Benefits of moving to larger bandsaw?

[Nick Crivello]

For those that moved from a 16-18" class bandsaw to something in the 20-24" range, what prompted you to move up? What benefits did you realize?

I have a Laguna 18BX I've been happy with; A 2000's era Laguna Lt24x24 has popped up close by at a very reasonable price, not much more than what the 18BX would resell for. Italian made (vs Taiwan origin), twice the power, larger blades and table. Worth the upgrade?

[John TenEyck]

Yeah, if you want to resaw thick stock or slice wide veneer, or need the wider throat. Otherwise, I don't see a need if you're happy with the Laguna.

John

[Jimmy Harris]

Do you resaw much or cut metal? If what you have is working for you, then it's working for you. But I probably wouldn't waste the time to upgrade unless you have a specific need. And personally, if I were to upgrade, I wouldn't want to sell your old bandsaw to do it, as it would probably be better to have two, so you could resaw with one and do finer work with the other without having to switch out blades. Or have one for metal and one for wood, or however you want to split them up.

[Tom Trees]

I bought an ACM star 600/24" machine (it's similar to the LT24x17)
or should I say moved from a far Eastern 20", cuz it was a lemon and got sent back.

I would've ideally got a better 500 or 540mm wheeled machine, but the 600mm/24" machines are more common and cheaper.
Not sorry I upgraded in size, even though the cheap 20" saw was sized with usual suggestion to the "get the next size up" in mind.
Bit tight in a one car garage, bench, and a countertop... but then again the better 20" machines are larger than the one I had,
and it's my fault by designing a base which didn't make allowance to get the column snugger to the wall,
I could have saved a few inches there.

Guess it might be helpful to take a photo of the old tightly fitting base next to the 24" ACM saw to show the difference,
as the column takes up quite a bit more space.
It'll get me out to the shed
Checking for coplanar .jpg
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[Stephen Bandirola]

I think it is worth the upgrade I went from a SCM Mini Max S45 18" to a Felder BS610 24".
It is worth it to have the bigger cutting width and bigger table when you swinging a piece around on curved cuts with a narrow blade.
And of course better for resawing.

Steve

[Nick Crivello]

I have a smallish shop and can't quite justify two bandsaws otherwise I'd run two. The machine is three phase and equipped with a VFD. I have a phase converter but forgot about the variable speed feature the VFD allows.

I've gotten more into metalworking/welding and have future build plans for tables, consoles, dressers, etc. that incorporate both metal and hardwoods. I'd planned to invest in a horizontal mitering head metal bandsaw and plasma cutter. Would a vertical saw be of use for tapered/miter cuts in tubing?

[Andrew Hughes]

My best surprise is how cheap a regular carbon steel blade for my saw lasts. The cost 27 dollars
I was paying that much for a 93.5 for my powermatic that is sold. A Olsen blade off the shelf from Rockler.
My Aggi’s blade is 178 inches. A 3t 3/8 carbon steel blade cuts great. I use it for ripping rough wood all kinda of stuff I don’t worry about messing it up because it’s so inexpensive.
I’ve tried the m42 blades that will cut wood and metals. They seem to need cleaning more often and cost around 80 dollars with delivery.
Bigger saw longer blade
Good Luck

[Tom Trees]

I took a few snaps of the old base beside the new one, and TBH, I thought I was going to see a massive difference, and reckoned the pictures would surely highlight
things, but seemingly not really that much.
Bearing in mind, the smaller base could be sitting slightly tighter to the wall for comparison, but there's not much in it, few mm max.
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One could suggest the table one these, or indeed the LT24 is where the space is taken up, but to me in person, the chassis seemed much larger when
I made the upgrade from the machine below.
Though for balance sakes, perhaps a better photo to show off the size of the table.

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That said, my replies might be more suited to someone who has a more compact table than the 18BX , like the thing I had which was only on the UK market very briefly,
which was replaced with a much nicer machine.
I'd mention the safety aspect of the larger table in that case.

Far Eastern compact 20" bandsaw.jpeg502 2.jpeg

And just to finish up, one reason for you to go Italian, bearing in mind the possibility that it might need work,
it may be worth it, should you have more space than I.

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So if one truly has got a bad case of SIBAS, (subliminal Italian bandsaw acquisition syndrome!)

Just make sure the wheels are in good nick, and the bearings haven't wallowed out the wheel bores...
That'll give a slight knocking sound running, and with blade removed one knock before the wheels come to a halt, you may hear groaning sound if so.
Wider blades, well a 3/4" one will not hide anything, like a curve cutting one will.
The tires might likely need some dressing, since it's going cheap.
Might even be worth aligning the wheels, perhaps before assembling the table again, 'cuz no one wants to take the table off to commission one.

That might highlight something you may not want to see,
Perhaps a pen style dollar store laser , mounted in a block might be a easier job than dressing the face of the wheels, to lay a beam on.
(trusting the wheels without checking them is a fools errand)
Inserted on the shaft instead of doing things the hard way, using it to strike a line much the same.
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[Tom Trees]

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And once the upper wheel (non-adjustable regarding horizontal rotation) is marked out, then adjustment of lower wheel to suit thereafter,

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and the motor if not running nicely, that's tested prior with a very loose drive belt!..... quite likely...
Check the pulley ain't gonna make contact with the wheel whilst doing so...
(beware if not heeding fair warning, the motor bearings can get damaged in an instant, BTDT.)
then one might need to refer to the above, (adjustable plate for motor)

Ideally one would really want the motor to be aligned in order not to damage things, as that is the objective of alignment,
and after seeing a few worn wheels, I make no compromises on that, see earlier pics above.
Motor alignment 1 .jpg

Especially when it comes to older machines, or indeed other machines which ain't built as well as the Italian's.

All the best
Tom

[Tom M King]

Benefits of larger are that as you go up in size the blade speed generally goes up, and bending around a larger radius you can run thicker, wider bands with bigger teeth, so the cutting speed goes up noticeably. Heavier with larger tables are good things too.

[Nick Crivello]

Brought an LT24 home today. Not the first one I was looking at, as I came across a second one closer to me for substantially less. Should be able to sell the 18Bx for an equivalent amount, so even trade essentially.

Need to spend an afternoon getting it cleaned up and dialed in; can't wait to get it in service. While the footprint isn't substantially larger, it's a beast compared to the smaller machine.

Need some blades, starting with a resaw blade. Either a resaw king or Woodmaster CT?

[Tom Trees]

Need some blades, starting with a resaw blade. Either a resaw king or Woodmaster CT?

Something to be said for a regular blade, even if you've got some older ones, one of which if something like 1/2" or 3/4" for alignment,
aswell as having a new blade to try thereafter, which won't hide anything, having a set, rather than not with carbide blades.

Sounds like you got a good deal, congrats.

Tom

[Earl McLain]

Where are located Nick? I've been watching for an 18 BX to come up used within a few hundred miles of NW Indiana--only one i've seen in the past 18 months or so was priced above retail new.

[Justin Rapp]

Brought an LT24 home today. Not the first one I was looking at, as I came across a second one closer to me for substantially less. Should be able to sell the 18Bx for an equivalent amount, so even trade essentially.

Need to spend an afternoon getting it cleaned up and dialed in; can't wait to get it in service. While the footprint isn't substantially larger, it's a beast compared to the smaller machine.

Need some blades, starting with a resaw blade. Either a resaw king or Woodmaster CT?

Nice - Enjoy the upgrade. I actually want an LT model also but can't justify the upgrade from my 14BX that does almost everything I need. However I should have gotten the 18BX

[Nick Crivello]

Where are located Nick? I've been watching for an 18 BX to come up used within a few hundred miles of NW Indiana--only one i've seen in the past 18 months or so was priced above retail new.

I'm in Napa. Had the good fortune of ordering the 18BX in 2021 before the Laguna price increases. Still had to wait about 4 months for it. It's currently ~$2800 plus tax/shipping.