Bandsaw suggestions

[Neil Brooks]

I think -- as always -- you've gotten a lot of excellent advice, so far.

My anecdotal: Rikon owners seem pretty happy with their BS's.

I bought the Grizzly G0555X, added the riser kit, a Carter spring, the Carter Ratchet Rod, the Grizzly aftermarket guide block holders, Cool Blocks, and a 1/2" Wood Slicer blade.

And I couldn't BE any happier with my saw.

As the other poster said: lots of good choices. Almost too many

[Dan Karachio]

Joe has better luck than I do, but good for him! I looked on CL for two years for a bandsaw deal...

I have the Rikon 14" and I do like it a lot. However, I had to get it over the Grizzly 17" models because my shop ceiling is that low! If it wasn't for that, I would have a Grizzly 17". For the price, now on sale at WC, it is a very good saw. I am not a fan of the fence, but it is more mediocre than bad. Grizzly has a very very nice fence, but for 6-800 it's tight on the larger Grizzly units.

However, it sounds like you are new to bandsaws and may not have the best idea on what you will use on for. I suggest you try to get some time with different models at other people's shops or stores and think about it. Don't rush! My first bandsaw was a used 1950's 12" Walker Turner. I learned quite a bit on that saw and it only cost me $150. Now I am getting all teary eyed. It had some cracks that I could not repair and I gave it away to a machinist and I'm sure he has it humming...

[Joseph Tarantino]

ryan....when i'm ready to take my 18" jet out to the curb with the rest of my trash, i'll be replacing it with a 14" rikon (thankfully, the jet only cost me $40). i have yet to see a negative comment about either the tool or the technical and/or customer support rikon provides. alas, the same cannot be said for the walter meier group, the complany that markets the jet and powermatic brands. good luck with your search.

[Will Overton]

Since you specified resawing, of the ones you pointed out at WoodCraft, the Rikon is the way to go. The Grizzly mentioned already is another good choice.

I have a PowerMatic 14" which is similar to the Delta and Jet's you linked to. If I wanted to resaw anything wider than 6" I would have to add a riser block. If I bought the bandsaw for resawing it would not have been my first choice.

[Dave Lehnert]

Anyone with the 513P. Have you wised for the cast-iron wheels?

[Ashwini Kaul]

One of the big draws for me towards the Rikon (considering practical issues) is the weight. At just over 200lbs, it will be an easy haul to my basement shop or to move it around. I know this goes against traditional bandsaw wisdom as heft has been considered a virtue. (The 17" griz is well over 400lbs)

Another thing to consider is availability: When I was ready to pull the trigger on the 513x2 in September, the availability was showing as late october... I wanted immediate gratification. I dont know what the current stock situation is, but its something to consider...

For me, the stock 110v option on the Rikon means, I dont have to get the 220 installed in the shop right away... even though long term plans call for it. Maybe when I finally upgrade the TS!

On the down side: I am worried about the dust collection. I have heard that you have to remove something from the stock saw to make the 4" port work. And then I still am worried about how good it will work. As I am in the basement... I need good DC at source. The Grizzly OTOH seems to have decent DC with 2 4" ports.

(BTW Amazon just dropped the price on the Rikon to $745... with free shipping... its very inviting)

For the folks in the know... If we add a decent resaw fence in the future (like a kreg/or maybe a driftmaster - if thats even compatible), will the Rikons major drawback be addressed?

[Rod Sheridan]

I personally would stay away from the 14" cast iron Delta clones, in my opinion they are extremely dated and in general lack the ability to tension wider blades.

That doesn't mean that if you find a used industrial machine such as a General, that you should avoid it as well. Different class of saw.

I would look for a welded steel saw, larger than 14" for a few reasons, one of which is clearance to the frame. You don't often need more rip capacity thah a 14" will provide, however once you start swinging pieces to cut curves, more wheel diameter becomes really handy.

For home I think 17 or 18" machines are often an optimum size.

I'm not in the band saw market, however I was impressed with the Hammer N4400 saw, atractive price, superb customer service, good quality machinery and it comes with a 3Kw motor.

http://www.feldergroupusa.com/us-us/..._utmk=92779293

The link above is the video for the Hammer N4400.

Regards, Rod.

[Ashwini Kaul]

I personally would stay away from the 14" cast iron Delta clones, in my opinion they are extremely dated and in general lack the ability to tension wider blades.

That doesn't mean that if you find a used industrial machine such as a General, that you should avoid it as well. Different class of saw.

I would look for a welded steel saw, larger than 14" for a few reasons, one of which is clearance to the frame. You don't often need more rip capacity thah a 14" will provide, however once you start swinging pieces to cut curves, more wheel diameter becomes really handy.

For home I think 17 or 18" machines are often an optimum size.

I'm not in the band saw market, however I was impressed with the Hammer N4400 saw, atractive price, superb customer service, good quality machinery and it comes with a 3Kw motor.

http://www.feldergroupusa.com/us-us/..._utmk=92779293

The link above is the video for the Hammer N4400.

Regards, Rod.

The N4400 seems to be a good machine from the specs.
Unfortunately user reviews are rare to find and professional reviews for this saw dont exist. Recently they seem to have added to the resaw height (now 12") and added a foot brake, I think without increasing the price... I am not sure though...

[Josh Bowman]

Hey Barry,

Laguna has the free shipping thsi month and if you can spend the extra cash, their 14 " bandsaws are an excellent product.

Their 14" SUV bandsaw is nice, my experience with their customer service is not so good. Lots of promises to send repair parts (never did), forgot to ship (until called and asked for management), shipped wrong item (3 times so far, now it's just turned to fun to watch the boxes go back and forth), just plain old never get back to you (until you call), Now they are plenty nice, just don't follow through. As compared to other companies they just aren't getting it IMO. Good news it's built strong.

[Barry Lyndon]

Awesome information from everyone as usual, thanks! It sounds like there are happy people with both saws and plenty of pros along with a few cons for both the Rikon and the Grizzly. You guys were supposed to make my decision easier I like Rod's point about cutting curves and that 17" giving me more room than the 14". That's something I hadn't considered. I am in a basement workshop so the weight and size is also something I am going to have to take into consideration as well I guess (though I do have 8 ft. ceilings). I am also interested in the availability of the Grizzly. I'm not seeing the ship date if I were to order today on the website, I may need to call them to get this info. I also took a look at that Hammer. Looks like a great machine but it's a bit too far from the price I am interested in paying. Decisions...decisions...

[Randy Dutkiewicz]

Anyone with the 513P. Have you wised for the cast-iron wheels?

Dave,
I originally was wanting the 513X2, but there was such a lengthy backorder on this machine. I contemplated for a while and considering what I'll be using mine for, not having the CI wheels was not a deal breaker for me. I don't do much resawing, but wanted the upgraded fence in case there were those occasions where I would do some re-sawing. I've done a few resawing applications in some walnut and it worked flawlessly and produced a nice smooth cut with no bogging down whatsoever. I couldn't be happier.

[Kent E. Matthew]

I had decided to try for the Rikon at Woodcraft before the sale ended. One just popped up on CL. Not a great deal, but significantly better then the new price. We'll see.

[Rob Price]

I'll throw in my $.02 as that was my question about a month ago. Figure in cost of blades (I started with 4- 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 resaw, and general purpose 1/2), I added the kreg fence, mobile base, and the carter stabalizer- all that adds up pretty quick. I ALMOST pulled the trigger on the 513x2 (also looked at their heavy duty 14" steel framed saw), but then Jet had a sale on their "Deluxe Pro" 14 which has the riser block built it (I've read too many posts about alignment issues installing riser blocks.). Plus, I didn't have the headroom or shop room for a big 17" saw. For me the sale price, plus no sales tax (ToolNut in NY) and free shipping made a sweet deal at $750 delivered to my door in two days when I bought it on Amazon. The Rikon was my second choice but I had read the same thing about it's fence, and Wood magazine said the lower guides were a pain to adjust, not a deal breaker, but a consideration. jet also has 5 year warranty vs 1 for Grizz.

I've only had it a month, but I'm very happy with it. I wanted CI wheels, comes with good polyurethane tires, dual ball bearing guides, plenty of resaw capability and power (for my needs) and with a good blade, I was able to resaw 12" red oak no sweat. My initial thoughts here: http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=149263

End of the day, lots of good saws to choose from.

[Curt Harms]

I am seriously looking into the Grizzly 17" 513P now. It's funny you mention replacing the fence on the Grizzly because that's the one bad thing I have consistently read about the *Rikon*. Most are saying that the fence is absolute crap. Anyway, the 17" part of the bandsaw means that I would be able to resaw wider boards than a 14" right? I'm a little confused on what exactly it means because the Rikon says it can resaw 13", not 14".

With the 2hp motor (vs 1.5 on the Rikon) and the 17" capacity I'm having a hard time figuring out why I would ever go with the Rikon now. Thanks for pointing that one out to me guys! Anyone know when the introductory price on the 513P will be over?

The Rikon fence isn't as nice as some aftermarket units I'm sure, but I'm using the stock fence with an additional bar so I can use the fence on either side of the the blade. One of the complaints is that the Rikon fence is hard to adjust for drift. I guess it is but I've never had to do it and can resaw very well(within .05"), thank you very much . The trick is tuning, proper setup and a good blade as others have said. Incidentally, the blade that came on my Rikon 10-325 is 5/8" and isn't half bad though not as good as Lenox IMO. I went with the Rikon because I thought it would be easier to move the a basement shop which it is. I also build a base in lieu of the factory lower cabinet. I wanted to lower the table to about the same height as my table saw. I'm vertically challenged and prefer the table lower than stock.

I'm also a little skeptical about running the Griz 0513 on 120 volts unless that's the ONLY thing on the 20 amp circuit. The Rikon is 1.5 h.p. so should draw about the same amps as a contractor's saw. I'm using the Rikon on 240 volts because I have it available, it runs fine on 120. The G0513 does seem like a lot of saw for the $$ and it'd probably be better for running wider blades or blades like the Lenox TriMaster that are happier with larger diameter wheels and a lot of tension. There are tons of 513's out there and I don't know if I've ever heard a complaint.

[Van Huskey]

Just noticed the Grizzly 513X2 went on sale for $895. Compared to the 513P you get a larger table, ball bearing guides, cast iron wheels, cast iron trunnion and the upgraded fence. The difference in price is $200 but if you are upgrading the fence on the 513P you are getting everything else for $110. If I could push my budget up the extra $200 I would absolutely get the 513X2 while it is on sale, the 513P is an excellent deal but I think the 513X2 is actually a much better deal at this price.

The above is sincere, below is for fun...kinda.

Now that we are in budget creep mode lets talk a little Italian, no point in stopping here its time to start waxing poetic about Agazzani, Laguna and Minimax bandsaws. What ever you do, do NOT watch the video about the Minimax MM16... http://www.minimax-usa.com/index.php...irectlink&id=8 click on MM16 bandsaw, or not...