New Bandsaw Gloat

[Rob Price]

I bought it new, it's not like some gem you guys find on craigslist... I looked, the only things I could find were old beasts in need of repair, I barely have time to wood work, let alone restore a machine... I did take advantage of the current Jet/Powermatic sale, and bought it from ToolNut, no shipping, no tax= I get a new bandsaw.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_6indXr7ZvkY/TKYfeR3wBNI/AAAAAAAABMQ/4ghYFr1OS7A/s800/photo1.JPG

I got the Jet Deluxe Pro 14"- it has the built in riser block. I ordered the saw from ToolNut, the mobile base from Rockler, and the Kreg Fence and Carter Saw blades from Amazon on Monday, they all arrived at my house by Thursday (the saw actually came Wed, but they didn't have a forklift to get it off the truck, had to come back).

Set it up today. The included blade was junk. Burned it's way through 5/4 mahogany and the back of the blade flopped back and forth (even under tension). Took it off and threw on the 1/4 Carter blade- night and day difference, cuts the wood like it's a block of jello (you thought I was gonna say butter didn't you). I still am trying to get the post perfectly straight up and down- when I go all the way up to all the way down the guides do shift over just a hair...

It squeaks just a bit on startup. Called Jet- they said give the belt time to break in- what do you guys think? I think it shouldn't squeak. He said the bigger motors turning the cast iron wheels may squeak the belt at first. My TS never does this... it's not turning two big wheels, but still...

I like the Kreg fence, although the nylon set screw for the indicator doesn't fit the hole. I've got a call out to Kreg about that.

I did a couple of practice curves and even tried a quick 6" resaw- granted it was with the 1/4 blade, but except for just a bit of wander 1/4" into the cut, the 1/8" slab came off very flat. I've got a 1/2" blade but I didn't want to swap it out at this point until I need to.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_6indXr7ZvkY/TKYfeNUKf_I/AAAAAAAABMM/bvUObjpMobs/s800/photo.JPG

Overall very happy and satisfied. Any thoughts on the noisy startup?

[Sean Troy]

Congratulations ! I've had mine for years with never a problem.

[Jim Rimmer]

Congrats on the new saw. I've had my new 14" saw for a while now and wonder what I did without it.

[Jacob Mac]

Sweet saw. I bet it does really well for you.

Looking at these sales is killing me. I really want to pull the trigger and get a couple of things. I need to hang out in the shop more and spend less time daydreaming about tools.

[glenn bradley]

Congrats. She's a beaut.

[Chris Nolin]

Nice gloat! Thanks for the pics and the review.

[Peter Quinn]

Nice saw. I had its PM cousin for years, same basic saw, worked great. You don't need a 24" euro monster to slice wood! Enjoy that tool.

[Dean Karavite]

Nice that it comes with a large resaw standard and no need to install a riser block (right?). Enjoy!

[gary Zimmel]

Sweet gloat Rob.... Enjoy.

[Van Huskey]

Congrats on the saw!!!

[Rob Price]

Nice that it comes with a large resaw standard and no need to install a riser block (right?). Enjoy!

right, this one specifically has 12" resaw 'out of the box.' At full price, I think Jet asks too much, esp with the PM 14" for basically the same price if you add a fence to the Jet. I almost bought the PM on sale this summer for $900+Tax with fence and riser block, but after reading about all the headaches with riser blocks I held off.

I had been looking at the Grizzly 14" Deluxe with it's built in 12" resaw capacity, but it's close to $1000 once you ship it. I don't have room for the big monster saws.

I didn't like having to buy a fence, but once this one went on sale it was a no brainer. I don't plan on doing a ton of resawing, but the standard 6" just didn't seem like it would be enough, maybe it would, but I felt that is was worth the extra $$$ to get this one over their regular 'deluxe' saw. I can't tell a big difference between this one and the PM other than the paint job and the table. Cast iron wheels/trunion, big Carter-style bearings, polyurethane tires- the only thing it doesn't come with was the fence. I'd trade them the crappy blade for a stock fence.

[Paul McGaha]

Congratulations Rob, Nice Bandsaw.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Rob - Congrats! if I had room in my shop this is definitely one I would look at.

[Neil Brooks]

Hm.

Oh-kay.

Well ... alrighty, then ..... I hate you :D

Great saw. Good job, and big congrats. Every time I light up my Grizzly 0555X, I just get all tingly inside.

Sure you will too !

Is there belt slippage ? Is it FOR SURE the belt ? Is it possible that one of your bearings is touching the side of the blade, rather than being a few thou' away ?

The latter ... is what happened to mine. My vision is crap, so ... didn't figure it out right away. When I did, though, I gapped it with a folded-over dollar bill, and .... whooooosh: silence !

[Gary Hodgin]

Congratulations, nice band saw. I got a Jet 14" about 5 years ago and love it.

[Kevin Womer]

Congrats! That's a beauty!

[Rob Price]

It's definitely the belt. The bearings don't move when it starts. If I watch the belt it flutters for the same duration as the squeal. I'll give it a few good hours to break in and then I'm tightening the belt. Lucky for me, the guy who patented the carter guides and stabilizer lives in town and goes to our local woodworking club. I'm going to have him come over and help me get it tuned up.

2nd question. I have a 1/4 blade on. I dial in the tension Gage to the 1/4 mark. When I'm done for the day, I release the quick tension lever, but there's still a good bit of tension on the blade. I certainly can't get it off and the scale is down near the 1/8 mark. Is that cool or do I need to crank it down more?

[Bill Huber]

It's definitely the belt. The bearings don't move when it starts. If I watch the belt it flutters for the same duration as the squeal. I'll give it a few good hours to break in and then I'm tightening the belt. Lucky for me, the guy who patented the carter guides and stabilizer lives in town and goes to our local woodworking club. I'm going to have him come over and help me get it tuned up.

2nd question. I have a 1/4 blade on. I dial in the tension Gage to the 1/4 mark. When I'm done for the day, I release the quick tension lever, but there's still a good bit of tension on the blade. I certainly can't get it off and the scale is down near the 1/8 mark. Is that cool or do I need to crank it down more?

To start, that is a nice saw, I have the same one without the raiser and love it.

The only problem I have had was getting the belt to line up the way it should when I put it together. I have the same fence also and like it very much.

Here is what I did for the belt adjustment problems.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=79483&highlight=motor+mount

I do have a question, how do you get the the pulley with the door on that side or did that add a second door?

[Rob Price]

I'm not sure what you're asking. Assembly was pulling the saw out and then bolting it to the stand. I had to attach the table and that was it. My motor mount is totally different. The motor is outside the stand, right behind the lower wheel. It mounts to the saw with two bolts. The lower one is fixed and the upper one rides in a semi-circle. It looks like I can adjust the tension on the belt by rotating the motor which would offset the drive shaft. The manual says nothing about though.

[Bill Huber]

I'm not sure what you're asking. Assembly was pulling the saw out and then bolting it to the stand. I had to attach the table and that was it. My motor mount is totally different. The motor is outside the stand, right behind the lower wheel. It mounts to the saw with two bolts. The lower one is fixed and the upper one rides in a semi-circle. It looks like I can adjust the tension on the belt by rotating the motor which would offset the drive shaft. The manual says nothing about though.

Well just forget I ask anything, My saw is not the Pro model but I would have thought that they put the motor in the base just like mine is. I wonder why they didn't, keeps it out of the way and clean.

This is my 14 in. with the closed base, it has the motor in the base.
http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/image/93777861

[Gordon Eyre]

Nice saw, wish I had one as well.

[Rob Price]

What's been your experience with the quick tension lever. Is the blade suppossed to be removed all the way without any other adjustments?

[Bob Carreiro]

Nice saw.
I ended up getting a Ridgid while they were clearing them. But for $188, I ain't complaining. Wish I had the rollor guides like you do! Great tool and good luck.
Bob

[Rob Price]

That's a great price in the ridgid. You can always upgrade the guides.

[Curt Harms]

What's been your experience with the quick tension lever. Is the blade supposed to be removed all the way without any other adjustments?

I don't know about the Jet but the Rikon 10-325 tension release doesn't completely loosen the blade. The function of the quick release is just to remove the blade tension that may leave grooves in the tires if the saw isn't used for days or weeks. This according to Barbara from PS Wood at the Allentown Woodcraft shindig today.

[Rob Price]

I've had just a little time with the saw but thought I would round out my first impressions with some actual use.

I spent a good bit of time trying to tune it up. I bought the "New" Bandsaw book by Duginske. I got turned on to the whole 'I need a band saw' thing when I went to a local WW'ing club that brought in Alex Snodgrass from all the Carter Products videos, and someone lent me their copy of their 'Tune up' DVD as well.

The hardest part was getting the guide post square and level. I am thankful that Jet included adjustments for this.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_6indXr7ZvkY/TK3ka9LeYmI/AAAAAAAABNE/bGD1e5uUNDE/s800/IMG_0087.jpg
Over the 12" of travel it would scoot over just enough to start rubbing the right guide, and would shift back about 1/16th of an inch. I also noticed the saw was running right on the edge of the thrust bearing (this one is parallel to the blade, not the typical perpendicular- I realize those should be on the edge). After some 'gentle' taps with the rubber mallet (and loosening the bolts of course) I was able to shift the whole thing over just enough to 1) get the blade closer to center on the thrust bearing and 2) get the whole thing to track up and down straight with the blade. It was a pain, but now the bearings don't move through the entire range of travel.

After getting that done, I tracked the blade, set up the bearings and made some sawdust. I didn't take a picture, but the blade tracks true- no wander. I ripped several pieces of 1 1/2 mahogany, and if I go at a moderate rate the blade doesn't even engage the bearings. the cutoffs are a consistent thickness and line up straight with a steel edge. Good enough for me!

I picked a letter from a script font and tried that next on some scrap 1/2 casing from my basement project. I need to scroll out the middle, but it really was just a test run of the 1/4" blade.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_6indXr7ZvkY/TK3kTjqdUCI/AAAAAAAABM8/-IJqm1ca3ew/s800/IMG_0084.jpg

I'm happy with the Rockler mobile base. It seems well built and sturdy. I bought some 1 1/2 square mahogany scraps from a guy for pennies, not knowing exactly what I would do it it, they were perfect for this. The rest I think will make good turning practice if/when I ever get a lathe.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_6indXr7ZvkY/TK3kW5JT89I/AAAAAAAABNA/EWpH_G9mMf4/s800/IMG_0086.jpg


For my next project, I've glued up my first box out of some scrap 1 1/2 mahogany I had left over after I made some corbels for a basement granit counter. I'll post the box as a new thread when I get around to it.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_6indXr7ZvkY/TK3kPjOGnSI/AAAAAAAABM4/Fxg124er5ck/s800/IMG_0082.jpg

That should end the gloat thread, but I thought I would at least post some "first thoughts" on how the saw performs in case anyone finds this down the road researching saws. I'm thrilled with what I got, I think I got a fair price, and the saw should do everything I need (at least for now- upgrade fever eventually sets in...)