Buying used band saw; What to check for

[Nick Clayton]

I'm hoping to get a call back from a gentleman to come and look at his 14" Jet band saw today or tomorrow. I was hoping you kind folks could give me some pointers on what to watch out for as tell tail signs of abuse or poor maintenance. Thanks for you help.

Cheers,
Nick

[Allen Prell]

I started a similar thread a few months ago
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=36693

[Scott Halverson]

I'm curious, I also have my eye on a Jet 14" (JWBS-14CS) band saw. What do you think they're worth? This one has no accessories other than an extra blade. It's less than a year old.

Thanks,
Scott

[Nick Clayton]

Allen, thanks for the link I don't know why I didn't find it when I did my search. He mentioned he did not use it much and was selling it for a larger saw.

Scott, I believe that people shoot for 30-40% less than current market price depending on the condition and the accessories.

Any more suggestion and comments are always welcome, I love repetition it acts as affirmation to me.......<O:p</O:p

[tod evans]

nick, bandsaws are pretty simple critters, bearings and motor are the high dollar items if they`re bad. guides are disposables as are tires and tension springs. avoid cracked castings, but scratches offer price negotiation room without affecting performance. best advice is to look at the saws current enviornment, it should give you a clue as to how it`s been used..02 tod

[Mike Cutler]

Things to look for on Jet 14" Bandsaw, or things I had to fix on mine.

Look at the tension adjustment rod, if it still has it. Look for these two things;
1. Look to see if the end of the rod, that makes contact with the frame has begun to wear a hole through the frame. The rod on mine was pretty sharp and started to bore a hole through the frame.

2. Look for slippage in the tension rod at the point that a blade would be tensioned properly. The threads on mine got eaten away at the point where a 1/2" blade was properly tensioned. The square nut in the tension assembly is of a harder material than the tension rod so the rod is the sacrificial component.

A lot of the adjustment and tightening knobs on the Jet are plastic, with a recessed nut or bolt. Make sure that all of these are still good.

Does the Saw have a Riser Kit, or a guide bearing upgrade. Like, Carter guide bearings?. This could affect the price, and there may be some "spare parts" laying about that you might want to have. Retail cost for the upgrades would be ~$150 for the Carter Kit, ~$60-90 for the riser upgrade, and a different blade

Make sure that it runs smoooth and that the blade is capable of being adjusted for tracking prpoerly.

Look for excessive wear on the guide bearings, and excessive buildup of material on the crown of the tires. Make sure thatthe table is flat across the diagonals, and that the throat isn't all buggered up.

The Jet is atrocious for dust collection, so take a peek inside the housing and see how much dust has collected around the motor. It should be okay though.

The Jet is a nice saw, dust collection aside. I've had mine for more than a few years.
Even though I have a larger bandsaw now. I've kept the Jet for smaller work(I could never get mine to resaw the big stuff with any consistency). It is a nice bandasaw for the $$

[Matt Guyrd]

I was able to score a Jet 14" bandsaw like the one in the attached picture. It was very lightly used, had a matching Jet mobile base, and a 3/4" resaw blade installed (also came with the original blade). Paid $200.

With my lack of knowledge, I read through the manual and performed all the necessary setup/adjustments and it works like a champ for me. The cheapest I have seen the Riser Block kit is $79 from Woodcraft ($98 @ Amazon).

Doesn't tell you much about what to look for, but might be helpful in comparison. Good luck.

Matt

42210

[Jeffrey Makiel]

I owned a 14" JET Bandsaw circa 1990. The JET Bandsaws of this era were of poor quality construction, as was most of the Taiwanese 14" bandsaws offered by many importers at that time. The new stuff seems to be much, much better quality.

I would recommend that you ask the owner how old it is. If it is less than 5 years old, you're probably OK relative to quality. Therefore, the general condition of the saw will be the primary consideration.
-Jeff :)

[Charlie Plesums]

I sold my Jet 14 inch closed base bandsaw that was almost new for just enough money to buy the Grizzly G0555. The Grizzly was made from the same castings, and had a lot of extra features...things like better dust collection, quick release, roller guides, fence, etc. So I would recomend that you pay less for the Jet than you would for a G0555.

When I bought my 1000 pound 24 inch MiniMax I decided to keep the G0555 - it's not a big heavy duty saw, but it's really good for the size.

[Nick Clayton]

First thank you for all of your responses, as always I find them very helpful.

So I pulled the plug and bought the band saw, JET JWBS-14CS, after looking at it last night (pictures to come when I get back from Cape Cod on Monday; sorry pic police). The gentleman was truely a gentleman, Todd you were correct as usual his shop was nicely maintaned and appointed, and the saw I purchased looked as though it had never been used. He now has an 18" Laguna to resaw blanks to turn on his Oneway 2036...........

I picked it up for $375 which included JETS optional Rip Fence, a Rockler bandsaw table top with rip fence, Shopfox mobile base and an assortment of blades still in the packages. I figure I made out ok on this one since it's my first band saw.

My only thought is what in heavens name was JET thinking when they designed the dust collection? Has anyone added a 4" fitting to the housing of the lower wheel to improve the dust collection of their 14" saw?

[tod evans]

nick, sounds like you gotta fair shake. enjoy! tod

[Mike Cutler]

First thank you for all of your responses, as always I find them very helpfulMy only thought is what in heavens name was JET thinking when they designed the dust collection? Has anyone added a 4" fitting to the housing of the lower wheel to improve the dust collection of their 14" saw?

Nick.
I mounted a 4" dust collection pickup on teh lower door of my Jet 14". It doesn't work very well at all.
A better solution would be do do as Dominic Greco did with his 14". Here is a link to the pic, hopefully. I like this because the lower door doesn't have to have a hole cut into it, even though the bandsaw in the pic has one
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=5558&d=1078721664