Bandsaw Newbie - Rikon 14" Deluxe

[Pedro Reyes]

Hi all,

I usually read and post in the Neander area. In fact this bandsaw is only my second tailed tool (first one was a lathe), resawing and turning are 2 things I find difficult to do without electrons.

Anywho, I just got a 14" Rikon Deluxe, read most of the Bandsaw Basics book, I rewired it yesterday for 230V, semi tuned it (tension, guides, post height) and ran a few cuts. I have little to no frame of reference, so my only assesment is it cuts a little faster than some of my handsaws but not as cleanly.;). The bottom of the cuts was fuzzy.

My question is:

Should I look into "pimping" the saw? New guides? Cool blocks? New fence? inserts? Or is it generally accepted that this saw is good enough as is? I am not really looking to upgrade it, but if it will make a difference I will. Again this is specific to the 14" deluxe version.

I plan to use it mostly for resaw, and the occasional curve.

Other notes, I used the blade that came with it (think it is 1/2 SK). I also have two resaw baldes.

Any help/pointers appreciated.

/p

[Bruce Page]

Pedro, the first thing to do is ditch the OEM blade and get a Timberwolf or other quality blade. I think you will be pleased with the difference in ease of cut and cut quality. OEM blades leave a lot to be desired.

[Glenn Kramer]

Pedro,

I have both the Rikon 14" Deluxe and their 10" benchtop bandsaw. They are both about one year old now. Previuosly I had a Luguna 18" BS. Regarding the Rikon 14" Deluxe at first I was a bit dissapointed with excessive vibration and resulting poor cut quality. So..I did a serious tune-up. From co-planer wheel adjustment, to some light filing, to a better mobile base resulting in a moderate improvement. Next I oufitted with new Carter guides which truly improved the cut quality. I also rebalanced the wheels as they were quite out of whack. Curently the saw works quite well and runs nice and quite without vibration. Saw has plenty of power for my needs and recently resawed some 10" Eastern maple with no problem.

As a side light: I outfitted by small Rikon BS with Carter's new Stabilizer Guides (no lower guides) and I am absolutely thrilled. On the small saw I run 1/8" to 3/16" blades. These guides allow very tight turns, are as simple as could be and I think are one of the best improvements for smaller bandsaws. I would not hesitate to run this guide on my 14" saw either.

Enjoy the electrons! Glenn

[Pedro Reyes]

Bruce - Glenn;

Thanks for your replies.

I did get the Timberwolf as well as a Woodslicer balde, I had just left the one there to test it.

I have not balanced the wheels, or checked for coplanar wheels, but I'll do that next.

Also, are the Carter guide assemblies prefered over some sort of resin type blocks?

/p

[Galen Nagen]

Pedro

I have thought about getting the 10 inch Rikon and the Carter Stablizer to cut dovetail tails. Do you think that would work well for that?

Thanks

Galen

[Glenn Kramer]

Galen, I use the 10" saw for dovetailing. It works quite well as it turns very tightly with a narrow blade. Glenn

[Galen Nagen]

Thanks. I have heard good things about the 10 inch Rikon.

Galen

[Galen Nagen]

Glenn-I see I asked Pedro that question but I meant it for you. Thanks Galen

[Curt Harms]

I didn't do much to mine. It seems like quite a few people replace the fence. I just tinkered a little with the factory one and added a second bar so I can have the fence on either side of the blade. Leave a gap between the two bars so you can change the blade. The factory fence is sort of like the unifence in that you can have a low fence or higher fence. I also made a resaw fence out of T track and plywood. That has worked out well. I use a feather board when resawing to keep the bottom of the piece against the fence which seems to help. I've thought about cool block type guides but there's not a real good way to retrofit them that I can see. Here's a post of mine: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?51342-Rikon-Band-Saw-Post-Honeymoon.

[Bill Trouard]

My saw was pretty bad out of the box, especially the guides. every thing was out of whack. needed lots of fine tuning.

I did change out the fence, guides and blade the first week I owned my Rikon 14" Deluxe . I added a Kreg band-saw fence w/micro adjuster, Carter Conversion Guide micro adjust Set, Carter Stabilizer, urethane tires and a mobile base. I also love the way it resaws now with a 1/2" WoodSlicer blade.

I also replaced the 16" fence portion of the kreg with a 24" so it now overhangs the table on both sides.

I'm thinking of changing the tension spring at a later date and replacing the useless light. I have also converted it to 220v and it seems to run much cooler when re-sawing. when I was re-sawing when wired 120v the motor was getting hotter than I prefer.

This may qualify as a pimped bansaw, it passes the nickel test anyway and does as needed. I have no plans for a pimped custom paint job or racing stripes LOL.

Been also thinking of getting a Rikon 10" and leaving the 14" setup for resawing, just can not find space to put it. but I feel must have it LOL the big question is do I really need it.

[Galen Nagen]

Glenn, do you think I could make dovetail tails without the Carter Stabilizer but with the 10 inch Rikon ?

thanks

Galen

[Kevin W Johnson]

I added a Kreg band-saw fence w/micro adjuster, Carter Conversion Guide micro adjust Set, Carter Stabilizer, urethane tires and a mobile base.

Well, I'm going to revive an old thread here....sorry

Bill, did you make any modifications to the Kreg fence rail to allow blade changes with out having to remove the fence rail?