Need Band Saw ADVICE PLEASE

[Jeff Miller]

This is a classic SMC thread. You gotta have at least _____________, you don't need to spend any money etc. The varied opinions and general lack of group think is what makes this forum stand apart, in a good way.

The OP's Craftsman ne'e Rikon is an OK saw but it certainly is in the upgrade arc of most semi-serious hobbyists. The motor is weak, the guides are fairly poor (difficult to adjust) and the fence is more a fence shaped object. One can absolutely make it work but the saws and budget he mentioned are a solid step up in most every way save for the throat depth. Keep in mind this was stripped down version of a stripped down price point saw. I tend not to get in the way of people spending their own money, just the opposite, but will help them spend it in the most effective way IMO. This doesn't usually involve saying things like just buy wood especially when it comes to bandsaws which I think of like routers: every shop should have at least three.

The OP should indeed take stock in what is motivating him to trade up. Can the shortcomings be remedied with the correct setup and/or blades, this is important because any saw he gets will require the same. The Snodgrass/Carter video is available on youtube and is solid info despite the fact I don't agree with everything he says and it is mainly directly to 14" crowned wheel saws, which is what the OP has and is looking at.

In the end there are a lot of saws in the 14" welded steel class and of the roughly $1k segment the OP picked the best and best value options. To do better in the new market he will need to move his budget up to the 1300-1500 range. Rikon and Laguna have historically gone on 10% off sale fairly regularly so if he waits he may either pad his pocket or possibly look at the next level up in their lines.

Thank You Van
You hit a lot of nails on the head.

The fence and guides are the main thing....I know how and have tuned the saw as much as I can,It runs so smooth you almost can't hear it.

I also have restored two older smaller band saws ,a table saw and a old Craftsman6" Jointer

So the guides...I ordered Carter guides and also a pair of their blue tires ( About $300.00 ) but there was one piece that holds the upper
guide to the post that didn't have enough adjustment and I could of filed the holes out ....but instead they are on their
way back. And I thought the adjustments for the bearings had way too much lash ...like a half a turn before they moved either way.

U right the fence is pretty much a toy.

I can order a Grizzly fence that might work but where my blade is not centered like the Grizzly is not centered on the table.
But they are probably not centered in the same place on the table. hope that made sense

Also my cast iron wheels and tires are not crowned they are flat.

There was a big discussion on woodnet when this saw came out about the wheels and tracking.
But I have to say the blades track perfectly.


So what this boils down to is I want a new band saw ....but do I need it......Don't matter...my$$

So I was leaning towards the Rikon but everybody likes the Laguna ......but the ceramic guides,tell me I will
like them as much as the bearing guides on the Rikon....are they easy and tool less to adjust?

These two saws (either one) are big enough for what I want to do.


Thank You everyone for the replies.

Now(please) give some votes on which one of those two to get.....If I decide to buy


JEFF

[Barry McFadden]

I have the Rikon 10-326 and love it....

[Van Huskey]

First, I had no idea it had flat wheels/tires. Gotta be the only small Asian saw without them.

Again, I think you will find the Rikon and the Laguna both as a step up. The Rikon is cheaper and that deserves consideration.

I prefer the Laguna guides, the 10-326 did address the difficult to adjust guides from the 10-325 which were horrible to adjust and now use bigger bearings and are toolless. Not a huge fan of off the shelf bearings used for bandsaw guides (including the small Carter guides). I also don't like guides that run perpendicular to the blade as it sets the bearing point higher and the bigger the bearing the higher this point gets so the blade isn't supported as close to the cut. I won't go into Euro guides since it is beyond the scop here. The Laguna guides are tooless and easy to adjust. They are particularly easy since they can be run just touching the blade, which is the way they are designed to run but you will see varying opinions on setup. Run them just kissing the blade and they will provide the most support. They provide support of the blade at multiple points including close to the stock. I prefer solid block guides to bearings and ceramic to any other material and the Laguna version to all others. That said I have multiple types of guides and don't feel the need to replace them all with Laguna guides. Be aware the occasional spark that comes off ceramic guides freaks some people out.


I like the Laguna better, mainly for the guides beyond that it is more or less a toss-up for me. The Rikon does have a 5 year warranty if that motivates you. I don't think you will be disappointed with either.

[Nick Decker]

Jeff, it may be hard to find someone who has used both the Rikon and Laguna, with the exception of (I assume) Van. I tend to put a lot of stock in his opinion. The man obviously has a bandsaw "problem."

[andy bessette]

This latest Delta 14" is my third. They are wonderful machines. The first was a wood cutting bandsaw I bought new in the late '70's. It served me well for decades. To that I added a Delta 14" wood/metal cutting BS, another wonderful machine. Should have kept them both, but sold them when I bought my 20" Agazzani wood-cutting (~$1600), 18" Vectrax vertical metal-cutting, and 7" x 10" vertical/horizontal mitering metal-cutting bandsaws, due to overcrowding in my shop. In spite of this overcrowded condition I simply could not get by with just the 20" Agazzani and so picked up the third Delta 14" wood machine (for $450).

These Delta 14's are so far above anything Craftsman ever made, but they are limited to 1/2" blades. The Agazzani's 1" carbide blade is perfectly suited to resawing. I've even cut 7" thick blocks of aluminum with it. Having both machines (plus the metal-cutting machines) is ideal.

For $400-$500 you can buy a clean 14" Delta.

[Van Huskey]

These Delta 14's are so far above anything Craftsman ever made,

Setting aside that Craftsman never really built much of anything machinewise including the OP's saw, the Craftsman name adorns many bandsaw better than the Delta. Here is a Craftsman 100 18" saw, pretty standard build for a light duty 18" welded steel saw of the time. BTW this one was built by Parks in Cincinnati which built a lot of "Craftsman" machines.


31539-A.jpg

Don't get me wrong I have a soft spot for the Delta 14" saw (I've had over a dozen through the years and passively looking for one now for an experiment, How well good can I get a HF 14" saw to cut and I need an accessible baseline). However, the low tension ability, small table and often low HP motor take it out of the running for the best 14" all rounder. For a second saw they are hard to beat especially if one is budget or real estate constrained.

[andy bessette]

VH--I wouldn't mind having that one. But I'm out of space.

[Randy Heinemann]

I have the precursor to the Rikon 10-326 Deluxe (the 10-325 Deluxe) with the Rikon's toolless guides. I use Carter's MagFence instead of Rikon's fence because I never liked Rikon's (but maybe their newer fence is better). This saw does all I need it to. Plus, if you can wait a little, I generally see the 10-326 on sale for a very reasonable price. I got my 10-325 for under $800. For my needs, this was more than enough. I have resawed up to 8" boards. I do find that I need to use a slow and steady speed to get the best resaw cut, but it does a great job.

The next step up for me would be an 18" but that's a whole other set of decisions on brands. The 10-326 should do what you want if you're a serious hobby type wood worker. For me it does.

[Nick Decker]

I have the precursor to the Rikon 10-326 Deluxe (the 10-325 Deluxe) with the Rikon's toolless guides. I use Carter's MagFence instead of Rikon's fence because I never liked Rikon's (but maybe their newer fence is better). This saw does all I need it to. Plus, if you can wait a little, I generally see the 10-326 on sale for a very reasonable price. I got my 10-325 for under $800. For my needs, this was more than enough. I have resawed up to 8" boards. I do find that I need to use a slow and steady speed to get the best resaw cut, but it does a great job.

The next step up for me would be an 18" but that's a whole other set of decisions on brands. The 10-326 should do what you want if you're a serious hobby type wood worker. For me it does.

Yup, I just got a Woodcraft flyer that mentioned 15% off for Rikon, starting sometime in August.

Don't know about the fence on the 325, but the one on the 326 works very well for me.

[Tom M King]

I have an old Delta/Milwaukee 14" that belonged to my Dad. It needed a lot of work, so I changed the motor to a horse and a half Baldor, new tires, new guides, new tensioning spring, and crank handle, and found a replacement for the lower broken thrust bearing rod on ebay. Probably something else than I'm forgetting. It does what any flexible (with riser block) 14" saw will do, and works fine.

A couple of years after I did all that, I saw the 10-326, when it first came out, or soon after, on sale for either 799, or 899 (can't remember), and wished that I hadn't put all the time and money in that Delta, and just bought the 10-326.

I've never used that Laguna, but can't imagine it would be worth much of a premium over what the 10-326 costs when it's on sale.

[Jeff Miller]

I got a lead on a Laguna 14-12 brand new and put together .....but will just make it harder to haul.....REALLY GOOD PRICE

If I pull the trigger what is the best way to haul (in a pickup) without wrecking it....About a 60 mile trip.

Thank you in advance

JEFF

[andy bessette]

Just lay it down on the side that can do the least damage. Use moving pads and dunnage/blocking.

[Van Huskey]

I got a lead on a Laguna 14-12 brand new and put together .....but will just make it harder to haul.....REALLY GOOD PRICE

If I pull the trigger what is the best way to haul (in a pickup) without wrecking it....About a 60 mile trip.

Thank you in advance

JEFF

You have two basic options upright or lying down.

If you have enough help the simple way is to load it in the bed move it to the front and strap it down well with ratchet straps. Do NOT lift or anchor by the table, or you will have a bad day.

The second is to partially disassemble it and move it lying down. Bring a socket set with you, sometimes sellers can't find/don't have/or are missing the exact socket you need. Take the table off, place it in the floorboard. Remove the saw from the stand and place it on a moving blanket or similar motor side up. Place the stand in the bed or back seat if you have one. If you drive sanely you won't need to strap it down, but you can take some dunnage to fill out around it if you want to. The extra 30 minutes to break it down and reassemble it is worth it if you are transporting it horizontally. Now you can just take the table off and rely on the base to keep it steady (place it on the spine) its a 49/51 call but I would take the base off but leaving it on will likely work but you will need to strapit down so it doesn't flop over.

[Robert Engel]

Jeff,

Good to consult, but I would also read some reviews. I pretty much trust Fine Woodworking reviews.

I have a Rikon not that exact model (10-345), but I think the construction is basically the same. I am very happy with it.

I have a friend who bought the Laguna and he's also very happy with it (and he is a very particular guy).

The brake on the General and Laguna is not a bad feature to have.

My opinion is the Rikon would come in second to the General and Laguna.

Main deciding points between include:

1. The type/quality of guides
2. Ease of adjustments -tension and guide height
3. Cast iron wheels vs. aluminum.
4. Resaw height.
5. Frame construction
6. Ease of blade change.

If you can secure the machine well enough, I would try to haul it in a standing position.

If you lay it down, remove the table.

[Rick Potter]

Take some wood blocking and tie downs with you, and lay it on it's back.

Tip: A piece of carpeting or cardboard will help a lot. Stand the saw with its back to the tailgate, slide the cardboard behind it, and swivel the whole thing into the truck. Slide it AND the carpet/cardboard into the truck. Avoid damaging any electrical cords. Block it on it's back, tie it good and go home. Done it a dozen times. Never removed anything, but your option.

PS: Do not lift it by the table.