Bandsaw Choice

[John Adam]

Gang,

I have permission from the OMB (Office of Management and Budget - my wife) to buy a bandsaw.

I have searched these threads and didn't feel like I got the answer I was looking for so, here goes....

I have limited shop space and budget, and it seem as if the Grizzly 14" Ultimate Bandsaw (http://www.grizzly.com/products/The-Ultimate-14-Bandsaw/G0555) is by far the best value....

The only downside that I can see is that it has aluminum rather than iron, wheels.

I've been cruising craigslist since January (yes, since January) and haven 't found anything I wanted to buy.....

Any opinions?

Thanks,

John

[Paul Ryan]

John,


I have that band saw and have been very happy with it. When I bought it was a budget thing as well. At the time I was worried I may wish I bought the 17". So far I have never needed anything else. It resaws what ever I need it too. Blades make a big difference. If you get a good blade you can resaw 10" with that saw you just need to take it slow. The aluminum wheels aren't an issue. Saws with cast iron wheels have more energy when turning makeing the saw more powerful. It just depends what you are going to do with it. For cutting curves and some ocassional resawing, it is a real nice saw. I would wait until Nov 2 that is when the holiday sale starts. The saw has been selling for $395 most of the summer now is back to $435 I bet it will go down again.

[Mike Cruz]

You will likely be just fine with a 14" saw, BUT bigger is always better and, IIRC, the winter/holiday sale on Grizzly's is listing the 17" CHEAPER than the 14". There is a recent thread listing the sale. Good luck! Oh, BTW, I have a 14". I am perfectly pleased with it. Of course, I would love to have a 17 or 18 inch, but it is just fine.

[John Adam]

Thanks!!

I'm not in a huge hurry (other than the general "I want a new tool" hurry), so waiting 12 days for $40 is certainly worth it.

I've never used a bandsaw, but can think of about 20 projects that I couldn't have used it on.

[William Falberg]

Aluminum wheels are an up-side, not a down-side. The only time you'll need cast iron wheels is when you're using a steam engine for power. Die-cast wheels are so well balanced you'll see less vibration and faster start-up. I use Grizzly wheels on my SM II now and couldn't be happier.

Where I like the flywheel effect is on my wood fired steam saw.
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk264/falbergsawco/AMingsSteamer.jpg

[Mike Cruz]

On that note...IF your wheels are out of balance (you get vibration in your saw) aluminum wheels are EASY to fix. There is a thread on this forum about drilling out the wheels on the heavy side to balance them. Make sure you actually find the thread before trying it.

I did had to do it on one of my wheels...the bottom one. Preeeetty easy.

[Rick Moyer]

You will likely be just fine with a 14" saw, BUT bigger is always better and, IIRC, the winter/holiday sale on Grizzly's is listing the 17" CHEAPER than the 14". There is a recent thread listing the sale. Good luck! Oh, BTW, I have a 14". I am perfectly pleased with it. Of course, I would love to have a 17 or 18 inch, but it is just fine.


The "17" cheaper than the 14"" is the G0513 vs. the G0457, which is not the same saw as the G0555 the Op mentions.

I have the G0555 and feel it is, as some other Grizzly product are, the best bang-for-the-buck in the price range. If I did much resawing, I think I would go for a bigger saw, but I don't, so it has been fine for what I have needed it for.

[John Adam]

Aluminum wheels are an up-side, not a down-side. The only time you'll need cast iron wheels is when you're using a steam engine for power. Die-cast wheels are so well balanced you'll see less vibration and faster start-up. I use Grizzly wheels on my SM II now and couldn't be happier.

Where I like the flywheel effect is on my wood fired steam saw.
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk264/falbergsawco/AMingsSteamer.jpg


William,

re: Ming the Merciless....
I shouldn't admit this, but as a youngster (or was it a former life, soooo long ago), Flash Gordon was my favorite movie - I could recite most of the lines by memory ("Oh NO, not the bore worms!"), and had the soundtrack (on cassette of course).....

To the saw - i'd love the 17", but can't imagine it will fit in my space....I think I'll wait until nov 2 and make a purchase. I think I have an extra $100 in the budget, so we could change the thread to:

What else would you buy (hide in the grizzly budget) for $100!!!

[Paul Ryan]

+ 1

on the Flash Gordon, still one of my favorit all time movies. I still watch it atleast once a year.

Sorry about the HiJack!

[Brett Clark]

Clitus, are you sure your men are on the right pills?

[Rick Fisher]

Dont underestimate Resawing..

When I got a bandsaw really capable of resawing.. it changed the hobby for me..

(It also made me want a much bigger jointer.. )

Working with Rough stock is IMO the best way to go for quality material..
The ability to resaw easily and quickly is a real asset..

If your bandsaw has the power, you could find yourself using it much more than your table saw.

[John Adam]

Thanks...so is 1HP enough power?

[Mike Cruz]

John, if the 14" that you are considering has a 6" cutting capacity, you may seriously want to consider getting the riser kit. Something around $70. It will increase you cutting capacity to 12". Of course the kit comes with a blade, but they aren't much to speak of, so spend the remaining $30 on a nice blade. There, now you know where to spend that extra $100!

Just for information sake, once you add a riser kit, and bearings for guides, etc, etc, that is when a lot of folk say you might as well get the 17 inch saw because it comes with a 2 hp motor, 12" resaw, soid base, yada yada yada. Of course it is almost twice the price IF you aren't going to add the extras. If your total budget is about $500, then getting the 14" with upgrades will work just fine.

[John Adam]

Thanks Mike...

I just found another thread showing the Rikon 10-325 on sale at Woodcraft.

With the discount, it's around $600 vs $500 for the Grizzly (assuming I can pick in up at the shop, Grizzly includes shipping).

It's 12", 1 1/2 hp - seems like a worthy use of an extra $100??

[Mike Cruz]

Sounds like it to me...

Just do the comparisons. The 14" Grizzly with all the extras, the Grizzly 17", and the Rikon. You may want to do side by side comparisons of all their features.

Sounds like you are on the right track. Do it, man! ;)

[Jim Eller]

John,

I purchased the Rikon 10-325 this summer to do resawing. I was going to put a riser block in my Delta 14" but elected to do the two bandsaw thing.

I am happy with the purchase.

Note: the first thing I did was toss the original blade and put in a Woodslicer. It resaws great and smooth cut.

Jim


Thanks Mike...

I just found another thread showing the Rikon 10-325 on sale at Woodcraft.

With the discount, it's around $600 vs $500 for the Grizzly (assuming I can pick in up at the shop, Grizzly includes shipping).

It's 12", 1 1/2 hp - seems like a worthy use of an extra $100??

[John Adam]

Thanks....I'll post when I buy something...

[Josiah Bartlett]

Always go bigger if you can afford it. Bigger band saws are taller but don't really have that big of a footprint. I honestly don't think the 17" Griz saw takes up much more floor space than the 14". It is taller, and heavier, but I really think if you are going to do much resaw at all you will want a bigger saw... you will be able to tension wider blades, the guides will handle wider blades without being a pain to adjust, the extra horsepower will mean that you don't get frustrated cutting, the wide blades will stay sharper for longer since you aren't bending them around narrow wheels and the band length is longer, and the extra mass of the saw and table will mean that it is easier to resaw larger wood without spending a bunch of money on add ons.

I have a 16" Walker Turner with 2 HP. It weighs a lot, but it doesn't take up much floor space in my shop, especially if I tilt the table to 45 degrees when not using it. I work out of a 20x20 space that has a vehicle parked in it when I am not using it, and I also have a shaper, a planer, a lathe, air compressor, and a unisaw with 7' rails in that space. The bandsaw is on a mobile base and I wouldn't want a smaller one.

I resawed a 10" walnut crotch with it the other day. It was effortless with a 3 tpi blade and it came out pretty smooth.

The only reason you might not want a big saw is if you don't have 240V available.

[Montgomery Scott]

Life is too short to waste on limited equipment. Buy the BS you do need and will need. The question is; what do you need?

Since I do a lot of turning I needed high power, high resaw and a robust design. I went for the MM16 and though it is limited to 16" resaw, which has been a limitation for me on a few occasions, it's been a very reliable and accurate saw. I like the Aggazani but the resaw was far too limited for the similar priced saw.