Bandsaw Max Cut Height - How much is enough?

[Glen Blanchard]

I have been looking over some 18" band saws - mainly Rikon and Jet. Jet makes 2 versions of their 18" band saw - one of the differences being max cut height. One of these has a 12" height capacity (so does the Rikon) while the other Jet has a max of 10.75". With resawing in mind, when would one need that extra 1.25" as few boards are wider than 10" anyway.

[Cecil Arnold]

Glenn,

To me it's kind of like the old Tim Allen skit, MORE POWER, or in the case of a BS, more power and height. If you should undertake cutting your own lumber (something that is sometimes done on BSs) you will surely run into a log that is over 10.75", and even over 12". I have the MM 16 (last years mod.) and now wish I had waited a year since the new one has more power and height. I have already run out of room splitting logs for bowl blanks, so more is better. As the sign LOML has on the bathroom wall "you can never be too rich or too thin."

[Mark Singer]

The more the better....it should be the width of your planer...I have a drum sander which is 24" and my bandsaw will do just under 12"....That seemslike enough for most applications,

[Jamie Buxton]

I've had a bandsaw for six years which will resaw to 12". I use it quite a bit, and mostly for resaw. I've never found a situation where I needed more height. As you say, there aren't many boards any more which are wider than 12".

[Alan Turner]

I have about 12" under the guides, and have wanted more quite often. A new/old saw I bought, but haven't yet put into service, will do 25", and I think that should do it, but I do have a slab of 13/4 bubinga that is 34" wide. Maybe if I just tweak it . . . .

[lou sansone]

It sounds like you have already answered your own question. I agree with mark that it would not make sence to buy a bs that had a greater capacity than your planer, unless you were also going to be changing your planer. I have had 3 bs so far in my life. The first one was an old iron spoke job that only had about 8" under the guides and that was just not enough. Then I had a laguna that had 16" under the guides and that seemed to be more than enough. My new saw has 24" under the guides, but I really did not buy it just for that feature. Seems to me that a range of 12 to 16 should be fine for most folks.

lou

[Dev Emch]

Hi Glen...

Time for Dev's Rules for Bandsaws. I came up with these years ago and they still work more or less even with all the changes we have seen.

Rule #1: The resaw capacity of a bandsaw is 1/2 the diameter of the wheel.

Rule #2: The depth or throat capacity of a bandsaw is the diameter of a wheel.

So your question is how much do you need under the blade. That is a resaw question. For me, the kitchen holds the answer. Often, one trys to gain the best grain match for raised panels in doors such as your kitchen cabinet doors. The quickest and fastest and easiest way to do this is to book match the panel. Thus, your panel stock needs to be a bit more than 50 % the width of the final panel. If you follow this approach, then you will find the resaw requirement much more modest and an 18 inch saw will work quite well. On the other hand, nothing beats a 30 or 36 inch bandsaw for resaw work, esp. if its running a pancake motor!

[Jamie Buxton]

Rule #1: The resaw capacity of a bandsaw is 1/2 the diameter of the wheel.


No, not really. For instance, Laguna and Minimax offer 16" saws with 14" resaw.

[Greg Heppeard]

The 2 Jet's in question are the older model (10" resaw) and the newer model (12" model)

[Dev Emch]

The rules I listed are "generic" guidelines. Certain models will have a bit more and certain models will have a bit less. Depends on how the guide bars are set up and what type of guides your using. For example, I dont particularly like the design of tannewitz saws but they often have a bit more and they have the tannewitz blade guide which I like better than saw a carter guide. A number of "welded body" saws actually increased this distance and called themselves "Resaw Kings" or some moniker like that. Some Delta and jet smaller saws added a neck extension to increase this distance and of course there are three wheel bandsaws out there which are really a rube goldberg. I dont like them. For the most part, my rules work for hunting down certain saws. I have avoided dealings with welded body saws for a few reasons. Unless your building composite steel and concrete bodies, (like martins), your going to have more buzz... more vibration and more flexure. Also, the motors are often higher pole count motors and are limited to about 1200 RPM (4P). Older cast iron saws frequently had custom motors like the pancake which go much lower and have unstopable torque. Another "violator" my rule #1 is the yates Y-20 snowflake. Here is a photo of one my buddy finished and sold. I have just started a second restoration of my own Y-20. By my rules, this saw should have 10 inches of resaw. It has at least 12 inches but I have not measured as I am changing out the guides during the restro. This will be elctro-striped, acid dipped, body filled, sanded out, sprayed with Polane HS + and have all electricals and bearings redone. Just like this gray one. Isnt this old girl just a wonder! Not bad for 1933 to 1938! It even has a micro-switch to cut out the power when the brake knob is operated.

[lou sansone]

Hi dev

Nice saw... you can see the reflection on the table!
love the snowflake .... now that was style for the woodworker.
lou

[Dev Emch]

What made the snowflake were the sand cast aluminum doors! These were made from about 1933 to about 1938 to 1940. They were discontinued because the aluminium was needed for the war efforts. These machines were then continued for many years after the war but were equiped with sheet metal doors. The snowflake was available in three sizes. The Y-20, the Y-30 and the Y-36. Because of the wide base cabinet of the 30 and 36, you will not find a heavier saw with say the exception of a fay and egan which was also way more massive than need be. But these snowflakes had cast iron lower doors with a faux rail & stile patterns including a raised panel motif. Very Rare machines and never in need of a new home. Like a cute puppy, they always get adopted! My buddy did make a mistake with the restoration of this gray saw. He had a precision blanchard grinder put a mirror surface on the table and its slick! But we were all scared horse apple-less to use it as we might scratch it! He had this saw for about 10 years and only sold it to another buddy of mine when he upgraded to a 30 inch tannewitz which he and his dad are now restoring. Same process, only slightly larger and newer saw. He wanted a bit more resaw capacity! And this brings up a good point. When you bring home a saw, it represents an investment of both time and money. In the case of a ground up, full bore restoration, this can take several months of part time shop time to complete! You also have stripper time, machinists time, new parts, etc. to pay for. Even the wheels were sent out for new rubber and crowning. So when you discover that you need more resaw capacity, its a hell of a note to realize it after you go to this effort. He had considered a 30 before but wrote it off when his conservative side kicked in (something about an SWMBO?). Now look at his position. He gets to start all over again! Truth is, for hard core woodworkers, your never cured. The smell of lumber being cut, the sound and feel of machines and hand tools. Once hooked, your sunk! So if you get a good machine that you love, it will quite likely be a part of you for 20 or more years. Like an old leather jacket, it grows old with you and both of you realize your frailties and they become character badges. You learn the quirks of that particular machine and learn to live with them. Ever trade in an old car with tons of miles on it? Nice as a new car is, the controls are in an awkward place. The way you sit is not the same. It takes a while to re-acclimate to the new machine. So I tend to advise against this upgrade path as its both time consumming and expensive. Carefully examine what you need and get the machine that best serves you both in terms of your actual needs and in terms of buffing your ego. If you want that added character (I describe it as a warm and fuzzy feeling) then consider the older machines. Moaks, Northfields, Olivers, Yates, Fay&Egans, etc. Some of the best home wood shops I have seen are populated with machines that predate world war II!

I hope this soul searching helps a bit in selecting a new band saw.