Who makes the "best" Bandsaw?

[Don Brubaker]

I'm happy with my Rikon 10-325. Bought it primarily for:
- 13" resaw capacity
- 1 1/2 hp motor
- pre-wired for 110 (can be reconfigured for 220)
- $675 at Woodcraft (10% off sale, which I think is coming up again maybe this weekend or next).

Best of luck.

I've been looking at the Rikon, but was concerned about two things ..... ease of changing the blade and the blade bearing system. I've used the carter system before and loved it, but have heard great things about the "unbeatability" of the guides on the more expensive Laguna. Any comments on this? Thanks.

[Don Brubaker]

For me the 220 or 110 works. I'm interested in both the resaw capacity which the Rikon seems to excel in, but also want ease of blade change / re-alignment as I would like to be able to easily (without dread!) change from the 1/8" to the 3/4" blade, etc. I really like the Laguna, though almost twice the cost, but unsure of the guide blocks versus the Carter (which I've used and like). The cost is probably not an issue, though with someting like the Rikon, I could then get "another toy" versus just buying a Laguna. I'll take a look at the Agazzani, but never ever heard of it until now. At the moment it seems to be between the Rikon and Laguna (talk about price difference!) with a "meandering" look at the Powermatic (for quality?) or Grizzly's (for overall features?)

[Frank Drew]

Tannewitz.

(Well, you did say "the best", and didn't say you had a tight budget.)

[Howard Acheson]

You might want to pick up the latest Wood Magazine (September 2008). They have a comparison review article on a number of 14" bandsaws. Some interesting information on who they perform on various type of cutting operations.

[Don Brubaker]

Tannewitz.

(Well, you did say "the best", and didn't say you had a tight budget.)

Okay, the Agazzani was one thing, at around $2k, but "Tannewitz" ...... that's a bit over budget! At least I'm learning everything there is to know about bandsaws "but was afraid to ask"! Oh, that's right, I did ask! Even the Azazzani is a bit high, but starts making the Laguna look "cheap". Still uncertain about the Laguna's guide system though.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Don,

As you can tell there are basically 2 price ranges:

Agazanni, Laguna, Mini-Max

All the others....Grizzley, Powermatic, Jet, Rikon, SC,

It really is a matter of how much you want to spend and what features you desire.

There are a lot of fans of all the brands here.

Determine what your budget is. Decide how you plan on using it. Determine what additional features you would like to have. Then...go shop. If you have the time and opportunity, go put your hands on one. Maybe even take it for a test drive.

If you have never owned a BS, get Mark Duginske's latest book. His book is well written, well illustrated and will provide all the information that you need for buying, setting up and using a bandsaw. Excellent reference material. I bought it and really like it.

Good luck with your decision!

[Jeff Duncan]

You also may want to re-think trying to use a 3/4" blade on a 14" saw. Either go to a larger wheel size or smaller blade size. 1/2" is the biggest width recommended for a 14" saw, some guys use 3/4" successfully, I wouldn't want to plan on it though.
As said before it really comes down to what you want to do with the machine. But I certainly wouldn't consider Grizzly or Rikon to be "the best" by any stretch. Tannewitz are definitely great machines, but nobody mentioned Northfield?
JeffD

[Rod Sheridan]

Boy Don, you sure came up with a corker of a question!

I, like many people on this forum, purchased a 14 inch bandsaw and lived to regret it.

I use my bandsaw for 4 functions in order of frequency

- rip crooked, rough wood, or wood with a lot of internal stress

- resaw for panels or veneer

- roughing out turning blanks

- cutting curved shapes

I found the 14 inch saw inadequate for the second and third task listed above.

I then looked at bandsaws extensively and decided I didn't need an Agganzi or a Felder, so I purchased a General International 17 inch model.

Looking at your list of saws, the GI I purchased looks identical to the Grizzly G0513X2.

The 17 inch and above saws have larger tables, greater resaw height, more power, stronger trunnions (very important) and the ability to tension wider blades.

You are the only one who can determine which band saw is correct for you, however most of us have replaced our 14 inch saws.

regards, Rod.

[jason lambert]

Well I can tell you what I did that might help I though the 14" powermatic was the best but after considering price I spent a little more and only a little and got a 18" steel city. All the features are not there but he important ones like a blade tensionar are and it is alot more saw.

[Brad Shipton]

Don:
I would definetly listen to Rod's comments. Personally, I dont think the 14" is quite big enough for many tasks, but I know it is one of the most popular sizes amoungst hobbiests. I have the 18" General it is an ok machine with very similar features to the others, but the most important thing after capacity and hp is the guide system. The eccentric bearings on the General are not great for re-sawing veneer sheets and I am in the midst of replacing the guides with the Carter setup. I would take a look at the Carter website to see what options you will have for changing guides later. The blade change is easy, but I dont think any are really all that problematic.

Brad

[Jim Becker]

I agree that Rod presents some good advice, outside of the characterization that "most...have replaced" their 14" saws. That's probably not true in the general hobbyist woodworking marketplace, but it is true that a growing number of folks have opted for larger machines, either as a replacement for a smaller machine or for their first band saw after doing some research. Again, what you intend to use it for and your budget are very material to any recommendation that any of us can make.

[Dick Sylvan]

Don,

If you have never owned a BS, get Mark Duginske's latest book. His book is well written, well illustrated and will provide all the information that you need for buying, setting up and using a bandsaw. Excellent reference material. I bought it and really like it.

Good luck with your decision!

About a year ago, I met Mark at a seminar in California. Sometime afterwards, I sought him out for advice on which BS I should buy. By the time we were able to hook up, I had ordered a MM16. He told me that "you will be glad with your decision every time you use it." I don't think he was endorsing the MM16 over others, I believe he simply meant it was a great saw and I shouldn't look back.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Agganazi maybe
The MM 16 ( the expensive one) is a damn fine saw some say it's the gold standard.
It's also got flat wheels so you can run smaller blades.

If you want a top end saw you are going to pay the $$.

There's lots of reviews online and in Fine Woodworking.
Read 'em.
You'll learn things like: the importance of thickness of the metal of the frame and housing.
What happens when you apply the brazillions of pounds necessary to tension a big resaw blade.
Whether you want a crown or flat wheel
What kinds of tires they use.
What sorts of tensioners there are
The bearings
The motors and whether they are high percentage or low (only spendy motors like Baldor are high %).
How easy it is to get the wheels to run co-planar.

And the really fun part: almost no maker has the best of everything so you are going to have to decide based on what you think is important for you.

[Graham Skinner]

Hi Don.

American woodworker magazine did a review of most of the bandsaws you mentioned (issue's Oct and Nov 2004) I do not think it is still avalible over the internet, but I have a copy on my hard drive in PFD format and will be happy tp send it to you if you send a PM with your email address.

I have the Steel City 14" so can't comment about the saws you mentioned, but have a look at it before you decide as I am very happy with the performance I get from mine and it seems to be a lot of saw for the money.
BTW (whatever saw you get make sure you get a decent blade to go with it, I like the Viking blades that Lee Valley sales).

Hope this is helpfull....Graham Skinner...

[Don Brubaker]

I agree that Rod presents some good advice, outside of the characterization that "most...have replaced" their 14" saws. That's probably not true in the general hobbyist woodworking marketplace, but it is true that a growing number of folks have opted for larger machines, either as a replacement for a smaller machine or for their first band saw after doing some research. Again, what you intend to use it for and your budget are very material to any recommendation that any of us can make.

Interesting about these comments ...... I've been doing the research and the most enlightening thing I found was that many of the 14" machines seem to have better capacity, and power, than most / many of the 17-20" machines. So this would seem somewhat confusing. I actually had a somewhat older Jet 18" which only had a little over 10" resaw capacity, though it had the approximate 18" horizontal clearance. The Jet 18" was 1 1/2 HP whereas the 14" Grizzly, Rikon, and Laguna are 1 1/2 to 2 on their 14" machines, generally with 12" to 13" + resaw capacity. So o o o, I'm wondering at the advantage, except the horizontal clearance, of most of the 18" er's ...... and no "under-saw" storage (which we know is the MOST important feature!)
I replaced the stock guides on the Jet w/ top and bottom Carter's and noticed quite a bit of difference. The Jet is gone, which is another story, but I've been wanting to replace it, hence my inquiry here. The Laguna seems to be the most tempting with their proprietary guides; but yes, I've been looking at 18" er's as well, but just don't see that much advantage when looking at features compared to price, unless you start getting above 2 HP for some serious resawing. The Agazzani's (sp?) seem to be great for that, but definitely starting to get up there in price.
Thanks for all the feedback. Looking forward to some more perhaps. Seems like a great discussion.