Need Band Saw Advice

Re: Need Band Saw Advice

Mark Nowicki

What projects have you built and what has not having a band saw stopped you from doing?

Re: Need Band Saw Advice

Cody Lewis

Mostly projects for the house - built in entertainment center, chest of drawers, office cabinets, office desk, a few beds, a few boxes for board games. I've never been stopped by not having a band saw but on several occasions I've wanted to resaw some thicker stock and my ability to do that on the table saw is obviously limited and not the easiest sometimes. Also, I have a few logs I'd like to try milling.

Re: Need Band Saw Advice

Ellis Walentine

Seems like a fair enough price for that saw. As for whether you need it, that depends on the kind of stuff you're cutting. 24" is bigger than you need for most flat work, and you can get the same resawing capacity from smaller saws. But, if you want to rip through logs or big turning blanks, it's definitely not overkill, at least not by much. What you're likely to find, though, is that you will outfit this saw with one or two go-to blades for big work, and wish you had a smaller saw for finer blades, such as 1/4"-6tpi or finer that you want to use for scrolling and such. I always had at least two bandsaws for this reason and you might want to consider that as well. For a do-it-all machine, many small-shop woodworkers go for a 14" saw, with a riser-block if necessary to provide headroom for up to 12" resawing.

Ellis Walentine, Host

Re: Need Band Saw Advice

JL

An opinion.

This is a good price for a band saw.

Do you need this band saw? Possibly not.

For most curve cutting a 14" band saw works well with a 1/4" blade.

If you were to purchase a new Rikon 10-326 14" saw, you can resaw up to 13". That would set you back $1K for a new saw.

That being said, the 24" Jet (or Powermatic) cuts through oak and other hardwoods quite nicely. You can resaw, shape and do quite a few things with it.

I have two band saws in my shop - an old 14" Delta and an 18" Rikon. The 14" Delta gets the lion's share of use.

YMMV.

Re: Need Band Saw Advice

Kevin French

To echo what JL said we have a 24 and 2-12s at work and the 12s see a lot more work then the 24 your mileage may vary.

If you have a good deal on a 24 and have the room for it, take it over a new 18.

I'd find a little brother for it later but I won't go below a 14

my 2¢

That's got some age on it

Dick Coers

It's been a long time since Jet painted them blue. Make sure the tires are good. Not sure it's much better than a new Rikon 10-347, and you can get the 2hp for the same money, free shipping. My guess is the Rikon fence is a lot better!

Re: Need Band Saw Advice

John C Lucas

Ditto what Ellis said.. also blades will be more.expensive. i stepped up to a 16" mini max band saw a.few years ago because im a turner and needed the extra size and power. What i miss about my 14". The table was higher on my 14" which was better for cutting the smaller parts and doing multiples. Takes the smaller blades like 3/16. Blades are more plentiful and less expensive. The machine is easier to move.

Re: That's got some age on it  *LINK*


Bandsaw tire warehouse

Re: Need Band Saw Advice

john in lutz

I did not see a discussion of the power needs. This will be at a minimum a 230 volt motor. As it is in a commercial shop make sure it is not a 3 phase motor. I looked at a couple of these saws before when I was shopping for a new one and any which were commercial in shops had three phase motors which a lot of residential areas are not wired for. I ended up with the 14 inch Rikon 326 on sale last month for 899 and a free mobility kit. It is working for me. I have cut 12 inch logs using a blade for cutting wet wood with no problems.

My experinece with a big saw

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

For years I owned a 14" saw. Then I took a class in a shop with a 20" saw. The large table on the larger saw made it more useful. I find the large table more important than any other factor. I became highly motivated to get a larger saw.

I found a used 20" Delta. It is big enough that I do things on it that I formerly did less safely on a table saw. I hadn't done any resawing. Now that I have something big enough to resaw ( I run a Wood Mizer blade on it) I find resawing opportunities.

It is not so much a question of what you do now that needs a band saw. Do you build stuff? If you build stuff you will use this saw. And if you don't...you can resell it for what you got in it if you buy for a fair price. Is it fair price? I don't know.

Blade cost, not an issue

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

I pay $11 for a resaw blade for my 20" Delta.

A factor I forgot to mention below. Large saws likely run at higher speed so they cut faster. And large wheels don't stress blades and they last until they get dull and don't fail from fatigue.

Re: Need Band Saw Advice

Cody Lewis

Thank you all for the great advise. You gave me some things to think about. Thanks also for informing me of the Rikon options. There are a few that might make more sense for me. Despite those saws not having quite as much capacity, I'm feeling that getting something newer with more advanced features and technology would likely save me some headaches. Since I don't enjoy tinkering with tools, and want to get right to the cutting and building, perhaps newer is better for me.

Re: Need Band Saw Advice

Ellis Walentine

Or, you could use what you've learned here to get a better price on the Jet. And if you do still consider the Jet, check to see that the guide bearings are all still running sweetly. It will be an unwelcome expense if you have to replace them.

Ellis

inspecting a used saw

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

I don't know anything about the Rikon saw, but the typical "modern" saw I see in shops has a table as dinky or more so than my vintage 14" Powermatic and they are built lightweight. Don't underestimate how much more useful a saw with a large table will be for resawing, ripping, cross cutting and larger profile cutouts, nor how important mass is in woodworking machines.

The used saw could have any of the following things in need to fix:

Wheel bearings. You will need to hire a shop to replace them. If the saw runs **with blade tensioned** and doesn't make angry noises these bearings are ok.

Tires- If they look hard, cracked or crumbly they need replacement. Depending on design this task can be easy to difficult and moderate to expensive.

Blade Guide bearings- Turn by hand and if they feel rough they need replacement. Cheap and easy to replace.

I presume the motor is OK?

One thing about these vintage industrial saws is when they are rebuilt with the items listed above they are as good as the day they were new and will increase in value over time.

Castings- inspect and if any are cracked avoid the saw. Knowing the history of the saw could be valuable. Home shop use, cabinet shop, unknown....? Is the current owner trustworthy and would he/she be helpful in fixing anything that needs fixing?

I paid $500 for my Delta 20". I had to replace tires and wheel bearings and strip and paint it. Friend bought a similar resaw capacity Italian saw for way more money. It has a dinky table and it is vastly more light weight. I would not trade for $1000 to boot.