Hey Van Huskey

[Rick Potter]

Fess up. How many bandsaws do you own? Why? How did you become the world famous bandsaw guru that we know and love?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Rick Potter

[Prashun Patel]

Know? yes. Love? jury's out.

[Harold Burrell]

jury's out.

Oh...hey...wait!

The jury is in.

They say no to "love". But it is ok for us to like him.

[Van Huskey]

As I have mentioned before my machines are spread out over two states and the ones in Louisiana are trapped in a garage until I finally get by second shop built. I have 6 fully functional bandsaws and a couple of small project saws. I don't have any massive old iron and honestly though I would like to have one I would rather have a couple more small saws.

I have them because I love bandsaws, they are simple and complex at the same time and I like not having to change blades. The only saw I really want (and will get once I have the space) is a small Canadian made Beaver. All the other saws I am interested in would probably mean I would have to give up one I have and frankly I like the ones I have too much to get rid of them. I pass up great deal after great deal just because it would require me to thin the herd to make room.

As for the guru it honestly is not a hat I can wear, there are a lot of people here that know more about bandsaws than I do, I just tend to be more vocal!

Back to numbers I think the "perfect" number of bandsaws for a shop is three. A heavy saw with good resaw height and the horsepower to go along with it for resawing and ripping, a 18-20" saw with a table not too low to the floor for general contour cutting/joinery and a 14" saw with a 1/8" blade and a Carter Stabilizer for "scroll" cutting.

Now, if I won the mega-super-power-duper ball I would probably have a museum/show room of sorts for bandsaws (I have thought about it) but honestly even in that senario I have never been able to envision more than 4-5 of them getting saw dust on them on a regular basis.

[Chris Tsutsui]

Another question, please rank your bandsaws (that you have ever owned) in the order of which you would keep if you ever had to get rid of all of them 1 at a time.

Then let us know what your top 3 dream bandsaws are in case you don't already have those. :)

[Van Huskey]

Another question, please rank your bandsaws (that you have ever owned) in the order of which you would keep if you ever had to get rid of all of them 1 at a time.

Then let us know what your top 3 dream bandsaws are in case you don't already have those. :)

That will take a few minutes of thought! I will think about it and post later today. I have an internet auction and live auction to attend today...when it rains it pours...so I don't have a lot of time even though I tool the day off. Both auctions have several bandsaws I would like but I am need other stuff more, but who knows what will happen...

[Richard Dragin]

...so I don't have a lot of time even though I tool the day off.


Freud called, he wants his slip back.

[Van Huskey]

Freud called, he wants his slip back.

My, my it doesn't get more accurate than that one!

[Jerrimy Snook]

Speaking of Van and Beaver band saws...

Van did you see the thread last week by a lady who was gifted a 3300 (?) and was wondering the value of it? Your name (or a name similar (Van Hushey)) was mentioned as someone who could put a price on it. Unfortunately the thread was pulled... I was just wondering if you were able to connect with her.

[Harold Burrell]

I have 6 fully functional bandsaws and a couple of small project saws.

Can I have them when you die? Please? :o

[Van Huskey]

Jerrimy, I was out of town when it was posted and didn't see the thread but several people emailed me about it but nobody that emailed me could remember her name. In all honesty that would be a tough one for me, although it is a saw (her's was the 14" 3300) I want being in the South you don't see them often and I would have a tough time putting an honest price on it. The place she needs to look is in the Canadian forums, the Beaver stuff has a sort of cult following and they could get her zeroed in on a fair price. They are really a neat saw but not something one would trade for say a PM141 when it comes to utility, I just love the castings and the fact it is almost all aluminum, the exposed wheels (that can be polished or burnished) make it uber-cool to me.

[Van Huskey]

Can I have them when you die? Please? :o

It just hit me I might as well give 'em away when I die, where I am going there is not much call for wood cutting saws, wood tends to burn... :eek:

[Jeff Duncan]

Back to numbers I think the "perfect" number of bandsaws for a shop is three. A heavy saw with good resaw height and the horsepower to go along with it for resawing and ripping, a 18-20" saw with a table not too low to the floor for general contour cutting/joinery and a 14" saw with a 1/8" blade and a Carter Stabilizer for "scroll" cutting.


What.....no horizontal bandsaw???? C'mon, the guru of bandsaws must have a little horizontal for those occasional fabrication projects requiring a bit of metal work? I think you should up the ante to 4 bandsaws....just my opinion though;)

JeffD

[Van Huskey]

What.....no horizontal bandsaw???? C'mon, the guru of bandsaws must have a little horizontal for those occasional fabrication projects requiring a bit of metal work? I think you should up the ante to 4 bandsaws....just my opinion though;)

JeffD

Thats why I have a neighbor with a full metal shop, expertise and access to most any alloy or shape. BUT, I would really like a horizontal resaw bandsaw...

[Phil Thien]

Jerrimy, I was out of town when it was posted and didn't see the thread but several people emailed me about it but nobody that emailed me could remember her name. In all honesty that would be a tough one for me, although it is a saw (her's was the 14" 3300) I want being in the South you don't see them often and I would have a tough time putting an honest price on it. The place she needs to look is in the Canadian forums, the Beaver stuff has a sort of cult following and they could get her zeroed in on a fair price. They are really a neat saw but not something one would trade for say a PM141 when it comes to utility, I just love the castings and the fact it is almost all aluminum, the exposed wheels (that can be polished or burnished) make it uber-cool to me.

Wow, that thing is mostly aluminum? Any idea the weight on that saw?

[Rick Potter]

That Beaver saw looks a lot like an OLD sears saw I had....a lot of aluminum and the center of the wheels was open. I only kept it a couple weeks. I had Huskey fever, but recovered.

Rick Potter

[Van Huskey]

Wow, that thing is mostly aluminum? Any idea the weight on that saw?

I think the weight for just the saw (no stand) is in the 90lb range.

[Van Huskey]

That Beaver saw looks a lot like an OLD sears saw I had....a lot of aluminum and the center of the wheels was open. I only kept it a couple weeks. I had Huskey fever, but recovered.

Rick Potter

Rockwell bought Beaver in the early 50's and there were some Craftsman saws made under the Rockwell unbrella (Beaver-Delta or Rockwell Intl of Canada), I have seen the Craftsman 12" (2300) but not the 14" (3300). I like the old Beavers better just because the castings are "cooler".

[Van Huskey]

Another question, please rank your bandsaws (that you have ever owned) in the order of which you would keep if you ever had to get rid of all of them 1 at a time.

Then let us know what your top 3 dream bandsaws are in case you don't already have those. :)


I have given this some thought and the more I think about it the harder it gets. Part of the problem is the fact I see bandsaws as a "horses for courses" machine, similar but not exactly like you would pick an Arabian for certain races and a Quarter Horse for others. Add to this the fact that I get attached to machines (of all flavors not just woodworking ie cars) even if they aren't "the best" but serve me really well. Finally, I have a love of old machines but despite their bulk, heft and general overbuilt build quality they aren't always the most user friendly or plain useful.

For resawing I like a good deal of resaw height whether or not I use it on a regular basis, twenty inches seems to be where my point of diminishing returns seems to kick in. This leaves out all but the largest (36"+ wheeled) old iron saws, incredibly well built but quite a space hog. This might lead me to say a Yates Y-36 or Oliver 416 would be my dream saw BUT I am a fan of flat tires for resawing. The Italians use flat tires and the Centauro built saws are the best of the lot IMHO so maybe the MM24 with its large resaw height might work but I actually think it is a little underpowered for 24" of resaw height. So it would seem my MM20 is about the best balance for me in a vertical resaw bandsaw. The problem is here very narrow blades and flat tires don't make the best pair and wide blades and crowned wheels will work OK (some feel better than OK) so I suppose IF I had only one bandsaw it would be a Yates Y-36 with a direct drive 5hp motor.

I think countour cutting requires different attributes in a saw, crowned wheels for narrow blades, guides that cradle a narrow blade well AND switchable to a Carter Stabilizer for very tight cuts. It needs to have a decent sized table higher off the floor than a resaw bandsaw and no need for a super heavy build, lots of capacity under the guides or high HP. This describes a lot of old iron saws in the 20-26" wheel range BUT a more economical, less rare and just as effective solution is the "light" duty welded steel 20" saws from PM and Delta. I have both a PM 81 and Delta 28-250 and though I think the PM is the better saw AND I am a PM fanboy I connect better with the Delta and find it much more attractive. So for my money the Delta 28-350 is the perfect countour saw BUT can't really cover my resaw desires. If I am spending someone elses money the Yates Y-20 makes a great contour saw AND resaw up to its capacity (14.5" comes to mind, but I could be wrong).

In the small (14") saw range I am very partial to the "Gumby" saw, the PM 141/143. These things are built like a TANK compared to the somewhat delicate Delta 14" cast saw. Where the weak point of the Delta is the all important tensioning area the PM141 looks like it was lifted from a 16 or 18" modern welded steel saw, everything is just bigger and heavier. The weak point is the trunnions but they are t least the equal of the Delta just out of place on this saw.

In the end if I had to have just one saw it would be one of the 36" cast old iron monsters from Yates, Oliver, Tannewitz or Northfield but it would still not be perfect. I sorta feel like my MM20 and Delta 28-350 are really the two saws that fit my needs best while keeping costs/space/economy in mind, the addition of my PM 141 just finishes off the "prefect trio" FOR ME.

So the one dream saw would be "old" iron, and though Yates and Oliver certainly made better 36" saws (in most peoples opinion) my dream would be ordering up a spanking new Northfield 36" Deluxe optioned just like I want it with the new car smell intact! I would option it with 48" under the guides (yep 4 feet!) and dare anyone to play the mines bigger than yours game. BUT make no mistake with a proper 3ph RPC to run it we would be talking near $35,000, obviously just a mega-millions winner type dream...

The big 36" old iron saws would be in the first slot followed by the 20/24" Centauro saws then the 20/24" ACM/Agazzani saws.

In the end my Louisiana lineup of a MM20, Delta 28-350 and PM 141 would be hard for me to replace and be happier, there is little I expect to ever do they can't cover, the need for blade changes is almost nil and since they were all bought used at very fair prices I could probably get most every penny back out of them if I decode to sell them anytime soon. Replacing any one of them would be a result of a REALLY good deal along with the chance to upgrade to a more capable and/or cooler saw.

I could see a MM24, Yates Y-20 snowflake and a Yates J-114 14" saw instead. The latter Yates not because it is better than the PM (I don't think it is, on paper anyway) but because it could do what I use my PM for but mainly because it is so RARE.

I am sorry this stream of consciousness post reads like Faulkner (had he been drunk and a breath away from death) when he wrote The Sound and the Fury but much like his novel and in the words of the Bard "it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing".

[David Kumm]

Hey Van, the Y20 had about 10" of resaw which is about as much as the motor can handle. The DD 900 rpm has grunt but most came with a 1 hp motor about the size of today's 7.5 but still light for resawing. A few had the optional 1.5 but I've never seen or used one. The Table was 26x26 so it is great for scrolling and cutting tenons. Yates made the heaviest saw and the Oliver 115 is really more of a comparable than the 116-416. The Yates guys say they were the smoothest, the Tanny guys say theirs were, and the Oliver guys just breathe Oliver. All are quite a bit heavier than the current Northfield. By today's standards the NF is the top of the food chain but was a second tier saw in the old days. Granted the bar was pretty high. The downside that I can find to crowned tires is crowning them. They handle wide blades just as well as flat. Now ask Joe Calhoon about the Zimmermann. Dave

[Van Huskey]

Dave, thanks for the Y-20 numbers. My Y-20 number either came from thin air or maybe the Y-30 who knows.

There is no question were Yates or Oliver still in buiness my mega-millions dream saw would have one of their names on it, but the idea of ordering up a NEW saw to my specs and likely a one of one saw trumps the incremental increase in quality. Plus 48" of resaw (even if it is 43 under the doors) would alow me to spend most of my life looking for something to resaw that would near the limits of that saw. It would look pretty impressive too... :D

I know plenty of people use and have no issues with crowned tires and wide blades you do have to crown them... and even though I am not a metallurgical engineer (or any engineer except a combat engineer in another life) I mentally feel more comfortable with the support flat tires give a wide blade.

[Rick Fisher]

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/SCMInvinceableBandsaw.jpg

This would go well in your den ..

I consider it the coolest collector saw.. This one is apparently in the lobby of SCM in Italy.. They probably wont part with it..

[Van Huskey]

That is indeed a VERY cool saw! Would be neat in a den (as you mentioned) with a flat screen on the table playing woodworking shows 24-7-365. Maybe instead an endless clip of resawing shot in a way to make it look as though the saw was constantly being used. Then I could sell copies to the Pop Art crowd in NYC and LA...