Felder vs MiniMax - Bandsaws

[Calvin Crutchfield]

I had been looking for a used mini-max MM 16, but now learned I have access to a Felder FB540 for the price I was hoping to find a Mini-Max MM16 for.

I have compared the specs on the manufactures web-sites, but was curious if anyone knew any obvious differences here. Are they by chance made by the same people. I have heard the Agazzani makes many of these saws.

The FB540, doesn't appear to have near the cutting height that the MM-16 or MM-20 do with a cutting height of only 13". That's disappointing.

Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated.

calvin

[Peter Quadarella]

I was under the impression that MiniMax was an Italian company, and Felder was Austrian. Personally, I would stick with the Italians ;).

Seriously though, beyond them both being top quality companies, I don't know the specific differences of those machines.

[Pat Germain]

I helped a friend pick up a Unisaw purchase several months ago. The seller had replaced his Unisaw with a Felder. Wow, was that saw sa-weet! That guy could have bought any saw he wanted and he went with Felder.

I think it's a matter of preference over performance in this case. FYI, the Felder guy said he did have to wait a long time to get the saw. It had to come from Austria. If MM saws were readily available, that might be the deciding factor right there.

[Rob Russell]

The Felder and Minimax are both Italian saws, but I believe that the Felder is made by ACM. ACM was the manufacturer of the higher end Laguna bandsaws.

[John Hedges]

The 540 is a 21" saw. Felder makes an outstanding saw. From what I understand it is everybit as good Mini Max. In fact Mark Duginske mentioned when I asked about an Agazzani 18 vs an MM16 that he has a Felder and really likes it. You are comparing apples to oranges though, as the MM is a 16" saw and the Felder is a 21" saw (actually 20 1/2 I believe).

The question to ask is do you really see the need for resawing anything over 14". If not then definitely go with the Felder for the same price. The larger wheels are better for running carbide blades for 1 thing. I bought new and after asking the same question went with a 20 Agazzani with a 14" resaw as I never saw myself needing more.

[Calvin Crutchfield]

Excellent, guys.

I realize the Felder FB 540 is more comparable to the MM 20 vs the MM16. It's simply that while looking for the MM 16, I found the Felder.

The price is that of what I was hoping to get a used MM 16 for.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

OOOPS Edited post below


The Felder sales rep told me NOT to buy a Felder Band saw.
Ya gotta listen when the sales man says don't buy from me.

The MM 16 the $4000.00 one is I think the gold standard.

[John Hedges]

Cliff, are you talking about bandsaws or sliding table saws?

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Cliff, are you talking about bandsaws or sliding table saws?


Grazi grazi
I fixed it

[John Hedges]

OOOPS Edited post below


The Felder sales rep told me NOT to buy a Felder Band saw.
Ya gotta listen when the sales man says don't buy from me.

The MM 16 the $4000.00 one is I think the gold standard.

Cliff one more correction you may want to make. I know tool prices have been going up, but I don't thing the MM16 is anywhere near 4K yet.

[Mike Heidrick]

For $4K you can buy my MM20 with tri masters and a woodmaster ct!

$2500 would be more like a MM16.

[Calvin Crutchfield]

The felder FB 540 in question is a few years old and $1500

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Cliff one more correction you may want to make. I know tool prices have been going up, but I don't thing the MM16 is anywhere near 4K yet.

Hey~!!!!!!!
I'm dyslexic I couldn't remember a number sequence if you tattooed it to my forehead.
I would however, remember to find that tatoo guy some time in a dark alley.

The MM site has it pushing 2 and a half Gees and with shipping it's prolly about 3 gees. and tricked out with all the needed blades and the chrome bumper and supercharger and that gadget that reminds one to put one's safrty glasses and the Riged Supreme calander and Cindy Crawford's personal Cell number it's prolly more.

Defective memory. It's all that saw dust.

[Paul B. Cresti]

unless things have changed.....

ACM (Italian company) makes bandsaws for Felder, Laguna, for themselves and what used to be Bridgewood (Wilke). Now there were various degrees fo these saws. The more heavier duty was made for Felder (blue) and Bridgewood

I am not sure who makes the Hammer line of bandsaws for Felder

Centauro (Italian company) makes saws for themselves and MiniMax (mm16 and up)

Agazzani makes their own saws and both Eagle tools and Adwood brings them in. I do believe the to distributors offer different saws though within the Agazzani line.

There are plenty of other Italian saw companies like Meber (which made saws for Laguna at one time) but I have no idea who re-badges these other companies these days.

FYI....I have owned Jet, Agazzani and now MM (Centauro)

[Jim O'Dell]

Paul, I know it's the little brother, but don't forget the E16. It is a Centauro also. :D In all actuality, a MM20 or 24 and an E16 would make a killer combination for a larger shop. Jim.

[Mike Heidrick]

Two MM bandsaws would blow out the Serious Gloatage meter!!!

[Joe Jensen]

I had a Laguna LT16HD and I just upgraded to a used Felder FB540. Here are some pics showing both. Both are manufactured by ACM of Italy. I am told that the Felder is from the next line up at ACM, it has a heavier guage steel backbone.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w99/AZEngineer/Felder%20Bandsaw/_NIK4894.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w99/AZEngineer/Felder%20Bandsaw/_NIK4896.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w99/AZEngineer/Felder%20Bandsaw/_NIK4899.jpg

[Doug Shepard]

The one small item that turns me off with the Felder/Hammer bandsaws is the table tilt. Their's are limited to 20 degrees while my MM16 goes to 45. This isn't something I make use of a lot but I have had occasion to make some 45 cuts. Otherwise they look like first class machines.

[David Wong]

You can tilt the Felder 540 table 45 degrees forward. Tilt is of course limited if you want to tilt towards the backbone (20 degrees). There is a stand-off that supports the table at 0 degrees that you have to remove first. On my older Felder, you tilt the table by loosening a 19mm bolt under the table. Not the most convenient feature.

[Doug Shepard]

You can tilt the Felder 540 table 45 degrees forward. Tilt is of course limited if you want to tilt towards the backbone (20 degrees). There is a stand-off that supports the table at 0 degrees that you have to remove first. On my older Felder, you tilt the table by loosening a 19mm bolt under the table. Not the most convenient feature.

I can only get 5-10 degrees tilting toward the spine on my MM16 and have to remove the 90 deg stop bolt to do it too, but tilting the other was is no problem from 0-45. But every time I've looked at the Felder or Hammer saws, they only list them as having 0-20 deg tilt.
http://www.felderusa.com/us-us/products/bandsaws.html
You'd think they would want to put that in the specs if you could get a full 45??

[Joe Jensen]

I can only get 5-10 degrees tilting toward the spine on my MM16 and have to remove the 90 deg stop bolt to do it too, but tilting the other was is no problem from 0-45. But every time I've looked at the Felder or Hammer same, they only list them as having 0-20 deg tilt.
http://www.felderusa.com/us-us/products/bandsaws.html
You'd think they would want to put that in the specs if you could get a full 45??

My Felder manual, which is pretty sparce and has errors in it, lists the tilt as 20 degrees.

One error in the manual is the blade length. Sadly I relied on the manual when I ordered my Laguna wood slicer and a lenox blade and now both are 10" too long.

[John Harden]

Working from memory here, but I believe the MM bandsaws weigh quite a bit more than the Felder's of comparable size.

I have a MM20 and love it.

I would think that the MM is more comparable to Agazzani than Felder, but that's just my opinion.

Don't get me wrong, I REALLY like Felder, just not their bandsaws.

Regards,

John

[Joe Jensen]

Working from memory here, but I believe the MM bandsaws weigh quite a bit more than the Felder's of comparable size.

I have a MM20 and love it.

I would think that the MM is more comparable to Agazzani than Felder, but that's just my opinion.

Don't get me wrong, I REALLY like Felder, just not their bandsaws.

Regards,

John

There are two lines of Felder bandsaws. The FB500, 600, 700, and 800. They are sometimes called the Hammer bandsaws but they are branded Felder. I haven't seen any of those. Then they have the FB540, 640, 740, and 840. Those are heavier duty. My FB540 is a 21.3" wheel and is 600lbs net weight. The FB500 is lighter built and weights 500lbs.

The MM20 is heavier still at 765lbs.

[Wes Grass]

Probably the biggest downfall of the Felder saws, for most of us, is that the larger ones only come with 3 phase motors.

That, and the overall height that simply wouldn't fit under the low ceiling of my garage, pushed me into a Laguna 16HD. But the comparatively huge table of the Felder would have been really nice. The Laguna is pretty small and I had to add extensions to handle anything large.

[Rye Crane]

One more point,
all of these Italian companies are located within 50 miles of each other, around Modena, Italy. Also home of the Ferrari. Not bad company for any of them. These saws all share the same DNA, their export bandsaws generally all have lower guides, many of the domestic euro machines do not.

With the flat tires, very high tension rates + - 30,000 psi. the wider 1"-1.5" bands do not wander.

You really cannot go wrong with either saw. If the larger one is in good shape and the price is right, bigger is almost always better in bandsaws.

Good luck, you will enjoy your pick whichever it is!

Rye Crane
Pittsburg, Ca.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Joe, that's a pretty cool photo with those two sitting side by side there!

[David Wong]

Joe, is the yellow plate under the table on the Felder a guard? It is missing on the Felder 540 I just purchased.