What to look for in a bandsaw

[Brian Hale]

I want one for resawing (something i've never done before) and general cutting but what should i look for? HP ratings? What kind of guides? What speed should the blade run at? etc.....

Right now, my uneducated gut feeling says the 17" from Wilke is the way to go, any thoughts? (I can pick it up, no shipping)

http://www.wilkemach.com/OnlineCatalogDetailResults.tpl?SearchDetail=106849 6821660172&PreviousCategory=Bandsaws

Thanks!
Brian :)

[Mike Cutler]

Brian. I have a Jet 14" bandsaw with a riser kit, and it doesn't do what I want it too,as far as resawing is concerned. I've established the following "criteria" for my next BS.
1. Must be at least 3HP.
2. Must be able to properly tension a 1", 3-4tpi blade.
3. Must have cast iron wheels.
4. must have cast iron table trunniion supports.
5. Must have adequate DC capabilities.
6. Must have a rock solid blade guide.
7. Must have at least 10" of resaw height.
8. Must be heavy, no more light weight tools or shotguns for me.
9. The guides will be roller bearing type, Carters, or Euro Style. It doesn't have to ship with them I'll add the ones I want later.
I've been eyeballing the Grizzly 20" BS. Nothing firm for me yet, tho'
Resawing takes power. I can cut thin vener with my Jet, what I can't do is resaw thick slices for solid panel bookmatching.
These are the qualities I find necessary. Good Luck hunting, and don't be afraid to buy alot of saw.

[Dave Bartley]

For size I think you are on the right track. I do think, even though it is a 220v unit, a bit more HP would be helpfull. In anything above 6" thickness you will find the saw bogging down quite a bit. 2 HP would be much better for your needs.

Another thing to look at is the assortment of blades the saw will handle. If you are going to do bandsaw boxes as an example, you may want to have the ability to drop to an 1/8th blade. For the bigger or thicker stock to resaw, you will want to go to at least a 3/4" blade.

[chris toomey]

brian

if i had the room and the money i would have purchased a bigger saw, but i got the g0555 14 inch grizzly last year. today i put on a new tension spring from iturra design and a 1/2 inch 3 tpi blade from suffolk machinery. all i can say is it cuts like "buttah". i resawed a 7 inch qs white oak board....made a veneer so thin i can't measure it. i'm not a pro. just a hobbyist...a happy hobbyist.

[Karl Laustrup]

Very interesting you should ask about bandsaws. I researched for over six months before deciding on mine. Just got it in July 2004. I like you was interested in re-sawing, as I have a pretty decent supply of 4/4 lumber cut from my property. Most is 6 to 9 inches wide, although I do have quite a bit over 9" up to 12 and 13 inches. So many of my projects seemed to be requiring less than 3/4" finished boards and the only way I had to achieve those thicknesses was with my thickness planer. It makes you want to cry when you start with a beautiful 4/4 cherry, oak, maple or whatever and carry over half of the board out of your shop in a bag as chips.
Anyway after much research I had it narrowed down to Grizzly, Jet, or one other, which I can't remember right now. I had heard about the Laguna, but had discounted the saw as too expensive.
I went to the Laguna web site and started reading the forum they have. I was fortunate and hooked up with a guy only about 40 miles away who invited me down to take a test run on his Laguna LT-16HD. I brought some of my maple and box elder and the saw and ReSaw King blade went through that wood like butter. I ordered the LT-16HD the next week and have been extremely pleased with the saw.
I would suggest you check out the Laguna web site forum. There are other excellent saws out there also. You just need to find out about all the different ones and what the strong points and weaknesses are as compared to what your main use of the saw will be.
I hope this helps a little. I don't think you would be dissappointed with the Laguna LT-16HD with a 13 inch resaw capacity.
Will be interested to know what you end up with.
Good Luck. :)

Karl

[Mark Singer]

I have the 20"Agazzani with a Lenox Trimaster ...it is a dream! No vibration and resaws great! I also kept my 14" Jet and I keep a small blade..3/16 for fine work. It is hard to run a small blade in the big saws,

http://www.eagle-tools.com/Pages/agazzani.html

[John Bush]

Hi Brian,
I was looking for a good BS to do resawing , and researched for a number of months with most of the good info coming from these forums. The big draw is to the high-end machines that are truely impressive. I saw the MM and Laguna in action at the Portland show and was able to compare directly with the Jet, Delta, Powermatic, GI. there. I had seen the Grizz 17 at the showroom and the Bridgewood looked good in their ads. I finally realized that the features I realistically needed/wanted as a hobbiest were all present on the mid-level saws. I finally ordered the Rikon 18 sight-unseen based on the review inFWW and seeing the other saws in person.
I was looking for 12" resaw ht., 2hp., iron wheels, mag switch, and a heavy machine. The Rikon had them all and was the best price/value out there. I did see the Rikon 14 at a Woodworker Supply store and the construction looked good, so I thought the risks of a relative unknown were minimal.
I got the saw in ~wk. and had it up and running in less than an hour. Using the stock 3/4" blade I was able to peel off <1/8" slices from 1"x12" piece of fir. I know that's a soft wood, but all I had at the time. I was amazed how simple and fun the resawing was/is, and have since tried some chery, maple and oak. A few passes thru the drum sander and the veneer pieces are uniform and smooth.
All in all I'm very happy with the Rikon and recommend that you all keep it high on your BS wish list. Good luck, John.

[Brian Hale]

Thanks Guys!! Good Information as usual! :D

The Bridgewood has a 2hp motor and with 2 speeds i'm assuming the lower speed will provide enough power to resaw 12" hardwoods? My budget is ~$1500 but i'd like to pick up a wide belt sander at the same time, however, if i need to look bigger/more powerful i can save up or wait on the sander.

I don't want to buy another saw later on in life as retirement is only 7 years away and i want to get my goddies while i still have a paycheck...

Mike, you mention 3hp minimum. Is 2 hp to little for 12" resawing? Except for the hp, would the Bridgewood meet your needs?

Dave, good note about the smaller blades but i do have an OLD 3 wheel craftsman that works pretty well with 1/4 and 1/8 blades. Setting it up is only a little less painful than a tooth ache but once set it does OK.

Chris, i've heard good things about the Grizz BS! How long have you had it?

Karl, that Laguna looks good but i'm afraid it's a bit much $$ for me right now :(

Mark, Thats the first time i've heard of them! (i need to get out more!!) but it's outside my budget. I should have mentioned that in my original post, sorry.
John, thats a nice set of specs for that saw!! $999? I'll have to look harder at that one, Thanks!

Brian :)

[Brian Hale]

John, Thats an impressive set of specs for that saw! and for $999 it moves it onto the short list. I'll look into it a bit more. Thanks!

Brian

[Gary Max]

Wilke has a big plus for you Brain---if you have trouble they are close enough to help you out.
To me this would be a REAL big deal.
Beleive me it's alot better than playing phone tag with someone on the other side of the country.
Just my little thoughts

[Brian Hale]

Thats a good point Gary! We all hope that once we research a machine purchase, we've chosen the best one but sometimes things go wrong and it's nice to be able to drive to the seller and get things straightened out. Plus, being able to do the touchy/feely thing in person is a nice bonus!

Brian

[John Bush]

High again Brian,
Part of my decision to buy the Rikon was using the cost difference to buy the Performax 16-32. Now that is the best addition to my shop in a long time. I have a lot of old maple, cherry, and walnut slabs that I want to dimension and now I can do it all with ease. I have several hundred bdft of 3/8"x12" spalted maple that came from our barn in Il. that is covered with dust and bat,raccoon droppings and I can now surface it and use for panel construction and decorative boxes without having to hand sand. You are on track with your machine selection. I would recommend purchasing the BS and drum sander at the same time as you will want to surface your resaw cuts. The Rikon has 2 speeds, but I'm asuming you would want the higher speed for resawing and 2hp is definitely enough power. Good luck,John.

[Charles McKinley]

Hi,

The Grizzly saws are much nicer than the Jet 18" that I have. Another thing I will have on my next BS is a foot brake. The Jet only has 10" of resaw. The trunions are small. It is a little light on power. Check the amps on the motor to make sure that it is really a 2HP motor.

You may want to look at the Performax 22-44 and build your one stand. I think there is only about $100 difference if you get it without the stand.

[Charlie Plesums]

Brian, I too, have the Grizzly G0555 with riser block, and love it. I have done some wide resawing desipite the limited power and tension, but with careful adjustment, a good blade, and plenty of time, you can do a lot with that machine. That doesn't mean that I wouldn't enjoy a bigger heavier machine, esecially if the volume of use rises, but the G0555 does a great job, especially for that low price.

I also have the Performax 16-32, and love it. It is not a high power production sander, so sometimes people who want a 5-10 hp sander like they see at the mill complain that it is slow and under powered, but it has the max power that you can pull from a household circuit. I use it far more than I expected I would. It ranks well above the bandsaw for the amount of use in my shop.

[Bob Aquino]

I went from an old 14" delta (50's vintage) to the new 18" delta. I am happy with the saw now, but I had to do some tinkering with it including replacing the crappy guides with carters and even that tried my patience. Until Delta reworks their guides on that saw, I would not recommend it though the rest of the saw is fine.

That bridgewood you mention is a upgrade of the same saw grizzly sells. I have heard pretty good things about that saw and also good things about wilke CS. Since you will be visiting the showroom, go ahead and put their demo saw through its paces. You like what you see, go for it. Shipping seems to be what kills the deal with wilke for lots of folks who are not close to them.

[Ted Shrader]

Brian -

I am in a similar position, so thank you for starting this thread. Just as Mike has, I am working with a 14" Jet w/riser, Cool Blocks^® and Timberwolf blades. It will cut, but is very touchy and I have to go very slowly. Mike's criteria for a new bandsaw is very close to mine. So much so that I will re-state it with my modifications in bold Must be at least 3HP. Must be able to properly tension < 1", 3-4tpi blade. Must have cast iron wheels. Must have cast iron table and stout, easily adjustable trunion supports. Must have adequate DC capabilities. Must have a rock solid blade guide with rack and pinion height adjustment. Must have at least 12" of resaw height. Must be heavy so the machine does not move or tip when a heavy piece is balance on it The guides will be roller bearing type, Carters, or Euro Style. Not steel blocks or Cool Blocks^®. The ceramic ones on the Laguna would be OK, too. Tension adjustment is easily reachable - not on top of the machine. Footbrake

My short list includes the MiniMax MM16, Laguna LT16HD and the same Bridgewood you are thinking about. I will be buying sight unseen (have the videos on the MM and Laguna), so am very interested on your feedback after you make your choice. The input you have gotten from the other guys I have filed away to help make my choice - so THANKS everybody!

Regards,
Ted

[Wes Simmons]

Brian,

If you are looking for bandsaws, you have to look at the Laguna bandsaws. They have the best line up across the board. Even their 14" bandsaw has more resaw height than the 17" one you are looking at and it also has 2 HP.

I just sold my Laguna 16HD to a friend and ordered the new Laguna LT18 bandsaw. It has 18" of resaw height and a 4.5 HP Baldor on it.:D I can't wait to get it in my shop. I have had great luck with my 16HD and with their Laguna ceramic guides.http://www.lagunatools.com (http://www.lagunatools.com/)

I have owned several tools from Laguna over the years and have also had excellent customer service from them. Call them for their free video, you will learn a lot from it.

Don't be afraid to spend a little extra on a GOOD bandsaw. You will find that you will do cuts on it that you didn't think were possible.

Good luck!

[craig lapiana]

1st time post and i really love this board!! the search feature is top notch.

well i took the plunge last week and got most of my tools for a new shop. i am currently deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and want to take up woodworking when i get back. planned on doing it when i retired but decided why wait :) after being over here.

sorry in that i degress i got home for leave last week and originally put a 18" Jet BS on lay away but cancelled that idea after looking at it next to a 18" Rikon and a 18" Delta each side by side. then a sale started at a local rockler store in which i could get a delta for the same cost as the rikon so i order it and it will be in mid jan 05.

but now seeing the blade guide concerns above on the delta i am starting to question this decision :( i dont want to have to purchase a set of carter guides to get to what the Rikon seems to provide out of the box?

i was weary with the rikon being new to the market but was pretty impressed with the Rikon after seeing it in person. the tension release is better placed then the delta too but i went with the delta in that it seemed to have a little more beef and was more rigid when i shaked the blade housing.

is the delta still being shipped with the same blade guides mention above?
who sells carter guides for it?

thanks for all the great posts!

[Jim Andrew]

Wonder where you can get information on the tool show? Saw where
a guy got a real deal on a unisaw at this traveling tool show. Anybody
know about it?

[Terry Hatfield]

Brian,

I have the Bridgewood's cousin, the Griz G0513. The BW has cast wheels, magnetic switch etc.. not sure of all the differences but it is the same basic saw.

I have been totally pleased with it, including 12" resaws. I have a full review on my site if you would like to check it out.

Only problem I have heard of at all with the BW is availablity. Have you checked with them? Seems like they are usually on terminal backorder, or were. They may have that solved now.

Terry

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John....you might want to take a look at some recent back issues of FWW. This past year they tested IIRC 17-18" b/s. The Ricon mentioned above scored very high and IIRC was selected as best value. That article I'm sure was published in the last 12 months. Good luck with your decision!