How much bandsaw do I really need

[Geoff Crimmins]

I have a 1950s Delta 14" bandsaw with a 1HP Delta motor. It's a 13-amp motor, so it may be closer to 1-1/2 HP by today's standards. It works well for curves and can do some basic ripping an resawing with a Kreg fence. The 3/8" 4 tpi blade cuts fine but leaves a pretty rough finish. I find that the 6" resaw height is sometimes limiting for resawing and cutting bowl blanks. I had a chance to use 19" Grizzly with the same blade and was impressed with how much easier it cut (hot knife/butter) and how much more enjoyable it was to use for any sort of thicker cut. That got me to thinking that it might be nice to put a narrow blade on the Delta, and get a larger saw for resawing and cutting turning blanks. As I was looking for a larger saw, I came across a Powermatic 141 with a 1/2 hp motor for a "you suck" price so I bought it have been restoring it. There is some pretty bad motor regeneration on shut down, but once I take care of that, it should be ready to go. It's clearly a heavier saw than the Delta, but I'm not sure how much difference that makes in the real world. I'm sort of at the "now what?" stage. I could add a riser block (if I can find one) to the Delta and keep both saws, but I'm not sure how well that will work. If I sell one of the saws and get a bigger saw, which one do you think I should sell? And what size and quality of saw should I be looking for? I looks like the next step up would be a Laguna 14" or a Grizzly 17". The next step after that would probably be a used American or Italian 16" to 20" bandsaw, although used bandsaws are pretty scarce (and therefore somewhat expensive) where I live. There is so much difference of opinion of the capability of different saws. Some people use a carbide blade to resaw on a Laguna 14/12 and say it works great. Other people say you need at least a 30 inch bandsaw for quality resawing. I suppose part of the difference of opinion has to do with how you define "works great" and "resaw." And there are so many saws at so many price levels that it's easy to start down the path of "for just a little bit more I could get a...." and before you know it, a Yates Y42 seems like the only reasonable choice. So, does anyone have any thoughts on my ramblings?

--Geoff

[Van Huskey]

I think the first step is identifying what you reasonably expect to do on with a bandsaw. That along with your budget should narrow it down nicely.

The 141 is a great bandsaw but limited in the big picture by the ~6" height and relatively small table.

[Mike Cutler]

Geoff

How much bandsaw you need really depends on what you intend to do with it.
More than 1/2 of the debate though is settled for you because you have a second bandsaw. Not swapping between one task or another, and the requisite blade changes makes it easier. Once your saw setup for re-saw, it's set.
I've never seen a finish ready surface come off a bandsaw, so no matter what, you still have some additional work ahead. I have two bandsaws, and one is set for re-sawing only. It's a Rikon 540, first year, with a 1", 2/3 varipitch, Lennox Tri-Master. and it does a pretty darn good job, even with a small 2HP motor. My Jet 14", with riser, is for everything else.
If you're looking for re-saw capability, than bigger is better. Heavy machines with powerful motors are going to be required for re-sawing. I know that the 14" can be setup to re-saw, but if you intend to do it on a consistent basis, and you know you'll be re-sawing wide, heavy, material, bigger truly is better.
There is a Bridgewood PB540 for sale currently in the classifieds. It's a heckuva saw, and if it wasn't 1500 miles from me, it would probably not be for sale any longer.

[Ben Reese]

Geoff, I notice in your post that you mentioned getting a riser block for your Delta "if you can find one". I just checked and there are 6 on eBay from $219 to $269 for the kit. Hope this helps. Just went through a process with a broken lower blade guide assembly on my old 28-245 Delta. Decided to invest just over $200 for the Carter upgrade kit which replaced the broken piece with bearings. You may call Carter and see if they offer riser blocks for your saw. Their number is 888-622-7837. Hope this helps

[Carroll Courtney]

If you like the results of the Griz 19" which will do more than your Delta w/riser block then get what works for ya.But good ideal on keeping a 14" for those special occasions,but which one you ask?Well myself being a PM fan and after all the work you put into it give it a test drive see how it perform.If you like it keep it,just for those reasons that you gave which its very heavy duty and no pewter metal in the PM.But to me the delta not so bad,parts can be found on the auction site all the time but parts for the PM(if you should ever need a part) well its hit/miss.Lots of ww'ers wish they had the choices you have,no matter what you can't/won't come up short----Carroll

[Jim Becker]

Bigger and stiffer (which also means heavier) combined with more motor can make for a very smooth and enjoyable cutting experience. Given that pretty much all of the larger machines give good re-saw height, the size "right for you" will come down more to what throat depth you want/need for the types of cutting you want to do (affects wheel size) and just how thick/tall/hard material will be that you'll want to re-saw. (affects power requirement and nature of the blade) Bigger, heavier and stiffer are most important for that latter use, but all cutting benefits.

IMHO, the "average" woodworker who doesn't have specialized needs will enjoy working with a band saw that's in the 16-18" wheel range (the Griz 19" would obviously be part of that sweet spot) with about 3hp available in the motor. That makes for a good all-around performance and is the reason that so many of us have opted for machines like that. (Mine is an older MM16)

One thing...if you have the space for it, consider keeping the 14" band saw for scrolling work with a narrow blade. All of the larger machines can take small blades, generally speaking, but setting up for the narrow blade is more than just swapping out from the wider blade since many of the larger machines run flat wheels and have guides that are optimized for wider cutters. I somewhat regret not keeping the 14" band saw when I got the heavier one for this reason, although I don't use narrow blades very often. This suggestion is a "convenience" thing, not a "capability" thing, just to be clear.

[John TenEyck]

I was in about the same situation as you, except I had a riser on my 14" Delta. I also had a 1.5 HP motor on it. I regularly used it to slice shop sawn veneer 10"+ wide with it. It did the job, slowly, and with great care required in setup and good bi-metal 1/2" x 3 tpi blade. I cut hundreds and hundreds of feet of veneer with it. When I realized I was cutting so much veneer and how long it was taking I finally decided I needed a new saw. I looked, evaluated, studied specs., talked with people, etc. In the end my criteria led me to decided I needed more than 3 HP and I needed more than 12" of resaw height. I also needed to be able to get whatever I bought down into my basement shop, so size and mass were important, too. That eliminated the 20" and larger saws, but there were still several saws left to choose from. I ended up with a 17" saw with a 5 HP motor and 16" of resaw height and couldn't be happier. It was a challenge getting the 600+ lb beast down into my shop, but it's never coming out so it's good.

You can never have too much HP, too much mass, or too much height. My advise is to get the biggest, heaviest saw that will fit and that you can afford, whether new or used. Whatever the manufacturer says for max. blade width, deduct one size. If they say it can handle a 1" blade, then it probably can only put adequate tension on a 3/4" one. That was one of the criteria I paid special attention to because I wanted to be able to run a 1" wide blade for resawing so I bought a saw that the manufacturer said could handle a wider blade than that.

Good luck on your search. The reward is worth the effort. My little Delta is much happier now running a 1/4" blade and the new saw is a real joy to use.

John

[Ben Rivel]

I took the advice of buy as much bandsaw as you can and while I could have put more money into a larger unit I ended up deciding the Hammer N4400 was good enough for what I wanted to do. 4HP motor, 12" resaw height, 17.3" cutting capacity and a 22.5" throat. Been perfect for me.

[glenn bradley]

I think you are hearing a common theme here. You have experienced what a larger, heavier, more powerful saw will do. the question is do you do that often enough to warrant the price. If you will regularly use the benefits of a larger saw then I would target that as my goal. I feel that a riser block on 14" saw with a smaller motor is like throwing money at a contractor saw; you can get good results but, often approach the price of the next tier by the time you get the lesser machine to that point. JMHO.

[Geoff Crimmins]

Thank you all for the good advise. Ben, it's good to see that is a riser block option for Delta bandsaws again. Thanks for the link. Carroll, yes the PM 141 is a heavier saw than the Delta in every way (except maybe for the trunnions.) The biggest difference is probably in the tensioning assembly. I was able to buy a new upper blade guard and table pin from Powermatic, so it's encouraging that at least some parts are still available for the saw. I definitely plan to keep one of the 14" saws.

In my initial post I neglected to talk about how I would use a larger bandsaw. It's strictly for hobby use, and that will be fairly light use at least until my kids are a few years older. I would use it for ripping and for some resawing. Probably a couple two or three-foot long boards at a time, rather than production runs of 8' boards. And cutting up turning blanks whenever the local arborist comes across something nice and is willing to share. I'd also like to learn to cut dovetails on the bandsaw. I'd like something that's high-quality and a pleasure to use. I hate fighting with a poorly designed or made tool. Anything larger than a 3hp motor will require re-wiring in my shop. I'm not sure about budget. I could easily spend $1000. I could probably spend twice that if I had to, though I would find it difficult to justify spending that much. I don't want to buy an MM16 if a Laguna 1412 would meet my needs, but I also don't want to buy a saw that's too small or underpowered and have to upgrade later. Used bandsaws are scarce in my area, but I am watching to see what's out there.

--Geoff

[Eric Rimel]

Went through a similar bandsaw dilemma recently, although I had made up my mind that a 14" saw just wasn't going to do it so I knew it had to be larger. I didn't have a bandsaw at all so I was eager to get something, but I stuck to my initial idea of not getting a 14" saw. I was basically holding out for an older Walker Turner or a 20" Rockwell. I had owned a 20" Rockwell in the past and I really liked that saw. I lucked into an auction deal on a 36" a few months ago. The one thing I didn't think about as I grunted 3,000 lbs of iron into my shop? I only have an 8" jointer. While I can re-saw some huge stuff, I can't joint it. Your jointer size may answer your bandsaw capacity questions.

[Terry Therneau]

I'll chime in as well. I was casually keeping my eye open for a bigger saw, and year ago stumbled onto a 26" Moak on the local craiglist for $1/pound (1100). I barely talked myself into it but now wouldn't give it up. There is simply no comparison to the 14" Walker Turner (itself no lightweight), which I did keep with a smaller blade on it. It's "only" 3 HP but handles anything I throw at it.