Sherwood 14in Electronic Variable Speed Bandsaw

A versatile, mid-sized band saw for cutting any appropriately sized material – You might be thinking: "I've never heard of Sherwood tools". Sherwood is (I believe) a Taiwanese-made range of workshop tools that is re-badged and sold by Timbecon. Carbatec does the same thing with their re-badged “Carbatec” tools, just with a slightly different design. The Timbecon website claims that Sherwood is made by a factory more aimed… Read more

at industrial-grade workshop fixtures, like band saws, jointers, thickness planers, etc, with very few offerings in the hand-held range of power tools. So you won't find them in your local Bunnings.

So far, I've been very impressed with Sherwood’s tools, and own both an industrial-grade band saw (being reviewed here), and an over-spec router table. I also like their 5 year warranty which isn't a length you see very often. Bigger names like Jet, Powermatic and more comparable Carbatec offer only 3 years.

Back to the bandsaw…

Why did I choose the Sherwood 14” Variable Speed model?

I chose this particular saw because it's one of the few band saws available in Australia with full electronic speed control. Most band saws only operate at one speed, maybe two, and that may involve changing drive belts and pulleys. I'm going to be honest with you, I'm the kind of guy who is usually too lazy to change the belts on my drill press for “just a few holes". Unless I need to drill 50 holes or more at a specific speed, I'm just going to leave it on my usual "middle of the road" speed setting. Knowing that I can’t get away with that on a bandsaw when I switch from wood, to plastic, to metal on a fairly regular basis, I needed something easy to use, and up to the task of my many and oddly varied cutting jobs.

Now if you just want to cut wood, or even meat, having one or two speeds is fine, but if you decide to cut some metal, ceramic, stone, or plastic, you might find that difficult even if you've got the right blade for that particular material. You can destroy your blade by running it at the wrong speed… or merely rip, chip, crack, or melt your chosen material being cut.

So when I say that this is THE most versatile 14" band saw I've ever seen, please note that I am not exaggerating. It's an industrial grade saw, and while the rated 950W of power isn't anything special on paper, the fact that they use a four pole motor (as opposed to the usual two) means there’s more torque for the wattage. Speed is no slouch either, and can go beyond 3000 feet per minute on a 2900mm band (roughly 300+ revolutions of the entire band per minute).

Like everything with a band saw, the rate at which you feed your material into it is important, and I have cut up to 40mm thick solid mild steel bars, ripped 200mm high of Ironbark sleepers for the garden, and I haven’t jammed once. At the other, more delicate end, I’ve cut 2mm thick perspex, and 5mm polycarbonate for a curved display case which are somewhat prone to either melting or cracking at typical wood-working speeds.

The unit, being a 14” model (or 345mm for metric lovers) is not huge by any means, but it is a respectable cutting width for many applications, and can work in modest-sized workshops. The table tilts up to 45 degrees, but that’s a feature I honestly don’t use much.

Setting up the saw:

The saw does NOT come in a cardboard box. This model came bolted to a small hardwood pallet with plastic over it all with a wooden frame. At a 138Kg shipping weight, it pays to be nice to your delivery man, and have strong friends.. with a decent truck/ute.

Unpacking it is the same as many pallets/crates, nothing new or exciting there.

Assembly is greatly accelerated by using socket sets, spanners, and a good set of hex keys (Allen keys), some are included, but I like my longer, brightly coloured ones for reach and ease of location once I’ve put a key down... somewhere. The manual has some interesting quirks. A few part numbers are mislabeled but those parts don’t exactly seem to be important (things like a small tray for holding the safety pin, and a hook for hanging things. I will say it’s probably best if you calibrate the upper and lower guides/bearings BEFORE you put the table on. It makes life so much easier. Even if you forgot that, it’s often worth taking the table off again, for the time-saving and reduced back issues that result.

Calibration of a bandsaw is a big topic, and everyone has their idea of what that should mean. I’m not going to rehash that here, there are plenty of instructional videos online.

Take the time to assemble things properly. If you aren’t sure, I strongly suggest you refer to the manual or ask a knowledgeable friend and get them to help.

Once you’ve calibrated the blade, the guides, and reattached your table and leveled it, take the time to install, square, and level your fence. If you decide to buy Timbecon’s upgraded taller fence, note that it does NOT come with any instructions whatsoever. (Timbecon, please tell Sherwood to fix that). We used the images found in Timbecon’s web site for guidance to figure it out.

Buying blades.

Now the saw comes with a general purpose wood cutting blade. (It came from a wood working shop after all) but to take advantage of the saws capability, you’re going to have to invest in the varying types of blades you’re likely to use. According to Timbecon’s web site, it uses a 2880mm blade, between 6-25mm wide. However, in the manual, it suggests a 2900mm blade (not very different, definitely within the tension adjustment range for the saw) but if you’re looking to use a finer blade for detailed scroll work, the 6mm lower limit means that this might not be the band saw for you. Honestly, I think I could get away with a thinner blade, but haven’t tried yet. However, you can certainly cut some nice curves on this saw using a 6mm blade as long as they’re not too tight. Since most of my curves involve gentle sweeps, that’s not a problem.

I did buy a 1” ripping blade (technically larger than 25mm, but not by much) for ripping sleepers to a certain thickness and it has worked without a single problem. Other than that, I got a cheap blade for cutting aluminium, a metal cutting blade for steel, and a couple of different wood cutting blades for my needs. I found the people at Combined Saw & Knife (a blade/sharpening company on the Gold Coast) were particularly knowledgeable, helpful and provided me with amazing service at surprisingly reasonable pricing. I’m very happy with the blades, and I have no reservations about recommending them.

Using the saw…

After plugging it in and turning it on at the wall, there’s still some stages you need to do before that saw starts moving and you can start cutting. Assuming that you’ve calibrated your guides, installed the blade, engaged the tension, doors closed, table is on, and everything is set up. Turning it on isn’t just a matter of flicking a switch.

1. Pull the safety pin (kinda like a fire extinguisher) so the big green start button can be pushed in. 2. Push (quite firmly) the big green start button. The speed indicator should light up, but the motor won’t start. 3. On the electronic speed controller, press “Run”. Now the motor will start up, (or not if the speed is set to zero). 4. Adjust the speed according to your material using the speed dial.

So just getting the thing to start the first time for new users (even if they’ve used a band saw for years) might need a quick introduction… or even induction.

Notes about saw performance.

The big selling point, speed control. I cannot stress how much I adore the ability to just turn a dial and see the speed indicator change. If you want to take it slow, go slow. If a higher speed is needed, just crank it up. No levers, no belts, no messing about. Work the way you need to, at the best and safest speed for your cutting task. However, at $800 more expensive than the 14” heavy duty model, you get roughly 1KW less power, but the convenience of going from 2 speeds to complete speed freedom between 0 and 3000 feet per minute.

Once the saw is calibrated, and started, I am amazed by how smoothly and quietly this band saw spins up. However, that’s not to say that there’s a complete absence of vibration. Certain speeds will create resonant frequencies and vibrate the whole saw more than others but this is easily adjusted out. Perhaps the most worrying (although not really an issues) is that the upper adjustable blade guard is attached at the bottom end only and can visibly vibrate QUITE a bit at the top. It would have been nicer if the guard was supported at more than one end. I’ve even been thinking about attaching something to damp the vibrations down, while allowing the height to remain adjustable.

I really like the ceramic guide blocks. The blade is cleaned as the debris is scraped off, rather than press-rolled onto the blade like those using older-style guide bearings. This means less cleaning over time, and without the friction caused by the accumulated debris, sap, resin, etc, the blade stays surprisingly cool, even when cutting metal. Cooler blades last longer, saving you money, and they cut a little more efficiently too!

Many higher-end band saws have a foot brake, so you can stop the blade spinning when you need to. Without a brake some blades can continue spinning for over a minute after power is cut, and having this silently-spinning blade is a safety hazard to the unwary. This model does NOT have a foot brake, but instead opts for an electronic braking system. The blade will often stop within 3-5 seconds for my typical use. This makes changing blades and adjusting the saw so much less time consuming and most importantly, safer. I also like the fact that the foot brake isn’t hiding under the overhang of the table/fence rails like it does on some other models, and doesn’t take up any extra floor space.

Where’s the catch?

This is a floor-standing model. At 1800mm high when bolted to the floor, shorter folks aren’t going to be able to easily reach the quick release tension lever on the top. However, I am not going to mark this as a negative, since this is common to all floor-standing band saws of this style and size. If you have a very small shop, you might think about putting it on a trolley, and I have done this so I can put the saw away when not in use. However, again this will add height to an already tall device.

Perhaps my greatest issue, is more a problem with my existing dust extraction unit, more than the saw itself. I find the TWO 4” dust ports a bit harder to manage with my little 1HP dust extraction unit. It would have been nicer to have some sort of dust hood around the descending blade to more efficiently extract the dust, or shape the bottom of the lower wheel compartment so dust is collected at a single point at the bottom. One port is fine for many smaller dust extractors, but two (while a nice option to have) makes it hard to handle the airflow requirements for a tool that is often fundamentally, a low volume dust generator. This is common in band saws, so I feel that perhaps the variable speed model is unfairly marked by this. Since the designers have gone to the trouble to innovate with electronic controls and braking, but only do exactly the same thing on dust extraction seems a tad disappointing.

If you’re looking to efficiently rip large amounts of hard timber, then you’re probably better off going for the “Heavy duty” 14” models or above. However these do not have electronic speed control…. at least, not yet at the time of writing.

So to sum up:

- Performance: 95% (very good, but managing resonant frequencies would be nice to use the full range of speed)

- Versatility: 95% (would have been nice to see a 4-5mm blade width minimum)

- Design: 95% (upper adjustable blade guard could be improved to reduce susceptibility to vibration, dust extraction could be better, but these don’t affect cutting)

- Ease of Use: 95% (love that speed control, I just don’t see many people putting the safety pin back when not in use)

- Ease of Assembly/Calibration: 85% (Timbecon, please fix the discrepancies between the manual and your site. The manual needs revision to ensure part numbers are accurate, I’d drop it to 75% if I consider the complete lack of a manual for the higher ripping fence but that is an accessory. Everything should be clearly documented).

- Cost: 75% (This is a higher-end unit, ok, but $800 for the convenience of electronic speed control is more than some would consider fair in this age of cheap, freely available speed controllers. Losing 1KW of power as well, relative to a near-identical cheaper "Heavy Duty" model, adds extra salt to the financial wound).

- Warranty: 90% (5 years over the typical 3. Not tested this though, please see below about my reservation).

Bandsaw Overall Score: 90% (I can't give 4.5 stars, sorry).

Overall experience with Timbecon’s sales…. beware the rewards program.

The sale went through fine, and the delivery went as expected. The products have been very good so far. However, Timbecon has a poorly designed and even more poorly implemented rewards program, which operates in a haphazard manner at best. Carbatec doesn’t have this rewards program, so in a way, Timbecon has an advantage, but it’s not one I would rely on. Let me explain:

Let’s start by saying I’ve bought quite a bit from Timbecon in the last few years, and I’ve done OK on their rewards program. (I’d honestly just prefer lower prices period, but hey). However, this saw purchase has not gone well on the rewards program front.

I bought this saw on sale, despite their web site claiming “Every dollar spent buys you a reward point, (terms and conditions apply)” I thought my $3000+ paid meant that I’d get a few less points than if I had paid the full price. Boy was I in for a rude shock. I called them up, chasing up rewards points (I had to do that at least once before for my previous purchases) and I was told after the fact, that by buying this item on sale, meant the entire paid value was exempt from earning rewards points. This was never clearly indicated on their site (I’m an online shopper). Other items had “no points will be given on this item when purchased” included in the product description. (I guess those are the terms and conditions mentioned) However, the product description for this saw, did NOT have that at the time of sale, so I thought I’d get at least most of my points.

So, I wrote a rather unhappy email, outlined the possible legal ramifications for them, and explained the situation causing my disappointment, and a few days after finding out this unexpected development. I was later informed by a manager that they knew the rewards program is a mess, and that they’d get back to me "early next week" (this was in June 2019). I’m still waiting for that response. As a customer who has already spent enough to get their lifetime 5% discount, and genuinely has a (documented, and recorded) legal argument to take this to small claims court, I’ve decided that you as a consumer should know.

So the moral of this story is this:

Use Timbecon for the quality of their products, but DON’T rely on points to buy that shiny woodworking gear until you call and confirm the rewards status of the items you intend to purchase. Their web site cannot be trusted to be clear and/or accurate, and as an online shopper, I’ve already directed some of my larger value purchases to other vendors for the sheer disappointment in both customer service and operational clarity. It gives me pause when I read the 5 year warranty (hence 90%), and although it is clearly indicated on the site, I have concerns that their warranty might not be honoured in practice. All because I'm left to wonder what other undisclosed terms and conditions might be in effect.

I hope this helps, I've attached a picture of the bandsaw with my home made trolley... please excuse the cut off elbow there.

Good luck with your band saw purchase! Harmo.