Bandsaw ?? Relax...not about which one to buy.

[Jim O'Dell]

I'm finding myself rethinking my shop layout that I've started rehabing. I need to know: How much room do you have around your bandsaw when in use? I'm sure it depends on what you're cutting, but for general use, how much space? What is the normal length piece of wood that you resaw? If I ever get to the point of getting a bandsaw, I will be using it mostly for resawing panels for doors. Possibly some furniture like a vertical chest. Is 8' too much for normal things? I'm sure the unit I get will have the ability to be mobile enough to move to a more open space if the job required it.
Thanks for your continued ideas!! Jim

[Jim DeLaney]

I'm finding myself rethinking my shop layout that I've started rehabing. I need to know: How much room do you have around your bandsaw when in use? I'm sure it depends on what you're cutting, but for general use, how much space? What is the normal length piece of wood that you resaw? If I ever get to the point of getting a bandsaw, I will be using it mostly for resawing panels for doors. Possibly some furniture like a vertical chest. Is 8' too much for normal things? I'm sure the unit I get will have the ability to be mobile enough to move to a more open space if the job required it.
Thanks for your continued ideas!! Jim

Well, just like the table saw, you need twice the length of the longest workpiece you ever expect to cut on it - one length for infeed, and another for outfeed. That said, few of us have that much room to spare, so - for me at least - that means putting the saw on a mobile base and moving it out to where it can be used, then putting it back after the job. I have two bandsaws - a Laguna LT16, and a Taiwanese clone of a Delta 14".

The 14" lives against the shop wall, and comes out whenever I need to use it. I generally keep a 1/8" or 3/16" blade on it for 'curvy' work.

The LT16 stays out in the middle of the shop, where I have about 12 feet of space (+6' & -6') for it. I seldom cut more than about 4 foot stock though. If you're gonna be resawing for door panels, you'll probably seldom cut much stock any bigger than that, either.

[Jim Becker]

Jim, I'm attaching a picture that shows somewhat how my band saw is presently positioned "normally", between the main entry door and the first set of double doors in the middle of the shop's northeast wall. (It's mobile if need be) I can easily resaw pieces about 55" long or so without moving the machine. This is more room than I used to have and is only limited on the outfeed side since the table height on my MM16 is just a hair higher than my table saw that is on the infeed side. One of the things I used to do with my band saw before expanding the shop was to place it at an angle to other machines. That let me "tuck it in" to a good space without screwing up the ability to work with longer stock.

BTW, this is a wide angle shot and things are actually closer together than they seem to appear in the picture.

[Paul B. Cresti]

Jim,
I currently have mine set up in order to rip an 8'+ board. I use my bandsaw for ripping a lot more these days. As the other Jim stated, due to the table height you can angle it to clear over the other machines in your shop. In my other shop I did just that. I set it up at an angle to maximize its ripping capability and then moved it only for those "special" pieces.

[Jim O'Dell]

Sorry it took me a while to reply. Thanks for your input. I've modified my original plan somewhat. It actually will help with the ducting, making it much less complicated. Now I need some time and daylight to see if there are any other obstacles in the building that will interfere
Good evening! Jim.