SCMI Mini Max S45 Bandsaw

[Marty Escarcega]

I recently aquired a pristene SCMI Mini Max S45 18" bandsaw. Its the 2 tone green model. It resaws about 10" under the guide. The motor claims to be

1.8h 220vac but it physically looks smaller than a US 1hp motor. My dilemma is that I recent fitted a really nice 14" Rockwell with a riser block and a 1-1/2hp 220VAC motor. I do want to do some resawing of logs and try my hand at veneers.

Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the S45. It has been replaced by an S45N from what I can read on the web. The N has a bigger motor and

12" resaw capacity.

As usual, opinions appreciated. Marty

[Bob Schmall]

Marty: Mark Duginske has touted MiniMax at shows and would certainly be very knowledgeable about band saws in general. (no pun intended) The last addy I have is > [e-mail]

Bob

[Leon]

While I am not knocking MiniMax at all and ultimately chose a Laguna over the MiniMax because I had an appointment to be shown their band saws at their store in Austin and they only had a saw that was missing parts to show me and seeing broken equipment on display at the local WW show, I still think the product is probably top notch. The service, not.

That said, Mark Duginske has touted MiniMax and he also is/was probably paid for the MiniMax product DVD that he appears on demonstrating their product. This is not to discount his knowledge on the subject in any way but if using his advise on which saw to choose and he points you towards MiniMax it would probably be wise to consider the fact that he is more closely associated with MiniMax than other brands of saws.

[Bob Schmall]

No, he isn't. I took a 3-day class from him and talked band saws with him. He was certainly paid for the DVD, but he is no shill-- in fact, he didn't have a MiniMax band saw in his shop. He has, however, written several books on the subject and is known and respected for his knowledge. Instead of making uninformed accusations, let's see if we can cut people a little slack.

I've once again grown disgusted with the black/white outlook of this newsgroup. Life is gray, and those "facts" we present are usually just our opinions. God bless you all.

Bob

[Leon]

Bob, I thought I was pretty clear that I was not going after Mark and that I agreed that he was pretty knowledgeable. I also added my poor experience with MiniMax but also indicated that I still believed that the saw was probably top notch. I was not trying to put any one or any company in a bad light. I provided positives for every negative.

That said, if you know that some one is being paid by a company to demonstrate their products and if they point you towards choosing those products you are basically talking to a salesman. That persons recommendation should be taken with the knowledge that there is an affiliation. To ignore that fact is to discount reason of choice. I am sure that his recommendations are honest but I would feel better about his recommendations if they were not pointed towards a company that puts money in his pocket. Your personal 3 day experience and opinion of Mark is good to know.