Grizzly GO513P or Rikon 10-325????

[Jerry Prinds]

Hey, all....

I been doing a lot of homework on my next bandsaw, and was just about to pull the trigger on the Rikon (goes on sale next month at Woodcraft for @ $850) when I came across Wood Magazine's article on the larger bandsaws (2005) and started to research the Grizzly 513p (now about $795).

Since I'm about two hours from Springfield, I can save shipping on the Grizz, and there's a Woodcraft here in town as well.

I know that one's a 14" saw, and the other's a 17" saw, but with the prices basically the same, now I'm torn.

Resawing is important to me, but I believe that the Rikon will do just fine.

It's my sense that overall, the Rikon is a better quality saw, but given the fact that the prices are basically the same, should I go for the Grizzly (with the idea that "bigger is better")?

What do you all think?

[Thad McCulloch]

I'd go with the bigger one, particularly since "WWJ5" will take another 5% off the Grizzly, so now it's even less expensive!

[Paul Johnstone]

Well, the griz has aluminum wheels, I am pretty sure the Rikon has cast iron wheels (My 18" does, I can't confirm the 10-325 quickly).
The Cast wheels are nice for resawing.
The Rikon has a larger table.

The Rikon has bearings on both sides of the blades, as opposed to the disk on the griz.
The Griz of course has greater cutting distance to the left, the Rikon has greater resaw height.

Those are the differences I see. I do have the Rikon 18" and love it. Never used the Griz so not sure how that one is.

[Rob Fisher]

Yeh except the 10-325 is going to cost like $1500!

[Matt Mackinnon]

If you buy the 513P then you take the euro guides and toss them out as they are basically useless. Spend the $20 and buy a set of phenolic inserts that can run up tight against the blade. Now you can use your bandsaw with any blade from 1/4" to 1".

Yes, cast iron wheels are nice, but I have a King 17" FX (essentially the 513) and the King 17"FXR (essentially the 513X2). I have run a Laguna resaw king 3/4" carbide tipped blade in both saws, and both can resaw veneer down to 1/32" without a hickup. Cast iron makes no difference whatsoever in the ability of the saw.

I have on many occasion been very thankful for that extra 3" throat capacity. Yes the blades cost a bit more, but they also last quite a bit longer as you are stressing the steel less, and have more teeth to cut your material. I cant comment on the Rikon, but I know that Grizzly saw is quite a peach.

Matt.

[Mark Ashmeade]

+1 on Matt's observations. It doesn't have the cachet of Rikon or General, but it does the job, and it's not green!

[Tri Hoang]

Matt - Could you be more specifics about those phenolic inserts for the G0513. Where can we find them?

[Paul Johnstone]

Yeh except the 10-325 is going to cost like $1500!

He said it's on sale for 850.
The Rikon sale prices are very good value, IMO.

[Doug Colombo]

I can't comment on the Griz, but I do have the Rikon 10-325, love it, and have never been sorry that I made the purchase. The saw does have cast iron wheels and has a great resaw capacity. I am not sure that I agree that aluminum wheels are as robust as cast iron wheels - IMO I believe in the long term, cast iron will hold up much better. This, along with the larger table and a local Woodcraft store vs shipping changes for the Griz, made my decision a bit easier.

[Rob Fisher]

He said it's on sale for 850.The Rikon sale prices are very good value, IMO.Sorry that's the price for the new 10-350. My mistake.

[Jerry Prinds]

Thanks, guys.

The one thing that was making me think were the aluminum wheels vs. cast iron. But, from all I've read the Grizz handles all of the tasks just fine (at least I hope). All reports, and Thad saving me another 5% (thanks, Bud).......

Ordered the Grizz yesterday - unfortunately, the delivery company lost the saw somewhere between their picking it up in Springfield, and unloading it at their terminal in KC three hours later......

maybe it's stuck under the driver's seat?

All's good, just another day before getting it fired up.

[Doug Colombo]

Congrats on the purchase !!! I am sure you will love it and make many many projects !