lowes bandsaw

[Zack Teal]

hey guys have any of you heard of have experiences with the porter cable 14inch bandsaw from lowes its a fairly inexpensive for a 14 inch only 399. iv looked at it a couple times en iv been there and it seemed good but just wanted some input.

[Lance Norris]

Zack, its simply the Delta bandsaw relabeled since Portercable/Delta/Dewalts merge. They receive generally fair comments, but quality has gone down in the last 30 years and you may get a good saw, you may get a lemon. Many here will tell you to take that $400 and search craigslist for an older Delta or Powermatic, but some people dont want to buy used. I say to use your money at Grizzly. They have 14" bandsaws that constantly get great comments and excellent customer service if you ever would have a problem.

[Thomas Williams]

I looked at them and it looked to me like the Ridgid. I bought the Delta that Lowes sold a few years ago. While after a tune up it worked OK, I am looking to upgrade and wish I would have saved up a little longer and bought a better saw to start with.

[John A. Callaway]

grizzly has the polar bear ultimate 14" saw for I think 398.00 still.... Best bang for your buck by far.

[Rich Engelhardt]

grizzly has the polar bear ultimate 14" saw for I think 398.00 still.... Best bang for your buck by far.
Here's my hang up... ( & yes - I'm looking at 14" bandsaws also)
The PB is $398.00. That's a no brainer over the PC.
However - the PB tacks on $74.00 shipping.
That takes it up to $472.

I can get the PC for $360. - $399 - less 10% military discount.
Tag on 6% tax and it's $381.00
About $90.00 less than the Griz

Is the Griz $90 better?

They seem about even spec wise, with the PC showing just a tad bigger table - 16x16 instead of 14x14.

[george wilson]

If you ever need a part,buy the Grizzly. You won't get help from Lowe's. they aren't machinery specialists.

[Cary Falk]

I had a more expensive Delta. Get the Grizzly. I never heard anything bad about the Grizzly.

[Steven Hsieh]

Here's my hang up... ( & yes - I'm looking at 14" bandsaws also)
The PB is $398.00. That's a no brainer over the PC.
However - the PB tacks on $74.00 shipping.
That takes it up to $472.

I can get the PC for $360. - $399 - less 10% military discount.
Tag on 6% tax and it's $381.00
About $90.00 less than the Griz

Is the Griz $90 better?

They seem about even spec wise, with the PC showing just a tad bigger table - 16x16 instead of 14x14.


Yea, but would you rather have a cast iron body or a aluminum one?

I own the Grizzly Polar Bear series 14" bandsaw. I choose this saw over Ridgid, Porter cables saw,and harbor freight, because I did not want to go through what the others went through.

[Bruce Wrenn]

The PC band saws at Lowes are NOT the quality of a Delta, even the Chinese ones they recently clearanced. They look like the (Buffalo, Relient, AMT, HF - pick a name) saws. Personally I look at CL for a used Delta 14". Here they go for $100 - $350 depending upon the saw, with the enclosed base ones being higher in price. The actual saw part is the same on both enclosed and open stand saws. Currently there is an open stand, American made Delta for $250. It doesn't include riser block, and has some surface rust on the table, but it has been on CL for two weeks now. Because the ad has a telephone #, I doubt it has sold. I would offer $150 - 175 for it myself if I was in the market, but already owning three, I'm not in the market.

[Russell Smallwood]

+1 on getting a used Delta 14.

I used the bandsaw heavily (no tablesaw) for a couple of years when I was in galoot mode. The Delta was a sweet little saw and after getting it properly tuned, it did everything I asked of it.

I'm sorry but I'm having a hard time seeing the difference between Porter Cable and Black and Decker these days.

I currently own a Laguna 16 and you'll have to pry it out of my cold dead hands, but if I had to buy a bandsaw today and had a limited budget, I would wait for one of the old Delta 14" saws that had a riser block and a few other "upgrades" to pop up on Craig's List.

One of the cool things about those is also the fact that there are so many of them out there that there is a substantial market for after-market parts and upgrades which makes it fun to customize it to your requirements. :)