MM16 owners................

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I've never owned or used a bandsaw but in the next month that problem will probably go away. The LOML has given me a substantially loose purse string and I only want order one so I'm considering the minimax MM-16.

Any owners out there? Pro and cons opinions would be greatly appreciated!

[Bruce Page]

Ken, the only negative I found with mine was the funky “mobility kit”. The bandsaw itself is sweet – it has great power and with the proper blade will resaw anything you throw at it.
If you do a Google SawmillCreek search on I’ve gone mobile! you’ll see my solution to the one flaw.

[Mac Cambra]

Been very happy with mine so far. I have had mine for a little over a year with know real issues. The only complaint is the mobility kit interferes with opening the lower door all of the way which makes blade changes harder than they should be.

The other issue that you have to plan for is having a 230V/30A circuit available, I had had that in my garage so that wasn't an issue for me.

I think you will be happy should you decide to get one.

[Mike Spanbauer]

I own one, and have been very pleased for nearly 2 years. I've probably put 200 hours on it. It's seen hundreds and hundreds of feet of wood resawn and never even broken a sweat.

It will create more saw dust than you can even dream of if you intend to resaw.

My only con I can think of is that the single 100mm port isn't sufficient for DC on this beast with the raw volume of dust it can and will create. Oh, and I do have SERIOUS dust collection power (5hp oneida pulling 12" sp through a 5" gate on the bandsaw @ 800cfm).

I would happily buy another without blinking an eye. The only pause would be to upgrade to an mm20 or mm24 :)

You won't be left wanting more saw once you have this baby.

mike

[Joe Mioux]

The MM mobility kit excells at finding the high and low spots in your poured concrete floor.

As long as your floor is as flat as plate glass, the mobility kit glides as gracefully across the floor as Fred and Ginger..

er well.?

make that the Skipper and Ginger on a bamboo stage.

since you have a dedicated woodworking shop, you probably won't move your bandsaw much. If so, the mobility kit isn't bad for moving short distances

I like my MM16,

[Doug Shepard]

Cons:
-The manual sucks (both printed and the online version)
-Had the same electrical switch problems that others have had, but no problems since the replacement switch.
-You'll either love or hate the Johnson Bar mobility kit. I hated it. Used Bruce's solution for a year (a good one too) but recently put a set of Zambus casters under it and it's even nicer.
-The miter gauge is junk.
-The plastic table insert on mine was far from square and level. Took a fair bit of filing and fiddling and it's still not entirely flat and level but not a show stopper
-Generates a ton of dust when resawing but that's to be expected.

Pros:
Cutting with it is an absolute joy, especially with the Tri-Master. Amazing resaw cut quality.
I'd buy one again in a heartbeat

And if you need more enticement there's always this:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=26027

[Brian Hale]

Hey Ken,

I'm the odd man out on this one as i'm not happy with mine for several reasons.

... The entire lower guide assembly is held in place with 1 bolt. If you bind a piece of wood or misguide it the blade can move the whole assembly out of alignment, quite frustrating in the middle of a long cut.

... DC is poor. Even with a good sucker you'll see plenty of dust coming out of the top of the saw

... The mobility kit is a very poor design. You need to remove on of the wheels to change blades.

... The fence is also a very poor design. Making small adjustments is an exercise in frustration. The fence rides on the table, not the clamp bar, and it's easy to tighten it up out of perpendicular.

... The thrust bearings on mine froze up after ~20 hours use. The manual (useless) says nothing about care/lubricating them. I'll be replacing them in the near future.

... I also had trouble with the switch going bad but i hear that's been taken care of.

... On mine, the blade guard above the upper guides binds when i raise and lower it.

... So far i've been unable to get the upper guide bar to track in line with the blade. It's fine for about 8" of resaw capacity but any more than that and i have to reset the guides. Of course i seldom get wood wider than that.

... As already mentioned, the table insert is a piece of junk. Even the replacement they sent is worthless. I can't get it to sit flush with the table so some portion is always lower and it's good at catching what i'm cutting.

It's to the point that i hate the idea of having to use it and will look for alternate methods to deal with the task at hand.

Now having said that, once it's set up it has plenty of power for resawing and the Tri-Master works great on it.

Good luck with your decision!

Brian :)

[Jim Becker]

Owner. Satisfied. Love the machine...as well as the other MM stuff I own. Should you expect everything to be perfect? Probably not. It seems common for the Euro industrial stuff to be 'not perfect' off the pallet. (Although so far, my slider has been...)

[jerry cousins]

Have had one for 3 or 4 years and i like it a lot - primarily used for re-sawing. Biggest problem was the flatness of the table -
jerry

[Paul B. Cresti]

I currently own a MM24 and have no gripes...I did own a Agazzani B-24, it was also very good. I ask my saw to slice and dice and it does that with ease...

[Steve Clardy]

I like mine. ;) No problems with it like the above posters have mentioned.

[Dan Lee]

My 3 year old MM16 is the first BS I've used and owned and like it a lot. I never got the hang of setting the euro guides and eventually bought Laguna ceramic guides which I also like a lot.

[Bill Fleming]

Have owned mine for over 2 years - love it, was well adjusted when I got it and have used it for everything from re-sawing to detail work. Mobility kit is ok but I installed Zambus Casters and love them as well ( http://www.zambus.com ).

Great support from MiniMax as well, for a minor item on the MM-16 and a used lathe.

Good Luck - Bill

[Gary Herrmann]

Buy it. You won't be sorry. I am thinking of getting the Laguna guides for mine tho.

[Jay Albrandt]

My 3 year old MM16 is the first BS I've used and owned and like it a lot. I never got the hang of setting the euro guides and eventually bought Laguna ceramic guides which I also like a lot.

Hi Dan,

I have an older MM 16 and have been considering the Laguna guides. Did you have to modify the lower guide bracket when you replaced your guides with the Laguna?

Thanks

[John TenEyck]

Look at the Grizzly G0636X as an alternative. Just as much power and resaw height. The switch works. The fence is far superior. The dust collection is far better. The table tilt adjustment system is far more robust. And the manual is infinitely better. I don't know if the frame is any more stiff than on the MM-16 but I do know that the G0636X can easily tension a 1" blade to 25K psi, and a lot more if desired. And it costs substantially less. I've had one for about 2-1/2 years and have run thousands of feet of wood through it. With a carbide blade on it it is scary fast. I smile every time I use it.

No matter what you buy the comment about needing good DC is no joke. You will need at least 800 real CFM to effectively remove all the sawdust these things throw when resawing something 12" thick. I had to completely reconfigure my 2 HP DC system in order to do it. Good luck.

John

[eugene thomas]

Not think the grizzly model was out in 2007.

[Steve Clardy]

Look at the Grizzly G0636X as an alternative. Just as much power and resaw height. The switch works. The fence is far superior. The dust collection is far better. The table tilt adjustment system is far more robust. And the manual is infinitely better. I don't know if the frame is any more stiff than on the MM-16 but I do know that the G0636X can easily tension a 1" blade to 25K psi, and a lot more if desired. And it costs substantially less. I've had one for about 2-1/2 years and have run thousands of feet of wood through it. With a carbide blade on it it is scary fast. I smile every time I use it.

No matter what you buy the comment about needing good DC is no joke. You will need at least 800 real CFM to effectively remove all the sawdust these things throw when resawing something 12" thick. I had to completely reconfigure my 2 HP DC system in order to do it. Good luck.

John

Pretty sure Ken already bought his saw, about 12 years ago John.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Ken's enjoying his MM-16!

[Richard Wolf]

Hi Dan,

I have an older MM 16 and have been considering the Laguna guides. Did you have to modify the lower guide bracket when you replaced your guides with the Laguna?

Thanks

I know this thread is 12 years old, but to answer Jay's question, no modification is necessary for the Laguna ceramic guides.

[John TenEyck]

Pretty sure Ken already bought his saw, about 12 years ago John.

Good grief; I need to read the dates. The G0636X is still an amazing value for anyone who's considering a saw in that size range.

Ken, I'm glad you are happy with your saw. As am I.

John