Originally Posted by
John K Jordan
You sound like me! Five bandsaws here, some for wood, some for metal.
I too have a Delta with riser that I've used for quite a bit of resawing, but some years back I bought an 18" Rikon and don't use the Delta much now. Both will handle the same height but what I like a lot about the Rikon is the ability to crosscut 18". I use this capacity often when slicing up green wood for turning blanks and when whacking something too thick for the sliding miter saw. The dust collection is a lot better on the Rikon too, especially since I added a dust around the lower bearings under the table. And the blades seem to stay sharp longer - this makes sense to me since there are more teeth to do the same amount of cutting so each tooth gets less total wear. The only downside of more teeth is sharpening takes longer! (I usually sharpen a blade once or twice.)
JKJ