machine atlas logo

Type of machine

Band Saw

Manufacturer

Inca

Designed in

Switzerland

Production status

Vintage

  • Inca-Expert-500-Band-Saw
  • Extension table

  • Inca Expert 500 Band Saw
Specifications
Power: 750 W Max cutting height: 203 mm
Table size: 520 x 520 mm Max cutting width: 505 mm
Wheel Diameter: 280 mm Blade length: 2645 mm
Blade width: 3-20 mm Working height: 1025 mm
See detailed specs

Machine overview

When you sign up, you can:

By

The Inca Expert 500 is the larger and more powerful brother of the Inca Euro 260, with three wheels instead of two. The three wheels do make saw blades more prone to breaking, due to the higher stress from the tight angles. However, whether this is actually true in practice is not clear. There do not seem to be any actual user reports of shorter blade life.

Just like its smaller brother, it has a tilting table. The motor delivers 750 (230V version) or 1100 Watt (400V version), making it significantly stronger than the Euro 260.

There was also a sliding table attachment available for the Expert 500, which it shared with the Inca Major table saw.

Machine Atlas Verdict

Accurate and powerful machine that takes up quite a lot of space. Isn't as reliable as the smaller Inca bandsaw due to the three-wheel design.

Value for money

B

Quality

A

What we don't like

  • Three wheels means the saw blade has to make a steeper angle, resulting in the blade lasting shorter (unclear whether this is actually true in practice)
  • Quite rare on the second-hand market

What we like

  • Larger throat and table than the Inca Euro 260 band saw
  • Sliding table attachment
  • More powerful than the Euro 260

Resources and Guides

Know a useful link or video for the Inca Expert 500? Send me a message, and I'll update the page with your info.

General

Repairs

iconManuals

Discussion

Ask questions or share your experiences with the Inca Expert 500 with others

  1. When comparing this machine to the INCA EURO 260 I don’t understand the comment “Three wheels means the saw blade has to make a steeper angle, resulting in the blade lasting shorter” and other similar comments on this site and many others.
    The INCA Expert 500 has 3 equally sized wheels at Ø280mm (the same size as the INCA EURO 260). Some budget 3 wheel machines use a significantly smaller third wheel which does impose tighter bends but this is not the case on the 500. Is this statement based on experience or knowledge or perhaps on a misapprehension?
    The only issue that I could envisage would be through fatigue (3 bending cycles per RPM ILO of 2) but this doesn’t appear the issue of concern.
    Any insight or information appreciated.

    M
    Mark
    1 person found this helpful
    • Hi Mark, that’s good point. I’ll have to do some more research on that.

      It might come from the machines where one wheel is smaller. But even with 3 equal wheels I can imagine the more ‘triangular’ shape will wear out the blade quicker than the more ‘natural’ elongated spiral of 2 wheels. I’ll update the info if I can find a more definitive answer.

      Rob

      R
      RobFounder
    • Hi Rob,
      Thanks for your response, from what I’ve been able to ascertain, including the INCA (formally Yahoo) forum now at: https://groups.io/g/incawoodworking , the 500 Expert doesn’t appear to suffer with this blade life issue but interested to hear what you’re able to find out.

      M
      Mark
    • That’s good to know. In the end if there are no clear user reports that the blade life is shorter, then that is sufficient evidence that it is not really a problem. I’ve updated the description to reflect your findings. Thanks again for the info!

      R
      RobFounder
    • Hi Rob,
      Fair edit – thanks for the consideration and responses.

      M
      Mark
  2. I loved my Inca expert. The only drawback was that the three wheels mean that the blade bends and straightens three times in each rotation. The result is that the blades break quicker than in the smaller two wheel Inca version. I think that is because in the two wheel version the blade only bends and straightens twice in each rotation of the blade, reducing the amount of metal fatigue in the bending and straightening action as the blade goes around the wheels.
    I have an idea of how you can change the design to get a wider throat yet to make the blades last longer. If you send me an email I can discuss this design with you. I am busy building myself a bandsaw with this design.

    H
    Henry Jackson
    1 person found this helpful
    • Hi Henry,
      Do you have any progress to share with regards to your design – be interested to how this has worked?

      M
      Mark
  3. I can’t make any sense of the blade pre and final tensioning procedure as indicated for the Expert 500 bandsaw in the 342.025 Inca Bandsaw Manual! Any help would be greatly appreciated! THANKS… D.

    d
    dvendse
  4. Do you have a manual in English? The web page says, English, German, and Freanc, but I can’t seem to find it?

    • Hi Dan, if you open the link, the front page is in German, but the actual manual below that is in those 3 languages. The English parts are on the right of each page.

      Hope that helps.

      R
      RobFounder
  5. Hello — Does anyone know where I can purchase a miter gauge and rip fence assembly for an Inca PRO500? Thanks — Andy S

    A
    Andy Squillante

Replying to Mark Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Detailed Specifications

All the specs and options for the Inca Expert 500

General
Working height1025 mm
Weight (standard configuration)60 kg
Total height910 mm
Total width860 mm
Motor
Motor Voltage3x 400V 1x 230V
Motor Frequency50 Hz
Extra Features and Options
Mitre gaugeOption
Circle cutting attachmentOption
Sanding attachmentOption
Table extension 1000mmOption
Depth stopOption
Sliding TableOption
Band Saw
Maximum Cutting Height203 mm
Maximum Cutting Width505 mm
Table size520 x 520 mm
Band Saw blade
Blade length2645 mm
Blade width3-20 mm

Did you find an error in our data? Send me a message, and I'll update the page with your info.