Yates American J-120 vs Bridgewood 540

[Jesse Busenitz]

Which one would you prefer? I've had the BW for a couple years but never have had the time to really get it set up right. I just bought a YA J-120 as a packaged deal, so I'm wondering if it would be any better? I do prefer the old iron but it is 2" smaller and I've heard that this was their economy line. It's also 3-phase which I think I'm going to get a convertor anyway so that wouldn't be a big issue.

[Erik Loza]

What issues are you experiencing with the Bridgewood? It's the Italian one, right?

Erik

[Jesse Busenitz]

The guides need a little adjustment as far as being parallel, but mainly it just needs a new blade.... My old shop was so small that I had to dig it out to use the saw, but I'm in the process of moving into a bigger building were it will be used solely for resaw. The BW does have cast iron wheels where the YA has cast aluminum I believe.

[Erik Loza]

If it's an ACM machine, it would be tough to find a much better built saw in the same size range.

Erik

[David Kumm]

YA J series were a nice saw but nothing like their cast iron Y series. Perfect for a second saw with a narrow blade but not a resaw machine. Dave

[Mike Wilkins]

Most of us tool junkies would just say keep both. Tune them up for flawless operation, keep a resaw blade on the BW and a smaller blade on the other for curvy cuts, call it a day. In my small shop space I have 3 bandsaws with a different blade on each. That's why I say keep both machines.

[Jesse Busenitz]

Most of us tool junkies would just say keep both. Tune them up for flawless operation, keep a resaw blade on the BW and a smaller blade on the other for curvy cuts, call it a day. In my small shop space I have 3 bandsaws with a different blade on each. That's why I say keep both machines.

Well I probably would but I already have a PM 141 that I'm keeping for small stock/curves, and I'm in the process of moving into a bigger shop, but I definitely don't want to crowd myself out of my shop with too much machinery like my present shop.

[Bill Orbine]

I have the YA J120.....it's a neat art-deco style machine with small footprint because the motor in totally enclosed in the base. It also has a very unique way to load/install the blade. There's is no lower door in the base to install the blade......instead, the blade needs to be dropped from above the base to install onto lower wheel. Because of that, the cast iron table has a hinge door. The wheels are 1 1/4" wide. Curiously, I have cast iron lower wheel and aluminum upper wheel. Maybe previous owners replaced a wheel....but I do suspect the original wheels to be cast iron and I could be wrong. Because the of the unique blade installation and the narrower wheels, I don't find this saw to be a great machine for regular re-saw... a bit too cumbersome to set up. But otherwise, it's a great saw.

[David Kumm]

Many old saws had aluminum upper wheels. The mass of the cast iron frame dampened the vibration so a cast iron upper was not needed for that purpose. Yates used cast iron, steel or AL on various machines. Some may have been special ordered but I'm not up on Yates history to be any authority. Dave