Official Luthiers Forum!

-

Hey Tony,

The CB75 (75 mm (3") wide band, .055 kerf, stellite tipped) is the only Hitachi re-saw still available new in North America. I have the older version, the B600. These are 16" wheel re-saws. I have also recently purchased a B1000, the 24" version that is not available anymore but is killer saw! I haven't moved it in to the shop yet. Anyway, some serious tonewood guys are using these CB75 re-saws, including Notable Woods (Bruce Creps), Australian Tonewoods (Tim Spittle) and Bow River Specialty Woods. As far as I am concerned they are the benchmark in small resaws. The down side to a new CB75 is that just as soon as you purchase the saw you will want to remove the DC motor (they are NOISY and I think the power transfer is not that great, everyone I know has changed them out, including on my saw) and replace it with a real 3hp 220V motor. So that is an added expense and a bit of work but it really is a "required" modification and is well worth the effort and should not be seen as a show stopper in moving forward with this saw. Re-saws are all about band tension, which means you need some steel to deal with the tension and these saws do not lack steel! If you plan on a bit of re-sawing I would not hesitate to get one of these. I prefer the Hitachi over the Makita (a friend has a Makita) just because they have a bit more mass to them, but a good deal on a Makita could effect that decision.

Good luck!

Shane

_________________
Canada

-

That is good news about the motor. I use the Hitachi Bands on my B600 and I know that Bruce Creps does as well. On the B1000 I may experiment a bit. I bought the saw secondhand and it has a couple of new bands with it, one Hitachi and one made by another company. I may also try a narrower stellite tipped band that I use on my sawmill as then I can sharpen them myself as well.

Shane

_________________
Canada

-

That's a good price if they are full house bands. On Amazon.com (where I usually buy mine) skip tooth bands (only every second tooth is tipped) they are $126 and the ones where every tooth is tipped they are $204. So the shipping costs need to be discovered to see the better deal. Oh ya, I think I prefer every tooth tipped but have not played with the difference enough yet to know for sure.

Shane

_________________
Canada