Band Saw Math

[Steve H Graham]

I have a question about band saws.

I have a 19" Shop Fox wood band saw. I have never had a problem with it. Far as I can tell, it's a fantastic saw. I would guess that if this Taiwan sheet steel saw is this good, other Taiwan sheet steel saws must be very good, too.

Once in a while I get a bee in my bonnet about getting a second saw so I can keep a 1/4" blade on one saw and a 1/2" blade on another saw. I look at 14" saws, figuring they must be less expensive than big saws.

Jet has come out with what looks like a very nice 14" sheet steel saw, but it's not cheap. It costs $1100. Grizzly makes some very nice 14" cast iron saws, too. They cost as much as $1095.

On the other hand, you can get a 17" sheet steel Grizzly with a big table and a 2-HP motor for $975.

Here's the obvious question: why does anyone spend a thousand dollars or more for a 14" cast iron Taiwan saw when they $975 buys a 17" Taiwan saw with 2 horsepower, a huge table, and a foot of resaw capacity?

[lowell holmes]

See this site.

https://www.google.com/search?q=bandsaw+review&sxsrf=ACYBGNRYHmjfk7nHRb2QmLnYGSA5CMSenw:157181879 6932&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiuj6uo-bHlAhUBKqwKHRNLBN0Q1TUIogI&biw=1523&bih=736#spd=14177958078796913023

I have a Jet band saw

[justin sherriff]

The rikon 10-305 and 10-306 look to be good saws to keep a small blade on.

[David Buchhauser]

I have a question about band saws.

I have a 19" Shop Fox wood band saw. I have never had a problem with it. Far as I can tell, it's a fantastic saw. I would guess that if this Taiwan sheet steel saw is this good, other Taiwan sheet steel saws must be very good, too.

Once in a while I get a bee in my bonnet about getting a second saw so I can keep a 1/4" blade on one saw and a 1/2" blade on another saw. I look at 14" saws, figuring they must be less expensive than big saws.

Jet has come out with what looks like a very nice 14" sheet steel saw, but it's not cheap. It costs $1100. Grizzly makes some very nice 14" cast iron saws, too. They cost as much as $1095.

On the other hand, you can get a 17" sheet steel Grizzly with a big table and a 2-HP motor for $975.

Here's the obvious question: why does anyone spend a thousand dollars or more for a 14" cast iron Taiwan saw when they $975 buys a 17" Taiwan saw with 2 horsepower, a huge table, and a foot of resaw capacity?

Hi Steve,
I like the way you think! I feel the same way about changing blades. Same with sanding belts, Mig welder wire size, grinder flap discs, etc. So I have multiples of many of these tools. I have 3 or 4 bandsaws with the cast iron frame, and two of the large Grizzlys with the fabricated steel frames. I think they all work great. I have heard some discussion about the fabricated steel frames being able to apply more blade tension than the cast iron frames. For me - this has never been an issue.
David

[Tom M King]

The rikon 10-305 and 10-306 look to be good saws to keep a small blade on.

And the 10" saws take up so little room that I now have two of them. One keeps an 1/8" blade with stabilizer, and the other a 1/4". They don't ask for too much space to need to get rid of the 14", or the 24". I now only change blades when one needs a new one, and then no adjusting of guides required.

[Steve H Graham]

It just seems strange to me that someone would work so hard to pimp out a 14" saw and then charge $1100 for it, when $975 buys a 17" saw.

[Alex Zeller]

People seam to love that old cast iron design. Lots of upgrade parts for them. Lots of woodworkers understand how to tune them. Since the Chinese Tariffs the prices have spiked so I suspect that they aren't as popular anymore. I think you are going to see a lot more of the 14" band saws made from steel in the future as places like Rockler are selling them. Nothing like walking into a store and seeing something you can try and leaving with it. I can't remember seeing a 14" cast band saw in a store other than Harbor Freight in years.

[lowell holmes]

I have nothing to sell, but I buy my blade from these people.
https://www.bandsawbladesdirect.com/band-saw-blades?
gclid=CjwKCAjw9L_tBRBXEiwAOWVVCQ4Cyx2fwsbucUGbijPp eo5krrNAzvFoVyVwM-ZWXFYxaVLUr3MQWBoC4c8QAvD_BwE

Check them out.

[Edwin Santos]

Here's the obvious question: why does anyone spend a thousand dollars or more for a 14" cast iron Taiwan saw when they $975 buys a 17" Taiwan saw with 2 horsepower, a huge table, and a foot of resaw capacity?

Because bigger is not necessarily better.

[John TenEyck]

Makes no sense to me either, but you should be able to find a good used BS for less than half the price of new.

John

[Zachary Hoyt]

I bought a 10-305 for a bit over $200 brand new on sale and it has had the same 1/4" blade in it for about 16 months now. I use it only for tight curves and it's very handy to go back and forth from the big saw to the little one. I haven't had to move the guide bearings on either saw in all that time, if this goes on long enough I'll forget how to do it.
Zach

[Jack Lilley]

I have an 18" Rikon that I use mostly for cutting bowl blanks and keep a blade on it specifically for that purpose. I just bought the 10-326 Rikon, 14 inch, for the rest of my woodworking needs. I had actually ordered a 17" Grizzly but cancelled and went with the Rikon mostly for what it offers. Tool less blade changing and guide adjustments are one of the features I liked and they work great. The Rikon has 13" resaw capacity although I will probably never need it but who knows. The two saws were almost the same money but it was the features and specs that helped make my decision, not the size.

[glenn bradley]

The rikon 10-305 and 10-306 look to be good saws to keep a small blade on.

yes, this.

Some folks don’t have 240v service. Some think a 14” saw has a significantly smaller footprint. There are a lot of after market items for 14” CI saws and some folks like to accessorize,

[Jeff Ramsey]

I went through the same process and ended up buying a 70's vintage Powermatic 141 for $650 to augment my Felder FB510. The older 141's are some of the best 14" bandsaws ever made.

[Alex Zeller]

One thing I can say is that after rebuilding a Powermatic 66 table saw new parts are hard to get. With that 66 there's lots of them out there so plenty of used parts. Will companies like Rikon sell parts for the steel saws 50 years from now? Those 14" CI saws are so popular that multiple companies make parts for them and most likely do so for decades to come.

[Bill Dufour]

Bigger tools that take proper rigging to move can cost less then smaller ones that weigh under one ton or so. A metal lathe over 13x40 inches starts to drop in price. Most home shops do not have room or the foundation for a 15 foot lathe that weighs 7 tons. And a commercial shop will pay more for a newer machine with higher rpms.
I think any bandsaw over 24 inches will not fit in a 8 foot ceiling.
Bill D.

[Randall J Cox]

I have an 18" Italian, MiniMax 1.8 hp, that I bought used for $500 and keep a 1/2" Lenox Diemaster II blade on it. Also have an old Delta 10" 1/2 hp that I rebuilt, paid $300 for it, came with blades, I run a 1/4" blade on it. So I have a total of $800 in used bandsaws that work great. Got tired of trying to change blades on the 18", so bought a small 10". Perfect for my hobbyist needs. Happy camper! Randy