Bandsaw BP-355

[Prle77]

Bought it about two years ago
W4224 | BP-355 Wood Band Saw | For Sale Sydney Brisbane Melbourne Perth | Buy Workshop Equipment & Machinery online at machineryhouse.com.au

Pros
Versatile saw
240mm height capacity
Has a fairly powerful motor..
Cast iron wheels
single lever tensioner
uses bearings for blade support
safety switches on both top and bottom door
inspection window
sturdy construction

Cons
factory bearings are on a cheaper side.. after six months of use bottom blade support bearing packed it
although it has 25.4 blade capacity.. 25.4 mm blades are not readily available.. had to order custom blades.. maximum width available is 16mm this is from machinery house
safety switch has alignment issue so need to fiddle with the doors a bit to open / close

OVERALL
not a bad bandsaw for the $$
blade alignment / tuning not very quick job to do but not hard either...
support arm depends on a back screw to be tighten .. if left loose, arm is quite flimsy.. although you can use it as such,, it leaves rough cuts due to movement. back screw tightens it up and cuts are much nicer
has inbuild dust collection.. at first i thought it was one of those gimmick ones ... but this one actually works quite well.... with dust collector connected there is almost no saw dust in the bottom compartment even after heavy use..

admittedly not the best bandsaw on the market but not the worse either.. pretty well build for the price..

[orraloon]

I have had mine for about 6 years now and it has done everything I have asked of it. I still have the guide bearings it came with but they are due for a change out as they are making a noise. I will be going to a bearing outlet this time for better ones. You are right about the blade size. I had a 19 mm blade but never got perfect results with it. 16mm is fine and my most used blade. I have smaller ones for the few times I cut curves. Set up right with a sharp blade it will do what is asked of it.
All up I am very pleased with mine and for the price I paid back then very good value. I see the price has gone up quite a bit since I got mine but I suppose all the rest have risen also.
Regards
John

[sirex]

thanks for this, i'm seriously considering picking one of these up so it's invaluable info. I'd be using it almost entirely for resawing (hopefully with a 1" resaw king blade on it). I'd be interested to know how you found the fence to be on it.

[orraloon]

I think a 1'' blade is a bit large for a 14'' machine. You will have trouble getting enough tension on it. A 16mm 3TPI blade will be fine. I made that mistake with my first bandsaw as everything you read says a wide blade is best for resawing. Took a while to figure out what was wrong. A sharp blade with proper tension and a high fence that you can align for any drift is what you need for resawing.
The fence that comes with it is ok for general work but can't be aligned for drift. I built another fence for ripping thick stock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpbwH9510MY

Works a lot better than the factory fence.
Regards
John

[sirex]

maybe a thinner resaw king blade might be called for then. That's ok.

Out of interest, how's the dust collection on it Are you just using a standard 2HP unit ?

[orraloon]

A standard 2HP unit keeps the cabinet reasonably dust free but I do need to make a secondary suction point around the lower guide bearings. I think that would do more good. Collect there and almost no dust would go in the lower cabinet in the first place.
Regards
John

[Xanthorrhoeas]

When I had one of these bandsaws I found that the Lenox 12 mm TCT TCG (Triple grind) blades worked best of all. Poisonously expensive but, being tungsten carbide tipped they last a long time and they give a superb, smooth cut. I used it for everything (ripping and curves) and know a master craftsman here in Brisbane who does likewise (although on a monster saw). I have a bigger saw now and more choice but still use the 12 mm TCG TCT for a lot of work - it is almost a 'universal' blade for me.

I do not know where in the world 'yes' is but, there are Lenox distributors around Australia - I bought mine from Henry Bros in Sydney after having a badly welded one from a Queensland supplier.

[Prle77]

The fence is not that great... it does the job for stuff under 100 mm but anything higher you might have issues
I've purchased 25 mm blade and the saw took it well... My recommendation would be to either copy the dust shroud thingy while it is still in tact or order spares.. I've managed to do some heavy damaged on mine within first 5 months...

[sirex]

Went ahead and ordered the bp-355 and now its a waiting game, so hopefully it'll work for me. It's going to be really big for my tiny room but i'll make it work somehow.

[nhatdao0612]

this BP-355 is only available in Australia, or isn't it?

[NCArcher]

Nothing is made in Australia. There would be an identical saw available under a different name/model number in Vietnam.