Bigger Bandsaw opinions

[Dave Tinley]

If y'all had $1100.00 to spend on a 18" band saw that would resaw, use 1/4" blades and give 10-15 years of service, What would you choose??
Yes, I know about Laguna and Min-max but they are about 700-1000 dollars more than I can justify spending.
I looked at the Rikon 10-340, (best new tool award) it has the iron wheels and can be delivered for $999 or there is the Grizzly G0514 that can be had for $1173.
So what do you think? Or is there a make/model better that I should look at?

Thanks
Dave

[Nick Mitchell]

Rikon. Or the Rikon.

[James Carmichael]

Been looking at those myself and following the posts. There's lots of happy Rikon, Grizzly, and Jet 18" BS owners on the Creek.

General Industrial Supply recently had a closeout on some jet 18" saws, $850 each. I'm in N. Central TX (D/FW) and they quoted me $125 shipping. Might be worth checking out. The S&Ds were around $770, but they were out of those when I checked, about a month ago.

[Hal Flynt]

I'm happy with the Rikon. I got it in Feb at Woodcraft 10% off sale.

[Dave Tinley]

A sales rep for Minmax just called and said he had a S16 model for $1395 plus tax but was going to throw in 3 blades to make up for some of the tax.
Anybody have any opinions on this model?? Seems there were some older threads where it was kinda in disfavor. But I couldnt find any in the search.
Thanks
Dave
BTW- There will be a Jet 14" with upgrades for sale shortly.

[Jim Becker]

Dave, the S16 is a different machine than the Centaro built MM16, but it's a nice one for the money. While made in the Meber factory where Laguna used to make their LT16, it's a different machine and built to MM USA specs. I haven't see any negatives on it, but you might want to do some reading back through the Mini Max forum on Yahoo...the link is on the Mini Max (http://www.minimax-usa.com/index.html) web site.

[Alan Marchbanks]

Dave, I bought the Rikon 18" a couple of months ago and like it very much. It hasn't had a great deal of use but I did put a 3/4" Woodslicer blade on it to resaw some red oak. It left a very smooth cut and cut very easily. Had occasion to call customer support and received excellent response, very helpful.

[Mike Cutler]

Dave. I have the Rikon 18" and have been happy with it. I have it for resawing only though. I have no idea how it would be set up with a 1/4" blade. It may require different guides I'd rethink the sale of the Jet 14" with upgrades if you can, and budget permits. I kept my Jet 14". I was using both of my bandsaws this past weekend and it was really nice not having to change blades. Just a thought.
There are a lot of nice bandsaws in this range. Have fun lookin' and pickin' one out. ;)

[lou sansone]

dave

have you considered looking into a good quality used machine?
lou

[Tom Jones III]

If the saw is going to be used primarily for resaw, then height is the primary importance. With an 18" BS you will commonly get 9"-10" resaw height. Why not get a great smaller BS and install a riser block? All the reviews I've read indicate that a riser block has no negative qualities, you'll get an additional 3" of resaw height, you'll save several hundred dollars, and you'll get a BS with all the top features.

[Jim Becker]

If the saw is going to be used primarily for resaw, then height is the primary importance. With an 18" BS you will commonly get 9"-10" resaw height. Why not get a great smaller BS and install a riser block? All the reviews I've read indicate that a riser block has no negative qualities, you'll get an additional 3" of resaw height, you'll save several hundred dollars, and you'll get a BS with all the top features.

1) "Power". The 14" saws are fine for occasional resawing, but if someone is going to do a bit more of it (and or work with larger wet turning stock) the heavier motors of the bigger machines rule the roost.

2) Stiffness. In order to properly tension a wider blade for great resaw work, you need a very stiff spine on a saw...not something that the typical cast iron US-design band saw cannot do. The heavier welded frames of the Euro design saws, including the derivatives like the Rikon 18" and Grizzly G0513 as well as the premium products from Mini Max, Laguna and Aganzzi can get you that tension which lets you use wider blades, including carbide tipped.

The trend on the 16-20" bandsaws is also to a minium of 12" resaw...and those new machines are taking sales from the likes of the Jet 18" with it's limited capacity.

Please note I'm not disagreeing with you that you "can" resaw with the 14" saws...just that it's not what they do the best. They perform best when you are not cutting tall and/or heavy, wet materials.