Hi guys… one of the joys for me being a YouTuber is being sent things to review, and
a couple of weeks ago now, after my Budget Bandsaw build video, I was sent this Bandsaw
to review by Draper. Now right from the off guys I want to make
it clear this is not a paid endorsement. No money has changed hands here. Draper have
been honest in saying, “Here have a look at this and tell people what you think,”
so I’m going to be equally honest in what follows.
This is a 12 inch bandsaw so it’s a fairly large piece of kit, aimed at the more dedicated
DIYer or for small workshop use. It comes preassembled except for the table, which is
a thick and heavy. I’m guessing it’s cast iron and it’s been ground to establish a
nice flat surface. The whole thing feels sturdy. There’s very
little plastic on this machine and the metal panels are tough - and give the impression
that they’ll last a lifetime. But that does make this saw a heavy beast, coming in at
around 57Kg or 125lbs. Because this saw is so large, Draper sell
a separate stand. Unfortunately they didn’t send me one. But that wasn’t necessarily
a bad thing as it made me realise something quite critical… on the ground it’s too
low and on a bench it’s too high. So unless the stand is adjustable, as one size doesn’t
fit all, so you’ll might need to make something for this saw to stand on that matches your
needs. As I’m reviewing and filming this bandsaw,
I built this short wheeled stand to give me easy access. Unfortunately there’s no pre-drilled
fixing points that I could identify, so I made do with gluing simple wooden strips around
the perimeter. It has a large 750 Watts motor that runs nice
and quietly and seems well powered to me so far.
It has a dust extraction port to accommodate most sizes of vacuum connection, and inside
it’s nice to see the bodywork shaped to encourage falling debris to go towards this.
Any dust not getting sucked in falls through this slotted area which has this handy little
collection tray below. It comes fitted with a half inch blade, though
I’ve already swapped this out for a quarter inch blade for easier curve cutting.
The table tilts up to 45 degrees as you’d expect, and the turning control feels very
positive. Though this lever arrangement seems crazy to me. Release the lever to turn the
nob, and the lever gets in the way. Whoever designed that needs a slap.
However, fine adjustment is possible thanks to this adjustable resting bolt here, which
determines exactly where the table comes to rest – so everything can be squared up nicely.
When I changed the blade, I found the process pleasantly easy. There’s a large tension
release lever at the back of the machine to aid this. Tracking the blade is also simple
thanks to this large nob, and it’s great to see this has a locking mechanism to help
keep things just right. Accessing the inner workings is easy thanks
to these sturdy nobs, which best part self-close on the doors return.
Tensioning the blade is child’s play thanks to this top nob. The upper door has this handy
window which displays this tension guide. The blade bearings are large and robust. Adjusting
these is nice a simple and well covered in the instructions. At the back of the machine
there’s a handy little storage area for these essential tools. There’s also a hook
for the push stick that doesn’t quite work. A circular shaped hook would have worked much
better. The blade guard mechanism is well controlled.
The nob is two in one… with the smaller part being a lock and the larger nob moving
the guard. This means the guard will stay exactly where you want. The saw also has a
good maximum cutting height of approximately 6.5 inches.
The saw comes which a sturdy metal fence. This is fairly square though mine came with
this unfortunate graze. I like this magnifying measurement guide which should make it easy
to dial in accurate cuts. However I found that as I pressed the handle into place, the
fence shifts just slightly. So it’s a handy guide, but guide is the operative word. Fortunately
in place it feels solid and secure. A feature I do like about this fence is its
ability to easily swap from being a tall fence to a broader, lower fence, give me more room
for my fingers. There’s a really helpful LED flexi-light
which is very bright and easy to position, though it doesn’t necessarily stay exactly
where you want it. I do have two gripes with this machine. The
first is petty… I hate this switch. It works, covering the on and off buttons and providing
that handy fast-action stop feature. But it feels cheap. It doesn’t seem to fit the
quality feel of the rest of this saw. However, it does work, and that’s all that matters.
The second gripe is a little more serious. This blade insert it horrible. You can see,
it’s plastic and it’s not flat to the surface. This makes cutting smaller items
problematic. It’s easy enough to remove and pack out with slithers of cardboard, but
to me this really shouldn’t be necessary. As seems typical with most saws, it comes
with a mitre gauge that is just a little too loose in the guide slots for accurate cuts,
but it’s very handy nonetheless. So with all that said, how did I find the
saw? Well, I liked it. It’s quiet in use and
seems well powered. It doesn’t want to rush me, allowing me to work at my own pace, and
the large flat table gives me plenty of room to move the work around. The dust extraction
seems to do its job, the LED makes it easy to see what I’m cutting, and the quality
of the machine seems to match its price range. So all in all it’s a saw I’d be happy
to own. When I finished this review, I ran it by Draper
out of courtesy. They welcomed the feedback and tell me they’ve already begun working
on some of the points I’ve raised – which I think says a lot about this British company.
And that’s about all I can think of saying about this bandsaw right now guys. Draper
are happy enough for me to hang on to it for a couple of weeks and I might well do a few
bandsaw projects. So if there are any updates to this review, they’ll probably be in those.
If you have a question about this saw, drop me a line and let me know. I’ll do what
I can to help. I hope you enjoyed this one guys and if you
did, please like it. Subscribe to see more videos like this in the future and check out
my other builds on my YouTube channel. So that’s it for now guys. Take care and
thanks for watching.