10" bandsaw.....craftsman v rikon...same saw??

[George Farra]

Hi everyone

I'm interesting in picking up a 10" bandsaw to do curved cuts. I'm looking at either the craftsman or rikon saws. It appears these are identical saws, however the craftsman is cheaper.....so it leads me to beleive that there should be a difference????

Also, are blades easy to find for this size machine? Any opinoins on these saws are also welcomed

TIA

George

[Jeff Willard]

Bands can be had in any length. There are many suppliers that will custom weld them. Spectrum Supply being one (no affiliation-just a satisfied customer).

[Paul Ryan]

George,

I owned the craftsman saw it is a nice saw for cutting curves. This year rikon updated their verson of the 10" to be more equal. But the craftsman version has always been the better saw for the money. The craftsman saw has a cast iron table, rip fence, and brush for the wheel. The rikon had an aluminum table and you had to buy the fence seperate. The craftsman also has bearings for guides, not sure about the rikon. For a bench top saw I dont know of a better one. You have probably heard of timberwolf blades before. Those are welded by a company called suffolk machinery http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/default.asp all of their blades are custom welded. Most other companies, highland wood working, ittura design will custom weld bandsaw blades for no charge. So don't worry about getting quality blades for it. I bought the saw for $99 a few years ago. I don't know if it goes on sales like that anymore, but I have seen it in the $149 price recently. It is a good saw.

[Van Huskey]

Hi everyone

I'm interesting in picking up a 10" bandsaw to do curved cuts. I'm looking at either the craftsman or rikon saws. It appears these are identical saws, however the craftsman is cheaper.....so it leads me to beleive that there should be a difference????

Also, are blades easy to find for this size machine? Any opinoins on these saws are also welcomed

TIA

George

I have not seen them side by side but between stores the new Rikon looks EXACTLY like the Craftsman and the specs are identical. The price of the Rikon is ~$80 more as well. Now if Sears would import the same 18" as Rikon at the same reduced price it would be less than $900 and I would be headed to Sears.

These saws take 70 1/2" blades and although getting ANY length blade s never a real issue, Olson among others carry it as a stock size.

[scott spencer]

George - There's some debate about whether this if really true or is "internet fact", but I'm of the impression that Richen Enterprises makes at least some of the Craftsman bandsaws...they also own Rikon. I checked parts lists on the 14" a while back, and did find that the majority of parts were the same. What the means...I dunno, but the majority of owners of the 10", 12" and 14" Cman seem happy with the machine. The roller bearings are candidates for an $8/10 minute upgrade....I used ABEC 5 roller blade bearings. Blades are easy to order to length online...Suffolk treated me well with the Timberwolf blades. They offer a "443" deal...4 blades for the price of 3 to new customers.