Bandsaw options for small box work

[Matt Mackinnon]

I am ramping up my business and find that my current bandsaw setup just isn't working well for me.

Background
Currently i have a larger King Canada 17" bandsaw that works beautifully. I have this setup right now with a 3/4" Resaw King blade and it does my resaw work without problem. I have 4 of these blades for it so I am reluctant to re-purpose this saw.

Then I have a smaller 15" Craftex that is more along the old cast iron delta style. This saw just doesn't seem to want to work right for me. I am using small 3/16" blades, but they move too much to get the perpendicular cut that I need. The blade tends to change where it want's to track on the wheel in a random sort of way when cutting. The guide blocks were replaced with phenolic inserts and the thrust bearings are perfectly adjusted. To compensate for this, if I lower the tension on the blade, it will improve the tracking wander, but then I loose on the blade staying vertical.

I am in this to try and sell product, and spending more time to try and fix this bandsaw just doesn't seem worth it. I can sell it for most of what I bought it for and it owes me nothing.

Question
Right now I am looking at the following bandsaws.

1. Laguna LU14SUV
2. Grizley GO513
3. Grizley GO513X2B

The grizley hands down is less expensive. The GO513 for me has an advantage in that it doesn't have the ball bearing blade guides. The steel ones can easily be pulled out and replaced with phenolic that won't destroy the small blade set. The X2B version does add in the cast iron wheels and break that would be nice. Down side though is that I live in Canada, and have to deal with bringing it north of the boarder that add's to the cost of hassle.

Laguna has a better motor, magnetic switch, and is here in Canada. I am not sure about how the ceramic guides, but you can get cool block phenolic inserts for it. it also gives 14" resaw if ever I did need that.

Can anyone give some advice on what to get?

Matt.

[Van Huskey]

First, I am never one to deny a man a new bandsaw BUT I think you owe it to yourself to try a Carter Stabilizer. Take a look at it and I suggest trying it before you invest money in a new saw, unless you just want one. I would suggest you get one for the new saw but the one that fits your Craftex may not fit any of the other saws (definitely not the Laguna).

Let us assume now you either tried and failed with the Stabilizer or just want to forge ahead and get another saw. My choice would be the Laguna. Here is a test, go to a retailer with the LT14SUV on the floor, first open all the other 14" (and even 15-17") saws and look at the wheel hinge/tension/bearing assemblies and compare them to the other saws, that will give you an idea how overbuilt they are.

Now I will hit you with something different, ergonomics. The Grizzly's table will be about 37" off the floor, the Laguna about 35". These saws are set up more with resawing in mind. Older tradition bandsaws tended to have a higher table, especially the ones used for patternmaking (similar to your task). A modern cast iron Delta clone will be more like 44" to the top of the table, much better for your work (assuming you are of average male height).

So, if I were you I would look at working with what you have, first identifying what is wrong. No offense but usually if someone can't tell me what is actually broken (warped, bent, unbalanced, wallowed/worn out etc) that is causing poor results with their bandsaw then they might very well be missing something in the tuning and they obviously can't diagnose the problem with the saw itself if that is what it is. My approach would be to so back to basics and work from the ground up on the saw, wheels, tires etc etc until you can identify where the short coming is and either fix it or junk it. I still think you should invest in a stabilizer although boxes aren't my "gig" I use the stabilizer a lot and many people that do boxes swear by them.

If you do decide to fix it with the "check wrench" I would suggest a saw with a higher table or at least plan on raising the saw up.

One other thing about bigger saws and your work, generally the larger the saw (if it has bearing guides) the larger the diameter of the bearing which gives progressively poorer support to small blades.

[Matt Mackinnon]

Thanks for the recommendation. I will give it a try. I have put in an email out to Carter Products to verify what part I would need for my particular bandsaw. From the description, there are two that might fit it. The STD1 or the STD3. Sadly without some better specifications for the layout of them, it's impossible to tell what I do need. The photographs they have of the parts give no indication of how they align up.

I am hoping to pick one of them up from Lee Valley as they have a really good return policy. If it doesn't live up to what they show on the video, then I'd rather put the $80 towards the new bandsaw than another trinket that didn't do anything for me.

[Van Huskey]

Thanks for the recommendation. I will give it a try. I have put in an email out to Carter Products to verify what part I would need for my particular bandsaw. From the description, there are two that might fit it. The STD1 or the STD3. Sadly without some better specifications for the layout of them, it's impossible to tell what I do need. The photographs they have of the parts give no indication of how they align up.

I am hoping to pick one of them up from Lee Valley as they have a really good return policy. If it doesn't live up to what they show on the video, then I'd rather put the $80 towards the new bandsaw than another trinket that didn't do anything for me.

Try this for measured line drawings for the stabilizer. http://www.pswood.com/home.php?cat=49

[Matt Mackinnon]

Thanks again for the info. From the dimensions given, it seems that the STD1 and STD3 are very similar except the STD3 is a bit longer and doesn't eat into your bandsaw cut height as it has the bearing inline with the back holder bar, where the STD1 is below.

This poses the moral delema as LV only carries the STD1 that would work but not as well as the 3. I'd need to buy it knowing full well that regardless it will be returned as I'd want the STD3 as it would fit better. But buying from anywhere else, I'd loose my ability to return for a full refund. It sucks being in Canada.

[Van Huskey]

Thanks again for the info. From the dimensions given, it seems that the STD1 and STD3 are very similar except the STD3 is a bit longer and doesn't eat into your bandsaw cut height as it has the bearing inline with the back holder bar, where the STD1 is below.

This poses the moral delema as LV only carries the STD1 that would work but not as well as the 3. I'd need to buy it knowing full well that regardless it will be returned as I'd want the STD3 as it would fit better. But buying from anywhere else, I'd loose my ability to return for a full refund. It sucks being in Canada.

That is a tough call, but I would call Carter to see what they recommend for the saw, they are usually very helpful, so that way you know you have one that will work correctly, you might get the "wrong" one that would sorta work but give up on it where if you had the correct one the subtle difference in alignment may be the difference betweem "meh" and "wow".