Anyone tried the new Rikon 10-306 bandsaw?

[Tyler Bancroft]

Looking at acquiring one of these - anyone have experience?

[Bob Potter]

Tyler
I have this same saw but it is a Craftsman made by Rikon for Sears. This saw has a lot of good features for a small saw. I use it mostly for cutting curves and some straight cuts. It is my second saw. I have a 14" that I use mainly for re sawing and most straight cuts.
The 10" is a good saw for the money.
Hope this helps, Bob

[Van Huskey]

Tyler
I have this same saw but it is a Craftsman made by Rikon for Sears.

Are you sure it is a 10-306 copy? The 306 is new, could yours be a 10-305 copy?

To the OP, I looked over one very briefly and it seems like very good upgrades over the 305 for the money. Probably the best 10" saw currently made, though there isn't a lot of competition.

[Tom M King]

That's a nice looking 10" saw. My Craftsman shares everything with the 305, but has different colored doors, and different name badges. It's a shame that they are no longer sold because at $165 new in the box, the price couldn't be beat for what it is. I originally bought it to use on a roof, because it only weighs 65 pounds, but since then, it's become the most used bandsaw in my shop, as far as which switch gets cut on, and off the most (the big one gets the most hours, but only in long runs).

This newer model looks nicer, and I feel like almost anyone would be pleasantly surprised with how well they operate, and what you can do with them.

[Gary Ragatz]

Tyler,

I've had a 10-306 for a little over a month now. It's my first band saw so, unfortunately, I can't compare it to other products. I bought it primarily for cutting curves - I don't expect to do much, if any, resawing. So, with that background, these are my impressions:

1) It's solidly built, good fits & finishes.
2) Good instructions, easy to assemble. Required minimal adjustments out of the box - a few tweaks to get the table squared up with the blade, minor adjustment for tracking, tension and blade guides - all pretty easy to do.
3) Pretty quiet operation.
4) Fence is just "okay." Anchored at only one side of the table, it will flex a little at the other end if you put pressure on it. (I haven't used the fence very much.)
5) I've been cutting curves in maple and walnut stock up to 2" thick and have been pleased with the results - cuts cleanly and has plenty of power to deal with 2" stock.
6) As I mentioned, I don't intend to do much resawing, but I did slice up a piece of 4x4 fir, just to see how it would do. It had plenty of power for the task. My slices were a little uneven, but I suspect that had more to do with operator inexperience than the saw itself. While it had no trouble with the fir, I think trying to resaw a 4" thick piece of hardwood would be a slow process.
7) Dust collection - required a bit of a kludge to get my shop vac connected to the dust port, but once that was done, it works well.

Hope this is helpful. If you have specific questions, let me know - happy to answer, if I can.

Gary

[Zac wingert]

So, craftsman sells a saw that is a rebadged version of a rikon that is sold at sears?? I didn’t think any of the current craftsman bandsaws were worth anything.

[Van Huskey]

So, craftsman sells a saw that is a rebadged version of a rikon that is sold at sears?? I didn’t think any of the current craftsman bandsaws were worth anything.

They did, for a while, sell some Craftsman bandsaws that were obviously from the same factory as some Rikon saws, I don't think they carry them anymore but with Sear's situation, it is hard to tell exactly what they sell. Quite a few people bought them since based on the sales and stacking coupons you could often get them dirt cheap. Sears has sold decent to good rebadged bandsaws for close to 70 years that I am aware of.

OP I remembered that Stockroom Supply has a decent video comparison with the 10-305 and 10-306:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueB4zSCr6V4&t=138s

[glenn bradley]

They certainly have improved the areas that the 10-305 is weak in (and there aren't many). The guide adjustment under the table is still a question but, my 10-305 fence is near worthless while the new one locks differently and solves the main problem with it. I have no trouble with the guides as they use the same hex driver I use for my larger saw and I am adept at setting them quickly. However, the new format looks nice. The guide post adjustment control change is also nice but, not a game changer. Just to keep things in perspective, for this size of saw, I am very happy with the 10-305 which I got pretty cheap on sale due to the new model coming out.

[Tyler Bancroft]

That's a nice looking 10" saw. My Craftsman shares everything with the 305, but has different colored doors, and different name badges. It's a shame that they are no longer sold because at $165 new in the box, the price couldn't be beat for what it is. I originally bought it to use on a roof, because it only weighs 65 pounds, but since then, it's become the most used bandsaw in my shop, as far as which switch gets cut on, and off the most (the big one gets the most hours, but only in long runs).

This newer model looks nicer, and I feel like almost anyone would be pleasantly surprised with how well they operate, and what you can do with them.

I have to ask - bandsaw on a roof?

[Tom M King]

We put a copy of a fantail hip Cypress shingle roof on an 1850 museum house I was working on. We found the original roof, that had been the only roof for the first 138 years of that house, under a Terne tin roof. Each individual shingle for the fantail hips had to be marked, and cut before it was installed. Easiest to do it close to where it was going. I didn't want to be using a jobsite tablesaw up there. The little bandsaw seemed like it would be safer, and it did the job just fine. You can find other pictures of that job on my website, on the Cypress shingle page.

We made the shingles too, with a 24" bandsaw. Each one is 28" long, with 7" of exposure. It's seen two hurricanes, and still leakfree installed on purlins only. Originals were 21" long, but I cheated where it wouldn't be seen.
http://historic-house-restoration.com/images/CIMG1802.JPG

[Larry Frank]

I have a 16" Jet for resaw and the 10" Rikon 10-305. The small bandsaw is great and the upgrades they made for the 10-306 are really good. Nice to see they are fixing things that could be better.

[Mitchell Garnett]

When I got a 19" bandsaw, I sold my 14" and almost immediately regretted it. I bought the Sears bandsaw as a compromise over replacing the 14". I've never gotten a first hand look at a Rikon 305 but I've been told that the miter gauge is much better on the Rikon. That wouldn't be hard to do as I've found the Sears very poor. Otherwise I've been very happy. I do find the 306 tempting.

[David Ruhland]

i have my eye on one, specifically to keep a smaller blade on for curves, small pieces, etc... FWIW i have the 14 inch version of the 10-305 i think its a 10-326 LOVE the tool free adjustments. Trying to keep this mainly for resaw purposes.

[Bob Potter]

Mine was bought at least 10 yrs ago so probably not the newest copy.

[Van Huskey]

Mine was bought at least 10 yrs ago so probably not the newest copy.

Yes, the 10-306 was debuted at this years IWF and has only been out for about a month.

[Tyler Bancroft]

Thanks all - ordered one, so we'll see how it goes!

[Tyler Bancroft]

Received my 10-306 (and the stand they sell) from Lee Valley yesterday. The instructions for assembling the Rikon stand are inadequate (there are eight ways to assemble the corner pieces, only one of which actually allows everything to fit, and the instructions don't explain how).

[Rich Chaddock]

Would the 10-306 be good for making band saw boxes? I have a 9" ryobi that is about worthless when it comes to cutting any kind of curves or straight lines.

[Nick Decker]

I'm guessing the 306 would be iffy, power-wise, for bandsaw boxes. Maybe OK for soft wood, but cutting through 3 or 4 inches of hard wood would be asking a lot from that small motor.

[Carl Beckett]

Would the 10-306 be good for making band saw boxes? I have a 9" ryobi that is about worthless when it comes to cutting any kind of curves or straight lines.

I like mine. Comments and first impressions are here: https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?269707-Downgrade-a-bandsaw/page3