How useful is a bandsaw power feeder?

[Geoff Crimmins]

I recently bought a couple of used Grizzly machines, and included with them was a Comatic-made Grizzly 1/2 HP bandsaw power feeder. It seems like it would be nice when you have a lot of resawing or ripping to do, but could be massive overkill for my hobby workshop. And it looks like it might get in the way for any other type of cut. It's also too heavy for me to install by myself. I'm thinking it might be best to try to sell it and use the money for something else in the shop. I don't want to regret doing that in a few years, so I thought I'd see how useful people think it is. Also, is there even a market for used bandsaw power feeder? It's heavy enough it could only be shipped by freight. Maybe I could re-purpose it to roll me out of bed in the morning. :)

--Geoff

[Carroll Courtney]

What better way to tell that a blade is getting dull than feeding wood by hand.Anyway myself never seen one before nor knew of anyone that has use a power feed,I believe that its more for product work like cutting 100 2x2 36" long.I bet that someone out there believes that they cannot be without it,see what they go for on ebay.But before you do post some pics of it,love to see what it looks like----Carroll

[Kevin L. Waldron]

If you don't do a lot of re-sawing sell the feeder........It does interfere with most things that a home shop would do with a bandsaw unless you have more than one bandsaw. We have 3 saws with feeders from 7.5 HP to 30HP

kevin
338764

[Carroll Courtney]

Awesome,change my mind keep it just for what Kevin pointed out.

[mreza Salav]

I have a feeder that use it on different machines (shaper, jointer, router table, and have used it on the bandsaw). The bandsaw is a 24" and I used the feeder to get 16' laminations (veneers) out of maple that I used for curved railing. The feeder made the job a lot easier than man-handling 16' boards (and there were many of them). You would get consistent feed and hence smoother surface with a feeder when resawing.

[Mike Heidrick]

I have a feeder that use it on different machines (shaper, jointer, router table, and have used it on the bandsaw). The bandsaw is a 24" and I used the feeder to get 16' laminations (veneers) out of maple that I used for curved railing. The feeder made the job a lot easier than man-handling 16' boards (and there were many of them). You would get consistent feed and hence smoother surface with a feeder when resawing.
A bandsaw feeder is a complete other beast vs a 1hp 3 or 4 wheel feeder. I own both. That 1/2hp medium feeder is 100lbs and that is not including the roller fence setup either. You do need a large table on the bandsaw to correctly mount it. when setup right it is a semi production capable config for a vertical bandsaw. Most folks that have a feeder equipped bandsaw have multiple bandsaws for sure if they do ww work beyond resaw. That medium bandsaw feeder retails for more than a 17" griz bandsaw in white.

[David C. Roseman]

Geoff, you didn't say how big your current bandsaws are, or if you're planning on going larger. You'll need a pretty big one to justify fitting it with that feeder.
Here's an SMC thread from a few years back that might be useful to you: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?61482-Bandsaw-power-feeder

[Bill Adamsen]

I too went through a similar exercise, in my case trying to decide whether to buy or build. I was really looking for the end result - consistent cuts - rather than the labor savings or productivity of a power feed. If buying, my conclusion was that I would want the pneumatic version (applies 13# +/- and is adjustable) which has the advantage of adjusting quickly for different thickness stock. That cost would be more than my budget could justify. Still, were the price of used in the $400-$500 range, I'd be tempted.

In the end, I have started building a unit based on Clayton Sansbury's design (photo below left - very clever - thanks Clayton!). It functions extremely well and is significantly lighter to lift off the saw when not in use. That is important to me because I use the saw for a lot more than just resawing. Material costs were under $150. The key lesson learned was what a pain mixing and matching metric and SAE could be, and how I wish I'd taken courses in material design.

For others interested in making their own power feeder, I did find some posts on Practical Machinist (http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/woodworking-and-woodworking-machinery/my-new-resaw-feeder-gizmo-281019/) of some folks who did just that, photos included below. Amazing - some folks are way too talented - these blew my mind.

[Curt Harms]

If I were to use a power feeder in my hobby shop, I think on the router table would be most useful. And a 100# feeder wouldn't work well on my router table.:eek:

[Geoff Crimmins]

Thank you for all the replies, you've given me some good information to consider. My bandsaw is a Grizzly 19". (With my small shop I have no plans for a larger bandsaw. If anything, I would downsize a little bit.) The original owner used the feeder on this saw, although it seems like it was probably overloading the flimsy trunnions on this saw. I do have a Delta 14" that I can use for curvy cuts, but I need to use the Grizzly to cut bowl blanks as well as for resawing. Maybe I should just put the feeder on the saw for a month and see how much I use it and how much it gets in the way.

-Geoff

[mreza Salav]

A bandsaw feeder is a complete other beast vs a 1hp 3 or 4 wheel feeder. I own both. That 1/2hp medium feeder is 100lbs and that is not including the roller fence setup either. You do need a large table on the bandsaw to correctly mount it. when setup right it is a semi production capable config for a vertical bandsaw. Most folks that have a feeder equipped bandsaw have multiple bandsaws for sure if they do ww work beyond resaw. That medium bandsaw feeder retails for more than a 17" griz bandsaw in white.

I know they are different (although I haven't seen Grizzly carrying a "bandsaw feeder", only standard power feeders). I was just pointing out that a powe rfeeder on a bandsaw can be quite useful.
My Steff maggi feeder (at over 100lb btw) isn't easy to move around either.

[David C. Roseman]

[snip]

For others interested in making their own power feeder, I did find some posts on Practical Machinist (http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/woodworking-and-woodworking-machinery/my-new-resaw-feeder-gizmo-281019/) of some folks who did just that, photos included below. Amazing - some folks are way too talented - these blew my mind.

WOW! Now that's impressive. Clearly for some the journey is as important as the destination!