It seems Bandsaws are the Hot Topic

[Glen Walker]

Well guys its another post about Bandsaws. Like a lot of the other guys on here lately Im looking at purchasing/upgrading to a larger Bandsaw. Ive pretty well made my decision on the Grizz 17" (513X2) but Im just a little curious. They offer this saw in two versions, one without a brake and one with. We are talking about an extra $100, which when your already spending a grand isnt really that much more in the long run. Is the brake an option worth looking into, or is this just something that could cause problems down the road? I can see the benifits of it, but Im curious of what some of you guys think that have had these saws for a while. Would you stick with the model with the brake if you had to do it over again, and for the guys without the brake, is it an option you wish you had gone with?


Thanks guys,
GW

[Larry Charlot]

I have a Rikon 18" and no brake. never thought twice about not having one.

[Jeff Willard]

When I bought my saw (Laguna LT14 SUV) the brake wasn't even a consideration in my purchase, it was just there. After having it for a while, I like it. It does take that saw, and I'm sure the Grizzly also, a fair amount of time to spin down. Plus there is the added peace of mind that you can stop it quickly should one get into trouble. For $100, I'd do it. About the only thing that could go wrong with it is a microswitch.

[Mike Cruz]

I have never had a brake on a BS. I have 2 in my shop now. Didn't have one in the custom shop I worked in 6 years ago, either. Except for an emergency, I can't see why you would need one. Oh, unless you have little children or guests running around your shop... :rolleyes:. My Grizzly and my Ridgid stop plenty fast enough. They don't take any more time to stop running than my TS, Planer, or Jointer.

The only legitimate reason I can think of having it is if you are a commercial shop with multiple employees and are trying to avoid a law suit of some sort.

How long do your BS's run after shut down? Is it really THAT long that you have to manually have to stop the blade? With a BS, you don't have to worry about kickback or thrown pieces.

I also don't think (and of course this is personal opinion) that it greatly increases your resale value.

BUT, if you like the IDEA of it, you are right...you are already spending $1000, what is another $100?

[John Coloccia]

My 19" Grizz runs about 30 seconds without the brake. It doesn't seem like much unless you're waiting for it to spin down so you can back out a cut. GRRRRR. :D

I have the manual foot brake on mine. I haven't tried the electronic brake. I personally wouldn't want a big saw without a brake of some kind, though. It's not that I use it all the time, but there are two things:

1) I use it enough that I'd miss it
2) I hate to leave the blade spinning. With the DC on, and hearing protection, it's basically impossible to know the saw is spinning without physically eyeballing the blade. God forbid I should have a brain fart, or my wife should walk in just as I turn my back and do something stupid.

I would personally go for the electric brake if it's available. I get the feeling that the manual brake is a wear point that will lead to more frequent maintenance. It's stinky when you actuate it too. I guess another way of saying this is that I would buy the electric brake if I had it to do again.

[Van Huskey]

When I bought my saw (Laguna LT14 SUV) the brake wasn't even a consideration in my purchase, it was just there. After having it for a while, I like it. It does take that saw, and I'm sure the Grizzly also, a fair amount of time to spin down. Plus there is the added peace of mind that you can stop it quickly should one get into trouble. For $100, I'd do it. About the only thing that could go wrong with it is a microswitch.


The Laguna has a footbrake/microswtch which I prefer the Griz does not. The Griz has a motor brake which s main switch operated.

The thing about the brake is it isn't really good for emergencies it is more for speed, if you are used to 20-30 seconds for the wheels to spn down it is a non-issue once you are used to a brake waiting for the wheels to spn down to back out of a cut seems like forever. I prefer the foor/micro switch since you do not have to move your hands to stop the blade. Don't think any Griz has a microswitch.

[John McClanahan]

The motor brake on the Grizzly continues to draw current as long as the key switch is turned on. One more thing to quietly run up the electric bill.

John

[Ed Griner]

The motor brake is a good thing! I can think of fifty reasons you don't want your blade spinning,after the power is turned off. I was told this feature is something we are going to be seeing more of in the future.Big brother is pushing this,its a good idea,like safety belts in your car.For $100.00 to save you a possible injury,its a good investment. Good Luck/Ed

[Rod Sheridan]

We are seeing trickle down in safety features from the EU countries.

Blade braking requirements in a specified time are one of these safety improvements.

If I were purchasing a new band saw, I'd opt for a blade brake, with the electric brake being my first choice.

Regards, Rod.

P.S. The electric blade brake on the Euro machines often don't have any moving parts, as they simply use DC current injection into the motor, to make the motor act as the brake.

[Aaron Wingert]

My 19" 220v 3hp Grizzly takes quite a long time to stop spinning after the power is turned off. At least 30 or 40 seconds.

I've never found it all that inconvenient for one reason. On a saw of that size, you don't do that much starting and stopping if you're smart. At first I wasn't educated on the subject...And it cost me a couple start capacitors, which are only good for a certain number of starts per hour on a saw of that size. The good folks at Grizzly tech support let me know it is not like a 110v 14" saw that you can stop and start as often as you want when doing detail work or whatever. So my saw is running for as long as the cutting task I'm doing takes...Whether that is a small cut or numerous cuts on numerous pieces. When I turn the saw off it is because I'm walking away from it and I'm done with it, so I don't care how long it spins down.

A brake would be nice for my saw if it was included I suppose, but I wouldn't pay too much extra for it.

[Bill Jepson]

Ok what we are talking about here is the electric motor brake. Not really a deal breaker. Most of the larger saws have the mechanical foot brake and microswitch anyway. I have a Griz 0636X (mechanical brake) and it can be stopped in less than a second in an emergency. (If you can reach the pedal of course) The motor brake takes longer than that and you still need to be able to push the stop button, it isn't a blade contact device like the Saw Stop. It is more a matter of convenience. I actually PREFER the foot brake myself. If you have the choice of either saw I'd save the $100.
Bill

[Mike Cruz]

I also don't know what is up with either my saws or all of yours', but my 20 year old 18" runs for about 3 secs, and my 14" for less than 10...

[John Davidson]

I have an 18 inch Agazanni with a foot brake that replaced a 14 inch Jet without a brake. These bigger saws can take a minute or more to wind down depending on the inertia that is in the wheels. The heaver the wheels the longer it will take. With the aluminum wheels on the Jet, it would have been a waste of money as the saw came to a stop fairly quickly. However, on the Agazanni it is a feature that I do appreciate as it does not come to a stop quickly.

I do like the brake feature. But my saw came with it. It was not an option. As much as I like it, other than safety I would not have even considered paying extra for this feature in a hobby shop. So for me it would be “is it worth the extra cost from a safety point of view”, I would say no. As fast as these things cut by the time you have made contact with the blade the damage is done. You will not be able to react fast enough to stop the saw. As it has already been pointed out this is not a Saw Stop type of brake.

However, if you were to opt for the brake, having the brake on the motor would not be my choice. Brakes on motor are spring loaded to engage when power is removed form the motor. When power is applied a coil is energized to pull the disk away from the motor. These disk do wear out and coils do go bad. Replacing a brake or brake coil on a motor can be a little complicated if you have never done it before. Also, you have no option on when you use the brake. With a mechanical foot brake you can decide or chose when to use it greatly increasing how long it will last. With a electrical brake on the motor the coil is de-energize when the power is cut to the motor, effectively the break is used every time the machine is turned of.

Finally, I would not expect a band saw of this price to use DC injection to stop the motor as this a common feature on AC drives. So, unless the saw has an AC drive on it don’t expect it.

[Bruce Page]

I rarely use the brake on my MM.

[Joe Mioux]

Unlike Bruce, I often use mine on my MM. ;)

[glenn bradley]

I think you need to listen to the folks who have them and not to folks like me who don't and wonder what the fuss is. Seems to me they are like electric side view mirrors on a car. Until you had them, you never missed them(?). I have the no-brake version and it does take quite awhile to slow down. Having never had a brake, I am not sure why I should care(?). When I am cutting, I'm cutting. When I'm done, I'm off to the next step.

I do change blades more often than many who post here but even with that, I have not been inconvenienced by waiting for the tool to stop; I'm going to unplug it anyway. Now if I could get my router in the table to stop quicker, that I would find value in.

[Richard Dragin]

I've often wished my 513x had a break. It spins for some time after I shut it off.