From: bennett@adobe.com(Bennett Leeds)
Subject: Re: Eagle Tools & Inca Bandsaw
Reply-To: bennett@adobe.com
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 22:31:28 GMT

Lendy Dunaway writes:
> I've been talking to Jesse Barragan at Eagle Tools/Injecta Machinery
> over the phone concerning the purchase of several stationary tools.
> Before I go though I'd like to know what others who have delt with this 
> company have to say. 

Roy_Williams writes
>> I have good things to say about Eagle tools.
>> {...}

I also have good things to say about Eagle Tools. I bought a couple of tools  
(including the tablesaw and jointer you're interested in) from them while I  
lived in LA (about 4 years ago), and bought a bandsaw after I moved to No. CA.

I believe them to be knowledgeable and honest. Both Jesse and John are
experienced woodworkers. They have almost all the machines setup and 
demonstrable. Jesse was previously involved in the Acorn workbench (I
believe), and is briefly quoted in Landis' The Workbench Book, by the way.


> I'm crossed between the Inca 20" band saw and the MiniMax 18" band saw.

This was my choice as well. I ended up with the Inca since Eagle had a
used one with the height extender at a good price, and I was very happy
with my two prior Inca purchases. However, I cannot recommend it without
some reservations:

1) I've broken a few blades. None wider than 1/4", so maybe I'm tensioning
them too high; or maybe there's something to the saying that 3 wheelers 
put more stresses on blades. I know people with two-wheelers who have 
broken blades, but I feel I've broken them more often that I should have.

2) The upper guide arm on my saw is not perfectly parallel to the blade. This
means that when I change height more than a few inches, I've got to reset
the upper guides. Setting is quick and easy, but I'd prefer to not have to
do it. Jesse claims I shouldn't have to, and is willing to swap whatever
part I find to be the cause (I haven't gotten around to this yet).

3) The saw's flat wheel design gives good blade support, but makes tracking
narrow blades more difficult. My saw was used, so I followed Duginske's
advice on resurfacing the tires, which helped. Practicing adjusting the
tracking has also helped. One trick is to pull back all the guides and get
the blade to track, then set the guides when changing blade widths. Don't
even try to use any of the same guide settings for different blades.

Also, I believe the saw is sensitive to weld quality. On blades with good
welds (like the Wood Slicer), tracking is easy. Saws with bad welds (like
two I got from WoodCraft), are much more difficult. Blade welds are tricky
things - you need the two halves to be well aligned, and the weld needs to
not stick out the sides, yet still be strong.

4) The saw does come with a built-in wheel brush, but it's only moderately 
effective. I've seen saws with a brass brush attached, and may try that
instead. After a lot of use, I find I need to scrape embedded dust off
the tires to get proper tracking on narrower blades.


There's lots on the good side, though. The Inca runs smoothly and quietly.
Its 1.5 HP motor is powerful enough for full 10" resawing of very hard
woods (like oak, maple, cocobolo). It tensions a 1/2" blade properly without 
appearing to strain (I haven't tried any wider blades yet - the 1/2" does
just fine so far). The guides are fully adjustable ball bearings all
around (3 upper, 3 lower), so you can really fine-tune the support they
give the blade. With height extender, the 10" resaw capacity is nicely
matched to the 10.25" width of the Inca jointer/planer you're considering.
The 20" throat capacity has come in handy for me, like when cutting the 
ends of a cradle. The table is nicely sized also (20" square)- most bandsaw 
tables are way too small, IMHO. The saw is light enough to move around by
yourself (although with the motor mounted you'll need a second person).

The MiniMax also seems like a nice saw. It's a standard 2-wheel arrangement.
I've heard the lower guide is not as high in quality as the upper guide,
and the lower guide looks difficult to get at. You'd probably want to run
Cool Blocks(tm) in this saw. The Inca's guides can handle from 1/16" to 3/4"
wide blades - I don't know what the range of the Mini-Max is, but I believe
it's smaller. The Inca has 3 speeds, so you can do some plastic or metal
work as well (or, just slow it down for woodworking), the MiniMax is a 
single speed machine.

When I asked Jesse about the MiniMax, he said he usually sells the MiniMax
to schools and the like, since it's robust and will take abuse without losing
it's settings; but he usually sells the Inca to craftspeople, who want 
more adjustability and flexibility to do different things. The MiniMax is
cheaper than the Inca (especially with the Inca's expensive height extender
to go from 8" to 10"), but if I had the MiniMax I'd spend the money to get 
aftermarket blade guides (does Carter make them?).

If my Inca was stolen, and I got the insurance money to buy another bandsaw,
I'd still be hard pressed to choose between them. There are times I think
the Inca's a great machine, but there are also times when I wish I had a
big industrial saw instead (which is probably what I'd get instead).

- Bennett Leeds
bennett@adobe.com