Rikon 10-325 trunnion material

[Cyrus Brewster 7]

All of the recent chatter about the Rikon 10-325 has again gotten me obsessed about a bandsaw purchase I have been putting off. Being on sale for $750 does not help either.

I am planning to fell a 10" black walnut tree and would like to resaw 6' boards. (I will be construction a large sled for this purpose). As I cannot seem to find what the trunnion is made of, I was wondering if this will be too much stress.

I do not plan to do this often, but I also do not want to push this saw to its structural limits. Will the trunnion hold up?

Thanks.

[Andrew Kertesz]

Assuming that you will have infeed and outfeed support mechanisms in place this should not be a problem with the right blade.

[Steve Schoene]

Don't get to excited about having a bunch of walnut to use. Trees that small have a very large proportion of sapwood. And, don't forget that the juvenile wood around the pith can't be used because it will warp (and is weak.)

With good outfeed support I wouldn't worry about the trunnions.

[glenn bradley]

+1 on Andrew and Steve's observations about support. Many complaints about table strength/flex, alignment issues, snipe, consistency of cut and so forth can be attributed to expectations of a certain machine to do any and every job as it comes from the manufacturer. With proper support I see know problems. I use stands but commercial tables are available for the bandsaw; they take up too much room for me though. Stands fold up and they can be used for various tasks.

[Cyrus Brewster 7]

Thanks guys. Yeah, if purchased, I was planning on designing/building a sled with rails and infeed/outfeed support.

Now to convince my better half that the bandsaw I currently have is absolutely inadequate for my needs.

[glenn bradley]

Now to convince my better half that the bandsaw I currently have is absolutely inadequate for my needs.

You can do it! Go Cyrus, go. ;-)

[Andrew Kertesz]

Just remember that it is always easier to ask forgiveness than get permission.....

[Cyrus Brewster 7]

"Just remember that it is always easier to ask forgiveness than get permission....."

A lesson I learned a long time ago. She is a very forgiving women. Right now I am on the other side of the world but will be catching a plane in a couple of hours. First stop... Woodcraft - just to take a look. (maybe second stop)

[Terry Beadle]

If I was worried about trunnion strength, I'd spend more time with a chain saw reducing the cutting stock piece down to manageable levels.

In all, a project like this is exciting. No matter the content of sap wood, the material has offsetting charm and adventure !

Enjoy the process.