New Bandsaw. Rikon 18"

[Mike Cutler]

Thought I'd post a few pics of my birthday present, 46 yrs. old on 2/11. I finally settled on the Rikon 18" after deliberating many times over various bandsaws, the Grizzly 21" was a darn close 2nd place.
The Rikon seems to be a nice unit. The wheels are massive for a bandsaw it's size, takes the blade about 15-20 seconds to coast down after shut off. I've tried some resawing with the 5/8" 4 tpi blade that came with it. The quality of the cut was nothing to brag about. but the saw didn't have any problems with the 10" Jatoba. The blade will be replaced with a Lennox Tri- Master, I haven't settled yet on a 1" 3TPI or a 1 1/4" 2/3, any thoughts would be appreciated.
I had a little trouble with the motor. The saw was popping the 15 amp breaker on the circuit it was plugged into. I tried it on a 20 amp service, but it still popped the breaker. The saw is rated at 12.5 amps for 220 service, unless they have a highly efficient motor I find that nameplate data a little suspect, or the motor is not a standard unit. I did an uncoupled run and no breakers popped. I then backed off on the motor tension and had no problems. I'll call Rikon tomorrow.
I believe the saw will suit my purpose. It will be dedicated to resawing,and I'll still keep my Jet 14" for general use.
The saw seems to be put together well. It would be a little lite in a pro shop in my opinion, but for a garage shop It should do fine. I won't be resawing for hours on end. The trunions are not beefy by any means, but for me they won't really be taxed. The wheels on the other hand are really beefy. The saw takes a bit to coast down after shut off, there is a lot of mass in those wheels. The guides are like Carters on steroids, really big, but the bottom set of guides should be reversed to put the guide bearings above the thrust bearing and closer to the under side of the table like the Delta. Personal preference here.
The fence system is adequate, squared up nicely and seems to move well and be accurate, but I have no real use for a bandsaw fence. I used it very infrequently on my Jet, so once again I didn't see this as a real issue for me. The table is very nice, a little lite in the casting, but very well machined. There are miter slots to the left and right of the blade, this is something I will really like I'm certain, cause I'm a "jig junky" and these two slots will really come in handy.
Well those are my initial observations, until I can get a legitimate resaw blade on it I can't really "put the wood to it" so to speak.

[lou sansone]

personally I have had the best resaw results from the "timber wolf" blades on my 24" saw. I have been using a 3 tpi 3/4" blade and it really give a pretty smooth cut. I went through a number of different types of blades before settling on the timber wolf blades, and this size. I have tried using 11/4 blades on the saw with very poor results.

on the moter issue... from your post I am not sure if you are running it on 220 or 120 volts. if you are running it on 220 and the name plate is for 12.5 amps then it looks like the saw is powered by a somthing in 2 hp range. It shouldn't be tripping a 20 amp breaker.

couple of questions are
1. it this a dedicated circuit? if not then you may already have several amps of load on it and there is your problem.
2. I hope you are using 12 awg for the 20 amp circuit, if not then you are using an undersize wire for the rated load of the breaker.

I think if everything checks out ok then you may simply have to much belt tension and basically causing what is known as a locked roter condition, where you are not allowing enough counter EMF to develope fast enough due to the rotational inertia of the saw's wheels, which is the cause of your breaker problem.

that is my two cents worth

[Jim Becker]

Very nice saw, Mike.

As to the blades, I don't recommend you go over the 1" Lennox carbide tipped blade for an 18" saw and be sure to de-tension it when it's not in use to avoid fatigue problems. The current formula is better in that respect for these small saws (under 24"), but it's best to be cautious and do the things that will give you maximum life. The Trimaster should last you years if you take care of it as compared to hours and/or days for a typical high-quality blade, such as the excellent Timberwolf.

I use the 1" Trimaster on my MM16 for resaw work and will be putting a 1/2" on it for general purpose use once I use up my stock of "regular" blades. (I'll continue to use the Timberwolf 1/2" AS blades for wet wood work)

[John Bailey]

Mike,

Looks like a nice unit. It's one of the saws I'm considering, so I'll be looking for more information when you start using it more. How about pictures of some of your jigs?

John

[Tony Falotico]

NICE saw, I saw one (no pun intended) at Woodcraft a couple weeks back, manager's special for $899, definitely very high on my wish-list.

[Alan Turner]

Mike,
Call Louis Iturra at Iturra Design, in Jacksonville, Fl and ask him what resaw blade he recommends for your saw. He is the most knowledgable bandsaw guy that I have ever met (by phone), and his pricing is excellent! I suspect he will recommend a 3-4 tooth at 3/4", unless you are only resawing 12" or greater stock, at which point he will go with the 2-3 tooth version.

[John Bush]

Hi Mike,
You are going to be very pleased with you BS choice. I use the Lenox 1" 2/3tpi Varitooth on my Rikon and it works very well. I also tried a 1/2" Bimetal and find that it resaws also. Lots of good choiuces. Good luck, John.

[Byron Trantham]

I agree with Alan, call Iturra. Looks like a really nice saw. Let us know how well it runs once you get the little nigs taken care of.

[Ted Shrader]

Mike -

Congratulations on your birthday and the present! Looks like you are all set. Thanks for the frank comments in the critique of the saw.

Ted

[Mike Cutler]

Let me answer a few of the comments in the thread.
Lou. I agree with your asessment of the locked rotor condition. I called Rikon and they don't believe that the saw should have done that. They are sending me a starting cap to replace, and I guess we'll take it from there. The bandsaw was plugged into 220vac, 15 and 20 amp service/ receptacle, with 12/2 awg. Nothing other than the saw was turned on or plugged in. Thank you for asking though, cause I've been down that path before.
Jim. I contacted Lennox and Suffolk Machinery, niether company recommends a blade larger than 1" due to the increased thickness of the blade as they get wider. Both companies believe that the 18" diameter wheel is to small and will result in "micro cracking" and add additional stress to the blade in sizes greater than 1".
I ordered a 1" 3tpi Tri Master, a 1" Lennox Bimetal, 2/3 varitooth, and a 1" 3TPI,PS Timberwolf. I'll give them all a try, worst that happens is that I end up with three progressively better blades
Alan. I've talked to Louis in the past. What an info source he is, I really wish he had a web page because he has so much to offer. He pretty much stopped me from throwing my Jet into the river and gave me all the guidance I needed to make that saw optimally perform. He also said I would eventually need a more powerful bandsaw, because I was asking for too much from the Jet. . I'll give the 3/4" Timberwolf a whirl, but I already know it's a nice blade.
One drawback I've already discovered is blades. The 142" blade is not yet a commonly stocked blade. I guess that's my justification for buying more than one. .

[Bruce Page]

Mike, congrats on the new BS. I was looking at the Rikon 18" over at Woodcraft last Saturday, it's a nice machine.

[lou sansone]

[QUOTE=Mike Cutler]Let me answer a few of the comments in the thread.
Lou. I agree with your asessment of the locked rotor condition. I called Rikon and they don't believe that the saw should have done that. They are sending me a starting cap to replace, and I guess we'll take it from there. The bandsaw was plugged into 220vac, 15 and 20 amp service/ receptacle, with 12/2 awg. Nothing other than the saw was turned on or plugged in. Thank you for asking though, cause I've been down that path before.

ok mike. just asking the basic electrical questions. let us know what the result is. I was thinking it could be a bad starting cap, but I did not know the specifics.

[John Bush]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the update. I use the 1" Bimetal Varitooth and find it cuts well, leaving a bit of a rough surface. Let us know how the 1" Trimaster compares. I didn't want to step up to the more $$$ blades until I gained some more experience. Thanks again. John.