But on mine 510 its was tighten well so I cannot move it by hand, I have to loosen it.
This is a great bandsaw. I have one. It's very well made (in Austria, NOT China, like most or all of its competitors, and that was very important for me) and does not lack for power. In that class and price range, I think it's the best saw you can buy. You're quite right, though, that the guides are the weak point. I have the very same issues you do. I think the N4400 may now come standard with the ceramic X-life guides (which is why I'm surprised to see yours came with the steel guides), though you can also buy after-market ceramic or bearing guides from Laguna and others. I have been planning that upgrade for a while.
We are overall quite happy as it is our first one and we don't know how we did without one. It is hard to compare because I have never worked on another one before. But you're right about the power, I have monophasic motor and it eats through 10 inch oak with no problem. I didn't know that they came standard with ceramic guides.
@@AndreaArzensek I don't know for sure if the N4400 now comes standard with the ceramic guides, but when I looked at the Felder website it seemed to imply that they come standard. When I bought the bandsaw a few years ago it was somewhat new on the market and was considerably cheaper, so it was an even better bargain. I was looking mainly at some Lagunas (the Mini-Max and other Italians as well as the Felders were out of our price range). The N4400 turned out to be the perfect bandsaw for us. I prefer sawing a lot of things on the bandsaw because it's safer even than a sliding table saw. Overall it's a great saw. I've resawn 10"-11" oak and maple without any problems. I run Lenox carbide-tipped blades (which are pricey but which I also recommend if you can get them in Europe) on it and they perform great. The steel-disc guides are tolerable, but if you can afford to to upgrade them it likely makes the saw even better.
Great review , i also have the Hammer N4400 , the K3 sliding table saw and the jointer. Honestly the only tool which I really like is the jointer. The K3 has many problems which are just annoying and the N4400 is also just lacking a so many details. The small fence, the missing scale on the fence , the horrible bladeguides ect...
I have found fence on N4400 to be Oland I don't miss scale on the fence, but it could have been added. The blade guides have left a lot to be desired. K3 Winner for me was a disappoint but we upgraded to K700 and that is a beast, probably even an overkill for our needs but we love it.
Hello and congratulations for the review. I also bought the N4400 for 2 weeks but unfortunately I am not completely satisfied. For the moment the saw is stopped because it has a production defect and when it turns, it begins to vibrate dangerously ... it can happen, of course, but, at Felder, there is no testing and quality control service? I have been told that a technician will come in 2 weeks ... what? 2 weeks? And this would be warranty service? For the moment I am forced to take the wood to be cut by a carpenter friend of mine. I won't add anything else, otherwise I risk offending someone. One thing is certain: as soon as this problem is solved, the N4400 saw and the A3-31 plane will go on sale.
@@Ezlivin Hi, in the end I sold it and bought a Laguna 18bx and although apparently it looks better, I am not satisfied with the build quality of the band saw (much better than the N4400). I have now also put the Laguna 18bx up for sale and am waiting for the Felder FB510. I hope to be luckier.
So have you got Felder 510? I have two Felder 700 machines and I'm very pleased with them, they work fantastic and they are light years away from Hammer in build quality and performance.
@@AndreaArzensek Hi, unfortunately I haven't been able to sell the Laguna 18bx yet. Unfortunately there are some features of the Laguna saw that are unacceptable for potential buyers: 1-the blade replacement system is simply complicated and wastes a lot of time (ridiculous!), 2-the table inclination does not have a rack system and therefore the table must be tilted manually, losing all precision (very ridiculous and frustrating), 3-the structure of the saw is simply too light to accommodate 18" wheels. There are also other details, for example, I don't I like that this series is built on the "Asian continent" ;). I probably should have gotten a Laguna saw from the industrial series, which is built in Italy, but at this point I would have bought it directly from the manufacturer in Italy. As for the Felder FB510 or FB610, I think it's a great saw overall. The only thing I don't like is the lack of the quick blade release lever. At the moment though, I won't be getting any new band saws until I can sell the Laguna 18bx.
Thank you for your reply. Good luck selling your saw. As I understand FB510 and 610 are the same saws just different wheels. As for quick lever tension - it is a shame but I got used on my N4400. I will probably upgrade to FB510 in the future or maybe look into some SCM machines.
That seems to be an excellent tool Andreas and I understand your frustration with the small problems - I bought a new and, for me, expensive bandsaw last year. I'm pleased with it but it was shipped with poor set up, a bad blade and some other small problems. Sometimes these smaller problems can be deeply frustrating - like an itch you can't reach! Thanks mate and may you and your brother use the saw in good health.
Excelente Andrea´s..Esta una hermosura la maquina y toda tu carpintería....mas lo que realizas..! Felicitaciones campeón..! Gracias y un gran abrazo..!
i like the tension reminder! the amount of times i've switched my bandsaw on only to hear the soul destroying sound of the blade falling off the wheels
Nice review. This look like a very nice saw. Like you I didn't had a lot of bandsaws. so it's hard to compare, the only saw I bought new is my General ans it's not really good.
Enjoyed your review Andrea. I should take delivery of my Felder FB510 in a few weeks and although I have experience of using a bandsaw I think there should be a way of reminding users to re-tension the blades before using the machine. Unless you use one everyday it's something we can all easily forget to do.......... Cheers and regards from England... Adrian
I always do un-tension the blade. I think FB510 is much better machine than Hammer. We also upgraded my A3-41 to AD741 and we should get it somewhere in September. We will then see if the bandsaw upgrade is needed. For now it is ok. Enjoy yours :) Regards from Croatia 😊
@@AndreaArzensek Hi Andrea and thanks for the reply. That AD741 looks like a beast of a machine and looks like it's really good quality. Hope you do a video of it's arrival and then a review on your thoughts on how it works. By the way we visited Rovinj in Croatia a couple of years ago and you have a lovely country with really friendly people. We will be back again as soon as possible.Subscribed to your channel .. Regards from England.. :-)
Thank you Adrian. Rovinj is a beautiful city and my favorite with Dubrovnik in Croatia. I live just 20 minute drive south from Rovinj in a small town called Fažana. It is in front of NP Brijuni. AD 741 looks like a good machine, we got it with spiral head and power drive. I will definitely make a review of it somewhere in December (once I use it a bit).
@@AndreaArzensek Hi Andrea, great to hear back from you and if you ever visit England stay in touch and it would be great to meet up. We could give you a tour of my workshop. I live near a town on the South Coast called Rye which is similar to Rovinj with cobbled streets and a small fishing fleet. It was once surrounded by sea but now it's about 2 miles from the sea.Fazana looks great too. I will look out for the Felder review. All the best Adrian
Hi Adrian, I just looked up Rye and it looks great. I'd love to visit and have a shop tour. If you are ever here please visit our shop, it is small but interesting to the visitors :) Best regards from Croatia 😊
Many thanks for the great review Andrea. I also have a N4400 . What blade did you use for the wide cut of the oak board? The main issue I have with this saw is vibration. It’s not terrible, but despite all my efforts to tune the saw it still has some vibration, especially with a wide blade. Murray
I think I have Lenox blade. It is okayish, I've heard that Slicer from Highland Woodworker are great blades and Tuff Saws from UK. I don't have much vibration on the saw. It is quite sturdy. Have you checked that the bandsaw sits flat on the ground? Because I shimmed mine as its base wasn't flat.
Thank you Adri. In short AF14 handles all of the machines without any problems, so it is plenty powerful. However there are some "nuisances": The release hinge for the bag is garbage and the holding ring has a lot of burr and sharp edges like it is made to cut your bags after the first use. I removed the hinge and thatmakes changing bag so much faster. I sanded the sharp ring and placed a blue tape to prevent it from cutting the bags. Felt filter does it job but also let's go lots of fine dust in the air. This can be resolved by buying the canister filter with flaps. But it costs as same as the vacuum itself. I think I will upgrade to that or I will look into cyclone dust collectors. Even though it has problems, at the end it is very powerful chip collector and we are satisfied with it. I will eventually make a review of it.
Thanks for the honest review! The point about the tension is not a valid one I think. As a lot of users do not decrease the tension between use, it is a bit of a personal one . Either way it should just be something the user needs to get in his method of operation.
We tension and un-tension the saw every day at the beginning and the end of work day. If it were a quick lever it would take us 5 seconds instead of 40. It doesn't sound like much but math is simple. 52 weeks x 5 work days x 35 seconds comes to 2.5 hours lost tensioning the saw. That's how I see it. Again, not that of a big deal but it could have been better as much cheaper saws in USA have this feature.
Hi Andrea, can you make a short review about Felder AF 14? Are you happy with the bag filter? Should worth the investment in cartridge filter? Is it enough for A3-41? Good luck from Romania.
@@legnisstudio In short, it is a very good and powerful dust collector that should be upgraded with the canister (cartridge) filter. The bag does it's job but leaves out fine dust, that's just the way it works. It is plenty strong for A3-41. Greetings from Croatia
Forgetting to tension the blade is a problem with all bandsaws. What I do is when I un-tension the blade, I first open the top door. Then when I re-tension the blade, I close the top door. I just got used to only tension/un-tension the blade with the top door open. This has a lot of benefits for me:
* For setting the blade tension the correct way, you need the top door open anyway. I'll explain below.
* I never forget to put tension on the blade: because the door is open so the machine will not start.
* I (almost) never forget to un-tension the blade: when I look through the shop when I leave, I see that the door is still closed: that means I forgot to un-tension the blade.
* The top door has a circuit breaker: this means it is an extra safety measure helping with kids in your shop.
Let me explain why the top door needs to be open when tensioning:
Setting the correct tension is never done using the useless indicator on the machine. I moderately press on the sawblade along the length of the column on the left. I can only access this with the top door open. I just eyeball the deflection to be, let's say 10mm to 20 mm or so depending on the blade type. You can only do this along the left column, as there is nothing like blade guides influencing your measurement.
This is an eye opener! Nice tips, thank you for sharing :)
this is great idea :D
Thanks for the review. One trick I use when I remove tension on my saw I clip a mini clamp on the blade just above the table. Never mistakenly turn on the saw after this.
Very detailed review. The workshop looks great 😍
Thank you so much love! 😍😘😍
I have a N4400 and have the same problems with the guides and post. for a reminder about the tension I jus put a magnet on top of the table in front of the blade every time I take the tension off. great review. Thanks and good luck
The magnet tip is a good one! Thank you for the nice words 😊
The only review where you said that the saw has no quick release tention switch to lower the tention of the blade after work. This was really helpfull for me! Thx for that.
I also have the N4400 and been using it for a good few years now. The wiggle in the guide rails is a pain but once you have that setup properly and the blade properly aligned you can go quite thin on veneers. Got some blades from Tuffsaws in the UK and that transformed the saw for me...Keep up the good work :)
I agree! I love my N4400 and after using it for a while you just get used to the 2 minutes of setup/tear down and call it good.
Sadly Tuffsaws won't send to EU anymore since Brexit.
@@AndreaArzensek Brexit has killed a lot of business...real shame because their blades I've found to be the best...
Yes, many people said that about them
Hi, To set the table to negative degrees, you dont have to remove to 0 degree stop, its enough to slide it away and then you can tilt the table easily. But on mine 510 its was tighten well so I cannot move it by hand, I have to loosen it.
I was looking at buying this band saw- thanks for the honest review.
You're welcome Marisa.
This is a great bandsaw. I have one. It's very well made (in Austria, NOT China, like most or all of its competitors, and that was very important for me) and does not lack for power. In that class and price range, I think it's the best saw you can buy.
You're quite right, though, that the guides are the weak point. I have the very same issues you do. I think the N4400 may now come standard with the ceramic X-life guides (which is why I'm surprised to see yours came with the steel guides), though you can also buy after-market ceramic or bearing guides from Laguna and others. I have been planning that upgrade for a while.
We are overall quite happy as it is our first one and we don't know how we did without one. It is hard to compare because I have never worked on another one before.
But you're right about the power, I have monophasic motor and it eats through 10 inch oak with no problem.
I didn't know that they came standard with ceramic guides.
@@AndreaArzensek I don't know for sure if the N4400 now comes standard with the ceramic guides, but when I looked at the Felder website it seemed to imply that they come standard.
When I bought the bandsaw a few years ago it was somewhat new on the market and was considerably cheaper, so it was an even better bargain. I was looking mainly at some Lagunas (the Mini-Max and other Italians as well as the Felders were out of our price range). The N4400 turned out to be the perfect bandsaw for us. I prefer sawing a lot of things on the bandsaw because it's safer even than a sliding table saw.
Overall it's a great saw. I've resawn 10"-11" oak and maple without any problems. I run Lenox carbide-tipped blades (which are pricey but which I also recommend if you can get them in Europe) on it and they perform great. The steel-disc guides are tolerable, but if you can afford to to upgrade them it likely makes the saw even better.
Great review , i also have the Hammer N4400 , the K3 sliding table saw and the jointer. Honestly the only tool which I really like is the jointer. The K3 has many problems which are just annoying and the N4400 is also just lacking a so many details. The small fence, the missing scale on the fence , the horrible bladeguides ect...
I have found fence on N4400 to be Oland I don't miss scale on the fence, but it could have been added. The blade guides have left a lot to be desired.
K3 Winner for me was a disappoint but we upgraded to K700 and that is a beast, probably even an overkill for our needs but we love it.
Hello and congratulations for the review. I also bought the N4400 for 2 weeks but unfortunately I am not completely satisfied. For the moment the saw is stopped because it has a production defect and when it turns, it begins to vibrate dangerously ... it can happen, of course, but, at Felder, there is no testing and quality control service? I have been told that a technician will come in 2 weeks ... what? 2 weeks? And this would be warranty service? For the moment I am forced to take the wood to be cut by a carpenter friend of mine. I won't add anything else, otherwise I risk offending someone. One thing is certain: as soon as this problem is solved, the N4400 saw and the A3-31 plane will go on sale.
Did you end up selling your N4400? Or did you get the problems resolved and decided to keep it?
@@Ezlivin Hi,
in the end I sold it and bought a Laguna 18bx and although apparently it looks better, I am not satisfied with the build quality of the band saw (much better than the N4400). I have now also put the Laguna 18bx up for sale and am waiting for the Felder FB510. I hope to be luckier.
So have you got Felder 510?
I have two Felder 700 machines and I'm very pleased with them, they work fantastic and they are light years away from Hammer in build quality and performance.
@@AndreaArzensek Hi, unfortunately I haven't been able to sell the Laguna 18bx yet. Unfortunately there are some features of the Laguna saw that are unacceptable for potential buyers: 1-the blade replacement system is simply complicated and wastes a lot of time (ridiculous!), 2-the table inclination does not have a rack system and therefore the table must be tilted manually, losing all precision (very ridiculous and frustrating), 3-the structure of the saw is simply too light to accommodate 18" wheels. There are also other details, for example, I don't I like that this series is built on the "Asian continent" ;). I probably should have gotten a Laguna saw from the industrial series, which is built in Italy, but at this point I would have bought it directly from the manufacturer in Italy. As for the Felder FB510 or FB610, I think it's a great saw overall. The only thing I don't like is the lack of the quick blade release lever. At the moment though, I won't be getting any new band saws until I can sell the Laguna 18bx.
Thank you for your reply. Good luck selling your saw.
As I understand FB510 and 610 are the same saws just different wheels. As for quick lever tension - it is a shame but I got used on my N4400. I will probably upgrade to FB510 in the future or maybe look into some SCM machines.
That seems to be an excellent tool Andreas and I understand your frustration with the small problems - I bought a new and, for me, expensive bandsaw last year. I'm pleased with it but it was shipped with poor set up, a bad blade and some other small problems. Sometimes these smaller problems can be deeply frustrating - like an itch you can't reach! Thanks mate and may you and your brother use the saw in good health.
Thank you Mark! Best regards from Croatia
Thank you , finally a review that feels genuine instead of sponsored :)
Thanks 😊
Excelente Andrea´s..Esta una hermosura la maquina y toda tu carpintería....mas lo que realizas..! Felicitaciones campeón..! Gracias y un gran abrazo..!
Muchas gracias Miguel. Abrazos desde Croacia
Thanks for your review, all the best from ireland, seán
Thanks for the honest review!
i like the tension reminder! the amount of times i've switched my bandsaw on only to hear the soul destroying sound of the blade falling off the wheels
Still happens but far less than before, maybe once a year.
Reminder does work, but brain sometimes doesn't 🤣
I'd love a link to the light ;)
There is no more available like mine. I even wanted to buy a second one because it is really good light.
@@AndreaArzensek whats your second choice?
I would look for something similar. Try magnet flexible light on ebay or Amazon
Nice review. This look like a very nice saw.
Like you I didn't had a lot of bandsaws. so it's hard to compare, the only saw I bought new is my General ans it's not really good.
Thank you Alain.
Your wooden bandsaw is quite good as I've seen and surely much less expensive than ours.
@@AndreaArzensek Yes I'm very satisfied with my wooden bandsaw. I only use my metal General wit a 1/8" blade, mostly for things like scrollsawing.
could try some blue loctite on the guide adjusters
Not a bad idea, i did notice that they become loose during the cuts no matter how hard I tighten them up. Thanks
Enjoyed your review Andrea. I should take delivery of my Felder FB510 in a few weeks and although I have experience of using a bandsaw I think there should be a way of reminding users to re-tension the blades before using the machine. Unless you use one everyday it's something we can all easily forget to do.......... Cheers and regards from England... Adrian
I always do un-tension the blade. I think FB510 is much better machine than Hammer. We also upgraded my A3-41 to AD741 and we should get it somewhere in September. We will then see if the bandsaw upgrade is needed. For now it is ok. Enjoy yours :)
Regards from Croatia 😊
@@AndreaArzensek Hi Andrea and thanks for the reply. That AD741 looks like a beast of a machine and looks like it's really good quality. Hope you do a video of it's arrival and then a review on your thoughts on how it works. By the way we visited Rovinj in Croatia a couple of years ago and you have a lovely country with really friendly people. We will be back again as soon as possible.Subscribed to your channel .. Regards from England.. :-)
Thank you Adrian.
Rovinj is a beautiful city and my favorite with Dubrovnik in Croatia. I live just 20 minute drive south from Rovinj in a small town called Fažana. It is in front of NP Brijuni.
AD 741 looks like a good machine, we got it with spiral head and power drive.
I will definitely make a review of it somewhere in December (once I use it a bit).
@@AndreaArzensek Hi Andrea, great to hear back from you and if you ever visit England stay in touch and it would be great to meet up. We could give you a tour of my workshop. I live near a town on the South Coast called Rye which is similar to Rovinj with cobbled streets and a small fishing fleet. It was once surrounded by sea but now it's about 2 miles from the sea.Fazana looks great too. I will look out for the Felder review. All the best Adrian
Hi Adrian,
I just looked up Rye and it looks great. I'd love to visit and have a shop tour. If you are ever here please visit our shop, it is small but interesting to the visitors :) Best regards from Croatia 😊
Many thanks for the great review Andrea. I also have a N4400 . What blade did you use for the wide cut of the oak board? The main issue I have with this saw is vibration. It’s not terrible, but despite all my efforts to tune the saw it still has some vibration, especially with a wide blade.
Murray
I think I have Lenox blade. It is okayish, I've heard that Slicer from Highland Woodworker are great blades and Tuff Saws from UK. I don't have much vibration on the saw. It is quite sturdy. Have you checked that the bandsaw sits flat on the ground? Because I shimmed mine as its base wasn't flat.
Gracias por compartir tus opiniones , conocimientos y experiencias , un saludo cordial y por supuesto un gran like desde Narón , Galicia (España)
Muchas gracias Viorsa. Abrazos desde Croacia
Great review thank you! I also saw that you have the Felder AF 14 chip extractor. I was wondering what are your thoughts to it? Cheers!
Thank you Adri. In short AF14 handles all of the machines without any problems, so it is plenty powerful.
However there are some "nuisances":
The release hinge for the bag is garbage and the holding ring has a lot of burr and sharp edges like it is made to cut your bags after the first use. I removed the hinge and thatmakes changing bag so much faster. I sanded the sharp ring and placed a blue tape to prevent it from cutting the bags.
Felt filter does it job but also let's go lots of fine dust in the air. This can be resolved by buying the canister filter with flaps. But it costs as same as the vacuum itself. I think I will upgrade to that or I will look into cyclone dust collectors.
Even though it has problems, at the end it is very powerful chip collector and we are satisfied with it.
I will eventually make a review of it.
@@AndreaArzensek Thank you, really helps!!
Thanks for the honest review!
The point about the tension is not a valid one I think. As a lot of users do not decrease the tension between use, it is a bit of a personal one . Either way it should just be something the user needs to get in his method of operation.
We tension and un-tension the saw every day at the beginning and the end of work day. If it were a quick lever it would take us 5 seconds instead of 40. It doesn't sound like much but math is simple. 52 weeks x 5 work days x 35 seconds comes to 2.5 hours lost tensioning the saw. That's how I see it. Again, not that of a big deal but it could have been better as much cheaper saws in USA have this feature.
Hi Andrea, can you make a short review about Felder AF 14? Are you happy with the bag filter? Should worth the investment in cartridge filter? Is it enough for A3-41? Good luck from Romania.
I already took the video, I just need to edit it. Probably in a month or two.
@@AndreaArzensekthank you, can't wait for it... 🙂
@@legnisstudio In short, it is a very good and powerful dust collector that should be upgraded with the canister (cartridge) filter. The bag does it's job but leaves out fine dust, that's just the way it works.
It is plenty strong for A3-41.
Greetings from Croatia
como puedo hacer para pedirte un letrero para ags mexico
Mándame el diseño por mi e-mail. Lo puedes ver en mi canal de TH-cam. Saludos
Great video! Thanks.
clean work was a beautiful design enjoy master🇹🇷👏🏻👋🏻🛎☺️
Thank you 😊
Pura vida muy buena maquina saludos desde costa Rica
Gracias Zailyn! Saludos desde Croacia