Mike Cutler
02-13-2005, 9:10 PM
Thought I'd post a few pics of my birthday present, 46 yrs. old on 2/11. I finally settled on the Rikon 18" after deliberating many times over various bandsaws, the Grizzly 21" was a darn close 2nd place.
The Rikon seems to be a nice unit. The wheels are massive for a bandsaw it's size, takes the blade about 15-20 seconds to coast down after shut off. I've tried some resawing with the 5/8" 4 tpi blade that came with it. The quality of the cut was nothing to brag about. but the saw didn't have any problems with the 10" Jatoba. The blade will be replaced with a Lennox Tri- Master, I haven't settled yet on a 1" 3TPI or a 1 1/4" 2/3, any thoughts would be appreciated.
I had a little trouble with the motor. The saw was popping the 15 amp breaker on the circuit it was plugged into. I tried it on a 20 amp service, but it still popped the breaker. The saw is rated at 12.5 amps for 220 service, unless they have a highly efficient motor I find that nameplate data a little suspect, or the motor is not a standard unit. I did an uncoupled run and no breakers popped. I then backed off on the motor tension and had no problems. I'll call Rikon tomorrow.
I believe the saw will suit my purpose. It will be dedicated to resawing,and I'll still keep my Jet 14" for general use.
The saw seems to be put together well. It would be a little lite in a pro shop in my opinion, but for a garage shop It should do fine. I won't be resawing for hours on end. The trunions are not beefy by any means, but for me they won't really be taxed. The wheels on the other hand are really beefy. The saw takes a bit to coast down after shut off, there is a lot of mass in those wheels. The guides are like Carters on steroids, really big, but the bottom set of guides should be reversed to put the guide bearings above the thrust bearing and closer to the under side of the table like the Delta. Personal preference here.
The fence system is adequate, squared up nicely and seems to move well and be accurate, but I have no real use for a bandsaw fence. I used it very infrequently on my Jet, so once again I didn't see this as a real issue for me. The table is very nice, a little lite in the casting, but very well machined. There are miter slots to the left and right of the blade, this is something I will really like I'm certain, cause I'm a "jig junky" and these two slots will really come in handy.
Well those are my initial observations, until I can get a legitimate resaw blade on it I can't really "put the wood to it" so to speak.
The Rikon seems to be a nice unit. The wheels are massive for a bandsaw it's size, takes the blade about 15-20 seconds to coast down after shut off. I've tried some resawing with the 5/8" 4 tpi blade that came with it. The quality of the cut was nothing to brag about. but the saw didn't have any problems with the 10" Jatoba. The blade will be replaced with a Lennox Tri- Master, I haven't settled yet on a 1" 3TPI or a 1 1/4" 2/3, any thoughts would be appreciated.
I had a little trouble with the motor. The saw was popping the 15 amp breaker on the circuit it was plugged into. I tried it on a 20 amp service, but it still popped the breaker. The saw is rated at 12.5 amps for 220 service, unless they have a highly efficient motor I find that nameplate data a little suspect, or the motor is not a standard unit. I did an uncoupled run and no breakers popped. I then backed off on the motor tension and had no problems. I'll call Rikon tomorrow.
I believe the saw will suit my purpose. It will be dedicated to resawing,and I'll still keep my Jet 14" for general use.
The saw seems to be put together well. It would be a little lite in a pro shop in my opinion, but for a garage shop It should do fine. I won't be resawing for hours on end. The trunions are not beefy by any means, but for me they won't really be taxed. The wheels on the other hand are really beefy. The saw takes a bit to coast down after shut off, there is a lot of mass in those wheels. The guides are like Carters on steroids, really big, but the bottom set of guides should be reversed to put the guide bearings above the thrust bearing and closer to the under side of the table like the Delta. Personal preference here.
The fence system is adequate, squared up nicely and seems to move well and be accurate, but I have no real use for a bandsaw fence. I used it very infrequently on my Jet, so once again I didn't see this as a real issue for me. The table is very nice, a little lite in the casting, but very well machined. There are miter slots to the left and right of the blade, this is something I will really like I'm certain, cause I'm a "jig junky" and these two slots will really come in handy.
Well those are my initial observations, until I can get a legitimate resaw blade on it I can't really "put the wood to it" so to speak.