Hello fellow woodworkers!
Although I have been reading various threads with interest over time, this is my first thread - so, forgive me if I make mistakes in either format or content!
I bought a Minimax bandsaw in December 2015 and have not had a lot of free time to play with it since. While I was able to fine tune the contact points on the bottom of the fence so that it now sits plumb to the table, I discovered that the vertical plane has a "bump" near the middle. When putting a straightedge on the fence (clamped at one end; gap at the other) I measure a total deflection of .028 inch. I have contacted the dealer and was told that such an anomaly is within manufacturing tolerances (ie they do not inted to do anything about it). There is a one-year warranty covering the machine and I want to address problems before December.
Here are a few questions I am broadcasting to the community:
1. Have people experienced similar issues and what was the outcome when approaching the manufacturer (Minimax or otherwise)? Am I wasting my time with Minimax with this particular problem?
2. While I fully realize the S400P is an industrial machine (ie volume production) that is not necessarily designed to win "the war of thousands of an inch", how straight does the fence need to be on a bandsaw (ie what is the commonly accepted tolerance)? I have seen posts showing the use of a "short fence" (ie extending barely beyond the back of the blade), which suggests that in some (or all?) situations the only point of contact of significance is "up front" of the blade.
3. The "imperfections" resulting from the current condition of the fence are easily corrected on larger pieces (surfacing with jointer or planer) but are a bit more problematic with thinner material (veneer), since I do not own a surface sander. Are my expectations of the machine (using the right combination of precision of the machine and quality of blade) realistic or am I shooting at an unreachable target?
4. I realize that one cure for the problem is to bring the fence to a machine shop; has anybody had success with such an approach? Would there be any downside?
Have a good day!
Jacques