Record Power BS250 Benchtop Bandsaw

Product Information

The Record BS250 Bandsaw is a great bandsaw that is more than capable of doing all that I will ask of it. It is extremely well made and the overall frame is very stiff – the most important thing to look for with any bandsaw. If you look for the best affordable bandsaw, then our fourth recommendation will surely appeal to your taste! Here’s Silverline Trade Quality 350W Bandsaw and Converter Plug Blue SIL441563! The guide bearings on this bandsaw last around 12 months before getting full of dust, especially the lower ones. Some of the photos show a very dusty bandsaw – that′s because I just had to assemble it and do trial cuts before taking any images for this article. Review There were countersunk bolts fixing the main extruded tube to the cast square end fixing and must admit that I replaced these with two hexagonal head bolts and washers. It does feel better, but does limit the movement of the adjustable fence.

I needed a bench top machine with a bigger capacity than my little old Power Devil which had seen twenty years service and was now getting a bit worn. I chose the Sabre 250 based upon the good features, cast iron table, two speeds if I wanted, and so on. It took longer to arrive than expected as it was trans-shipped from one haulier to another more local to my home. The machine needed to be set up nicely; out of the box some of the factory assembly was not well aligned, but if you've had a bandsaw before you know what to look for. The saw work very well and has changed my wood working experience, it has opened up all sorts of new projects.So having watched the DVD I set up the bandsaw taking care to align the table square with the blade. The initial cuts I made to set the bandsaw up showed me that I could easily use it to slice large pieces of hardwood and have no issues with blade alignment or power. This BS250 is a very good machine for the money, and with a couple of minor tweaks it can be improved still further at very little cost.

In addition, we believe that the capacities, power and performance upgrades, combined with the unique SABRE features now found on this machine, make it a real contender in the general purpose floor-standing bandsaw category when combined with the BS250-AW stand and wheel kit. In this configuration it has quality and features well ahead of many of the lower cost floor-standing machines available in the market.This is time consuming and should not be necessary and I am hoping the Sabre 250 fence will work better. I upgraded the small drive belt to a better quality one and changed the supplied saw blade to some that are made in Wales and the machine now runs like a sewing machine and cuts beautifully - it is superb and a real pleasure to use.

Very easy to adjust and get the guides just kissing the blade. The Record BS250 Bandsaw is quite easy to adjust. Even with the bandsaw positioned with the spine against the workshop wall, the offset hinges enable the door to open far enough to give good access for blade changes without the need to take the door off or move the bandsaw away from the wall. The fence is perhaps not as nicely made as I would expect as it is a mixture of castings and extrusions. The extract is set in the lower front portion of the case. The saw comes with an adapter so will work with 58mm or 100mm extraction systems. The Record Power BS250 is a bench top band saw with a cast irontable. The user benefits from stability normally only found in muchlarger models.I like Record wood working machines as they are well made so I was looking at the 250 when i saw the Sabre 250, that was a problem, which one do i go for. The rip fence mount features easily accessible screws for fine adjustment of the fence in relation to the blade, for increased accuracy. In addition, we believe that the capacities, power and performance upgrades, combined with the unique SABRE features now found on this machine, make it a real contender in the general purpose floor-standing bandsaw category when combined with the BS250-AW stand and wheel kit. The only other problem that I have with the machine in use is that the fence has to be set against a machine square every time it has its position moved as it will not pull-up correctly when the lever is tightened.

The blade tension is set using the handwheel on the top of the saw, the handwheel is removable. In addition the top wheel can be tilted so as to get the blade running central. The stand and wheel kit have still not been taken out of the box yet as I am using the machine on a workbench. In this image you can see the underside of the table, cast iron and very heavy. There are slots in the fixings that will allow you to square the table up to the blade.The lower guides are again three ball bearings that can be moved once you release the caphead bolts, a bit more fiddly as there is not so much room, but nicely made and again strong. The BS250 was delivered safely with no damage to the outer box but the complete lower blade guide assembly was missing and the motor housing was dented. Optional Stand & Wheelkit Available: The optional stand and wheelkit allow themachine to be moved easily around the workshop.