BANDSAW: Grizzly 17" G0630x or 24" G0568 ??? Advice needed!

[john lawson]

Okay, in a bandsaw, weight is good, very good. Size is good, size can be great. Vibration is not good, it is very bad. Buy a bandsaw that is heavy, big and has little vibration. If all other things are equal, changing blades, guide system etc, always buy bigger. You can keep a cheap 14" bandsaw with a 18" blade on it for "scroll work"

While Grizzly makes many great machines, and I have owned some of them, most of the Chinese made bandsaws don't hold up in comparison to the Italian made machines. But to each his own. Buying any machine is a trade off in the value equation of what am I willing to pay and what do I expect out of it.

But I will add this. I drug a 25 year old Centauro out of a barn that I paid little to get, de-rusted it, painted it and put a VFD on it (3 phase). The machine runs like a watch. I put a Lenox Trimaster on and use it for joinery cuts. A great bandsaw with a great blade will change your woodworking life. But if you have not experienced using a great machine you won't know what your missing. Before you buy new go try some machines.

[Bryan Lisowski]

Bill,
My comment wasn't meant to be snippy, but after reading it again I could see where it came off that way. I own a Grizzly bandsaw, 14" with riser, due to ceiling constants I really can't go biggerand it has served me well. Since the resaw heights are similar, I would probably look for which has the bigger table since ripping is one thing you mentioned.

[Van Huskey]

Bill, I know you want some definitive answers but they may be hard to find, IME the 568 is a fairly rare bird in the wild and I have never had a chance to test tension and deflection on one, the only ones I have touched have been in Grizzly showrooms.

You are quite correct about weight not necessarily being an indicator of "spinal rigidity". That said most modern manufacturers almost surely use FEA in order to optimize their machines, while the raw materials may not be a big cost burden the cost of shipping the extra weight half way around the world and on to the final destination means on this scale of machine you won't see an extra 100 pounds of weight where less weight using the same materials (not talking about shifting to titanium or carbon fiber) could do the same job.

The 636 like basically every saw under 20" is going to be a little short of full tension on a 1" .035" carbide blade BUT high enough for it to be near optimum. My GUESS (based on similar weight modern steel saws) the 568 will be a little lower in tension but probably within most people's idea of near enough to optimum that they would still choose a 1" carbide blade over a 3/4".

Hobby users have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to bandsaw capacity, how did our forebears ever get buy with 14" throats and 6" of resaw? In all honestly the number of times I have used over 12-13" of resaw or more than 16 or so inches of throat are extremely low, the thing I like most about bigger saws is bigger tables which I find more useful day to day than anything else, something old cast saws are usually blessed with.

I think you want the bigger saw, get it, if you don't you will regret it at some point. If you do get the 568 pick up the resaw fence attachment when you order it.

EDIT: make sure you have the access height for the 24", it will not fit under the average 7' garage door even off the pallet, it can be tipped in using a appliance trucks with enough help though.

[Van Huskey]

While Grizzly makes many great machines, and I have owned some of them, most of the Chinese made bandsaws don't hold up in comparison to the Italian made machines.

For the sake of accuracy all Grizzly bandsaws (save maybe the benchtop baby saw) are built in Taiwan. It is up to the individual whetherer this means anything or not.

[Mike Cutler]

What are you going to do with the saw is the big question.
For me, re-saw is the primary purpose of a band saw, and I don't just mean book matching boards. The band saw is part of my milling process.
It appears that the G0636X might come with a few more polished feature. Fence and trunnion, but I would hope there would be more in the frame also.
In the end though, I'd go with the G0548. 500 more FPM of blade speed, more weight, and a larger rotational mass, is pretty darn attractive. I'm confident that with some tuning and playing around with the guides, the G0568 would be a fully capable re-saw machine. ( I would machine a different style of guides for either machine, but that is a personal preference. )
It looks like the G0636X may come more re-saw ready, but I'm in the bigger is "usually" better camp.

[Adam Merritt]

Bill,
I'm not sure if you'd be willing to consider it, but have you thought about a trip to visit one of the Grizzly showrooms? It looks like a Saturday flight from Pittsburg to Springfield can be had for <$300 (10% of the bandsaw, so you have to weigh that), but that would let you look and see both of those machines (as well as many others you may like) to make a final decision. If you have a pickup, you could potentially make a road-trip to inspect and buy one on-site to save shipping. That would recoup some of your travel cost as well (but might check on tax implications). I detoured on a trip from Ohio back to Texas a few weeks ago and was really impressed looking at all the equipment in the Springfield showroom. This may not be feasible for you, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

[Prashun Patel]

What do you want to do with this saw? Resaw wide, heavy boards, cutting veneer, cutting green logs for turning, clean ripping to rival a tablesaw?

Ask yourself how large you really plan to work. Mine has about 12" resaw capacity. For me, I almost never go that high. If I need to go wider, I have other ways that I prefer to employ; my preference.

For me, mass and power and a big, heavy table are more important than having a taller saw - which is something I didn't anticipate when I was originally considering.

Knowing your priorities will determine how to deploy your $$ @ Grizzly.

[Frank Drew]

I can't keep up with this blizzard of Grizzly machine numbers (548 568 636 513 514 701) and don't have any thoughts on their pricing, but if a 24" bandsaw is of equal or greater quality to a 17" model, and if I could afford it and fit it into my workspace, then getting the larger saw would be an easy decision. In general, assuming a well-made machine, you can put more tension on a blade (band) running over larger wheels because the band is stressed less as it passes over the larger diameter curves. The bigger table and deeper throat would also be in the plus column for me. And this is from someone not particularly interested in resawing my own veneers.

IMO, 24" is an ideal size bandsaw for a small to medium size shop.

[Chris Hachet]

IMO, 24" is an ideal size bandsaw for a small to medium size shop.

Indeed, I would like to own a larger machine than my 20 inch at some point.

[Shiraz Balolia]

I know this might be slightly smaller than what you want, but this is the saw I would pick:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/19-U...ce=grizzly.com

I have one in my own shop and actually went down from an older 24" model. Basically I can have any saw in our line-up at a "deeply discounted" rate, but chose this one. Quality and build are fantastic.

[Van Huskey]

I know this might be slightly smaller than what you want, but this is the saw I would pick:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/19-U...ce=grizzly.com

I have one in my own shop and actually went down from an older 24" model. Basically I can have any saw in our line-up at a "deeply discounted" rate, but chose this one. Quality and build are fantastic.

With the obligatory, and totally understandable and logical, upsell out of the way between the two bandsaws mentioned by the OP (636 and 568) why would you pick and most importantly why?

[Mike Cutler]

I know this might be slightly smaller than what you want, but this is the saw I would pick:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/19-U...ce=grizzly.com

I have one in my own shop and actually went down from an older 24" model. Basically I can have any saw in our line-up at a "deeply discounted" rate, but chose this one. Quality and build are fantastic.

I bet you can get the "family discount".

Bill
In looking at reviews for these saws, because you got me interested, I found a 9 year old post by Shiraz comparing these machines, or their predecessors. At that time he recommended the 17", over the 24", fwiw.

[Tom Trees]

Have you never heard about the bandsaw rule
If the 24" is as beefy as the one Shiraz showed on that thread ...no contest

" Never come down! "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3i30km1s4w

[Wade Lippman]

I know this might be slightly smaller than what you want, but this is the saw I would pick:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/19-U...ce=grizzly.com

I have one in my own shop and actually went down from an older 24" model. Basically I can have any saw in our line-up at a "deeply discounted" rate, but chose this one. Quality and build are fantastic.

It is smaller and nearly 20% more expensive. What makes it worth that?

[Van Huskey]

It is smaller and nearly 20% more expensive. What makes it worth that?

The short answer is the 636 is a better and heavier built saw. They are simply different weight classes of saws.