Best All-Around Bandsaw Size (?)

[Rob Will]

I am setting up a new shop. In an earlier post we discussed owning two bandsaws - one for general use and one for resawing. Where I stand right now is to use a Wood Mizer for the really big resaw work and have "normal" bandsaws for scrolling and smaller resawing.
In your opinion,

• What bandsaw(s) to look at and how big?
• Exactly what features make a nice bandsaw?

Commercial style shop with 3 phase power.

Thanks for your suggestions,
Rob

[Julio Navarro]

I hope you get opinions on this topic with in 10 hrs cos I am bidding on an old Jet 18" band saw.

I figure to resaw you need as wide a blade as possible, this thing takes blades up to 1-1/2" thick. It's speed adjustable and has a solid cast iron table.

[Mark Singer]

I would say 20" or bigger for overall use. I have two a 20" Agazzani and a 14" Jet and the 20" is used a lot more. If it is a quality machine there is no comparison.

[Steven Wilson]

I would go with a 20" or 24" for all around use and a 12" for scrolling, mount the small guy on roller balls and you can use it to do scroll cuts in beams

[lou sansone]

how tall are your ceilings ? that does start to put an upper limit on some saws.

not sure about using your band mill as you describe. Do you have a mill? Are you planning on resawing 16/4 material ? my experience with that method has resulted in some problems with moisture gradients .

I have had a 24 and now a 36 inch saw.. love the 36, but that just me..

24 is a nice size that is heavy enough not to flip flop around, but manageable

Lou

[Rob Will]

how tall are your ceilings ? that does start to put an upper limit on some saws.

not sure about using your band mill as you describe. Do you have a mill? Are you planning on resawing 16/4 material ? my experience with that method has resulted in some problems with moisture gradients .

I have had a 24 and now a 36 inch saw.. love the 36, but that just me..

24 is a nice size that is heavy enough not to flip flop around, but manageable

Lou

16 feet on the ceiling height. No, I don't have a wood Mizer but a couple of neighbors do. I guess what I meant was that if I want to do some really wide resawing then a band mill could do it (but that might not be a common practice). I have a few natural edge projects in mind that would be far too wide to run through a vertical saw. Thanks for the info.

Rob

[Tom Sontag]

I am not sure when bigger stops being better. But if I had a 3 phase shop with 16' ceilings, I'd be looking at LEAST 24" but why not go all the way up to 30" or 36"? Seems to me that, like a lathe, there is almost no downside to bigger other than $.

[Chris Padilla]

I am not sure when bigger stops being better. But if I had a 3 phase shop with 16' ceilings, I'd be looking at LEAST 24" but why not go all the way up to 30" or 36"? Seems to me that, like a lathe, there is almost no downside to bigger other than $.

Handling BS blades that large might be, uh, scary??

[lou sansone]

Handling BS blades that large might be, uh, scary??

no worse then anything else. I personally wear gloves when re-coiling them up, as I do with my band mill blades

[tod evans]

rob, when i set my shop up i knew i wanted a large and a small bandsaw, the reasoning behind this was i do quite a bit of both resawing and small diameter curved work. i wanted a small saw mainly to keep blade cost in line (they sell by the inch) but this small saw had to be able to scroll 6" hardwood with ease so a 1 1/2 hp import wasn`t going to cut it. for the small saw i went minimax 16. on the big saw i knew i wanted minimax also and their larger saws all use the same 9hp motor, i opted for the 28" for two reasons,1) cheaper blades and 2) i really didn`t want to notch my ceiling. so far i haven`t been hindered by the lesser throat depth or resaw height and have no complaints other than i wish they offered a 15hp motor .02 tod

[Christian Aufreiter]

how tall are your ceilings ? that does start to put an upper limit on some saws.

I totally agree with you, Lou.
Due to the height limitations of my small basement shop I've decided to go with a 400 mm (16") model. But if I had more space I'd be tempted to purchase a 700 mm (27.5") saw. Anyway, the combination of my dreams consists of a 16" and a 35" bandsaw. Yep, it's a dream and might never come true.

Regards,

Christian

[Paul B. Cresti]

Rob,
As Tod points out, I think it depends on your use. IMHO and only because that is what I am familiar with I find the 24" size to be a very good compromise. I still can use it for long curves and some tighter ones with relief cuts (1/2" blades) but it excells at ripping and resawing for me. When I was initially looking for bandsaws my reasons for choosing a 24 was for additional throat capacity and table size. Hey what manufacturer are you considering ?

[Rob Will]

Rob,
As Tod points out, I think it depends on your use. IMHO and only because that is what I am familiar with I find the 24" size to be a very good compromise. I still can use it for long curves and some tighter ones with relief cuts (1/2" blades) but it excells at ripping and resawing for me. When I was initially looking for bandsaws my reasons for choosing a 24 was for additional throat capacity and table size. Hey what manufacturer are you considering ?

Paul,

It's pretty well an open playing field right now. I have seen some 36" SCMI machines that look really nice. Any thoughts on these? I don't mind old iron providing it is modern design and servicable. Also I would like to stay away from special electric motors. (is that possible in a bandsaw?)

I'm still needing input on exactly what features make a good bandsaw - specifically in the area of blade guidance and tracking.

Thanks,
Rob

[lou sansone]

for modern saws that are belt driven the 24" size is quite nice. Centurao made an all cast iron version of their saw that I have seen in person.. very nice (32").

older iron can be quite nice and the one place, along with lathes, that cast iron provides a way to be artistic with the machine design. That was one of the main attractions for me with both my lathe and BS. The sweeping curves are just plain beautiful. Modern saws are just a big welded steel box and ugly in my opinion. If you are going to have old iron I would stay away from spoked wheels and look for BS with carter wheels or the oliver aluminum wheels. Quality and condition are key with old iron BS as is the speed of the direct drive motor. try to find a 575 rpm motor, they are quite rare, but much easier to use then the more popular 900 rpm motors.


There is the Zimmerman BS, but they are very rare and expensive, but from what I have seen the rolls Royce of BS and pattern lathes.

Lou