Factory-Reconditioned Skil 3385-01-RT 2.5 Amp 9-Inch Band Saw

Reviews of Factory-Reconditioned Skil 3385-01-RT 2.5 Amp 9-Inch Band Saw

1.) Good band saw, well worth the price.
Reviewed by: nd96 Princeton, TX United States
Rating:

The band saw arrived in good condition without any damage or missing parts. Assembled in about 15 minutes and did not need any adjusting. It works well, fairly quiet and with enough power to do the job. The laser and LED lights are a nice touch, but not really that useful. The case is plastic, so it may not last for decades, but the unit is well worth $100. This is not a top of the line band saw, but it is better than I expected for the price. Overall, I am happy with the purchase and would recommend to others.

2.) CPO Skil Shop vendor = BAD.
Reviewed by: Bradley Maggard Adrian, MI
Rating:

DO NOT ORDER this product from the CPO Skil Shop. They sent me a refurbished unit, even though everything about the description indicated that it was new. If Amazon.com doesn't have it in stock, then don't order it! Wait till it comes back in stock at amazon!

With the $ it would have taken to ship it back to CPO, I could have just went to Lowes and bought it new.

That said, the saw is awesome and works fine.

3.) Good saw for the money...
Reviewed by: Steve Houston, TX
Rating:

I was in a hurry to make some band saw cuts and picked up one of these at a local retailer for $114 plus tax. Wish I could have waited a few days for it to be shipped. Although not a high quality tool, this saw performs better than I expected for the money. It does have a bit of that "made in a third world country" feel about it, but after making all the adjustments and doing a couple of test cuts, I'm pretty pleased. It's easy to set up and adjust and the features can't be beat for the price. It even has a laser indicator line and work light. Just be sure to spend a few minutes adjusting all the blade guides as you would with any new saw. This is no replacement for my 18-inch Jet bandsaw, but should be perfect for those quick small cuts when I don't want to wrestle the 300-pound machine.

4.) Decent saw, but Amazon is shipping them REFURBISHED, not new.
Reviewed by: Mark Cogan
Rating:

I got this saw because of the good price and positive reviews. It arrived in a generic cardboard box, very poorly packed. I spent a couple of hours getting it set up, and discovered (a) that it had a "factory refurbished" sticker on it, (b) that it was missing three of the four rubber feet, (c) that the retaining ring on the bottom wheel had popped off, and (d) that the driver pulley on the motor was badly out of balance, causing lots of vibrations. I contacted Amazon and they replaced the saw ... with another refurbished saw. However, this second saw was in much better shape and I had it set up and cutting pretty quickly.

As for the saw itself -- for the price, it's surprisingly good. The table is stamped aluminum, and probabaly not particularly flat. The fence is a joke (make your own out of plywood and clamp it in place), and the miter gauge isn't much better. The upper blade guide is fiddly to adjust, and is hard to keep parallel to the table. However, the saw cuts well; once everything's locked down, the vibration isn't too bad, and the table angle adjustment knob seems surprisingly tight and accurate.

The saw handled my test cuts -- some 4/4 madrone and 8/4 purpleheart just fine, but you can't rush it and have to feed the stock through fairly slowly. I think for doing small joinery tasks, resawing stock less than 3.5", and just doing quick utility cuts, it's a good addition to a small shop on a budget. But don't think it can do everything a "proper" bandsaw can.

If you're comfortable adjusting and setting up a new machine, and understand what the limitations of a saw this size and price will have, this saw's a good deal. Expect Amazon to ship you a refurb, since that's what they seem to be doing (and if they do, complain about it -- the product is listed as new!)

5.) Amazon shipped a used saw instead of new
Reviewed by: CDL Florida, US
Rating:

I ordered a Skil 3385 from Amazon in July, 2009. The item is advertised as "New." However, it arrived in a plain brown box, poorly packed, and marked "Factory Refurbished." The saw showed some wear and other signs of prior use. It was somewhat dirty, and the instruction manual was crumpled and had writing in it.

I returned the saw to Amazon and bought one that really was new at Lowe's for $114.

I have not used the saw very much yet, but so far I am pleased. The initial adjustments are well explained in the manual and easy to do. I tried cutting a piece of wood and a piece of FR4 printed circuit board (with a 15 TPI blade on low speed.) The cuts were straight and clean. The frame is an aluminum casting, and it has a plastic access door on front. Overall, it appears well made and a bargain for the price.

Only 3 minor negatives: 1) The 1Â½" dust port is nice, but it does not fit Shop-Vac 1Â¼" hoses. I had to cut apart an old dust brush and use some duct tape to make an adapter. 2) The fence is a bit wobbly. I think it would have to be clamped in place for critical work. 3) The work light is too dim to be very useful.

Overall, I would give the saw 4Â½ stars, but I have to give Amazon a low mark for inaccurately describing their offering as "New."

6.) Initial Quirks, But Has Decent Potential
Reviewed by: Fred Anonymous Smith Central Europe
Rating:

The bandsaw (shifting around loosely inside the box) arrived in fairly decent condition, which is amazing given how poorly this heavy item was packed. However, I very quickly ran into a couple of problems. First, the bandsaw initially vibrated pretty severely. After checking wheel balance and other, this was finally resolved by replacing the provided blade with a better quality product. Also decided on a 14-tpi blade to better handle metal as well as wood.

Second, both blades (provided and new replacement) refused to track in the center of the lower wheel. After repeated adjustments and trying various suggestions found on the internet, I noticed the crown (or hump) on the lower rubber tire was off-centered, with the blade actually tracking perfectly on that crown. Since the blade is not hitting the metal wheel at this point and the saw is cutting well enough, that will have to be the way it is until a replacement tire arrives (on order).

Overall, I'm fairly satisfied with this bandsaw and suspect (once initial quirks are worked out) it will provide years of reliable service.

7.) good quality, for the price.
Reviewed by: turner Bradley, Ca
Rating:

One week early on delivery. Band saw was very easy to assemble. Came with blade on and ready to cut, very little adjustment required.
Saw made very clean cuts and functioned as good as can be expected from a small, lite band saw.Factory-Reconditioned Skil 3385-01-RT 2.5 Amp 9-Inch Band Saw

8.) skil saw
Reviewed by: L. Swanson Kaleva, Mi. United States
Rating:

The saw looks like it is brand new. Very nice. Unfortunately I can not get the blade tight enough and so the blade is to lose to cut a straight line. I have had a few proffesionals look at it and they are unable to tighten it also.

9.) Factory Refurbished
Reviewed by: Reza Gholamipour
Rating:

I bought this bandsaw thinking it is new as advertised here on Amazon but it arrived in a generic box and after assembly I saw the refurbished sticker on it.

Called Amazon customer service, they said they would replace it, I asked that they make sure I am getting one new in the box but next one comes worse than the first one, in a beat up cardboard box from PH, Arizona!Skil 3385-01-RT 120-Volt 9-Inch Band Saw

Please be aware you are paying and buying a refurbished product not "New" as advertised!

It does cut OK but built and looks cheap! The stand is terrible!

Worse than all is dealing with these people picking up phone in India for Amazon customer support!

P.S. Since my review Amazon has changed the condition from "New" to "Refurbished".

10.) Don't Know
Reviewed by: Tom Jones
Rating:

Sent it back all ways used and I ordered NEW and they all ways sent used and one was even broken.

11.) band saw - Broken!
Reviewed by: Richard Sutherland
Rating:

Don't buy this. Worst excuse for packaging- no protection. Foot was broken off upon arrival. Saw did work, but not broken would be good...Factory-Reconditioned Skil 3385-01-RT 2.5 Amp 9-Inch Band Saw

12.) Too small to be useful
Reviewed by: Paul Litsky
Rating:

1) I bought the Skil 9 inch band saw believing that the 9 inches referred to the "throat". That is, I would be able to cut pieces of wood 9 inches tall. Actually, it only cuts wood up to 3 inches tall. The 9 inches refers to the distance from the blade to the saw body. 3 inches is not enough for most people (including myself). I'm a wood turner and this is not the table saw for me.

2) During any decent sized cut the saw stalls out 3 or 4 times. The wood has to be taken out, the saw reset, and then it will cut again. This process makes for very uneven cuts.

3) The included fence is a joke. I cannot get a clean square cut using the supplied fence.

Bottom line, I'm keeping the saw only because it would cost too much to return it and I may have some use for it doing very small carpentry projects. But I am not at all satisfied.

13.) Not as adverstised1
Reviewed by: jwminmontauk montauk, NY
Rating:

Original purchase agreement and documentation specified NEW; product delivered was reconditioned. Worked with delivered product and found it deficient in many ways - e.g. unable to make table level, noisy, unable to cut without cutting into table slot/guide. Called customer service and was promised delivery of NEW unit - it too is reconditioned and also required extensive alignment/adjustments.

Originally made decision on NEW - not reconditioned. Not a particularily bad product for light infrequent work but would not have bought knowing it was reconditioned and required repairs. Have a number of RIDGID reconditioned tools that are just fine - and great value.

Not sure what the next steps are but given my prior experience with Amazon this too will be satisfactorily resolved.

14.) sonstantly shuts itself off
Reviewed by: widescreen guy New Mexico, USA
Rating:

This saw seemed fine when I tested it, but then I used it for an actual project. Although the motor wasn't straining, it shut ifself off. I reset it, and in a minute or so, it did it again. Pretty soon, it was constantly shutting itself off. I can't get anything done with it.

Features of Factory-Reconditioned Skil 3385-01-RT 2.5 Amp 9-Inch Band Saw

This is a reconditioned power tool. Reconditioned generally means that the tool has been returned to the manufacturer, who brings the tool back to like new conditions. Some tools may contain cosmetic blemishes. The latest addition to the Skil family - the 3385-01 Band Saw with Light. It has a powerful 2.5 Amp motor with laser cutline guide for accurate cuts. It has a 6-TPI Band saw blade which cuts through a variety of wood materials. The dust port accepts standard shop-vac hoses.

1.) Reconditioned Skil products have a one-year warranty through the Skil factory or an authorized service center;
2.) Laser cutline guide for accurate cuts;
3.) Articulating LED worklight ensures that the work piece is clearly lit;
4.) EZ-View blade tracking for easy blade alignment;
5.) 2-speed motor for wood or metal-based materials;

Package Height x Length x Width: 31.2 in. x 31.2 in. x 19 in.
Package Weight: 41.6 lbs.