Just in at Woodcraft -14" Rikon bandsaw

[Jim W. White]

Guys,

Just went to pick up a couple of $5 router bit specials and spent a good deal of time staring at the newly re-designed 14" Rikon bandsaw. Have you seen this yet?! 1 1/2 horse motor, 2-speeds and 13" resaw capacity along with rack-in-pinion blade guide adjustment ($750).

Not affiliated with Rikon in anyway. I was however, very impressed. I think Rikon is raising the bar for the big domestic players in the 14" market for sure.

http://www.rikontools.com/Products/Bandsaws/10-325.htm

Jim in Idaho

[Mike Canaris]

Wow..thats a factory turbocharged 14 incher...very interesting!

[David Foshee]

Yes I saw in a magizine. I have only heard you guys talk about rikon Lathes How are they as a tool maker I am seriouslly considering buying this saw.

[glenn bradley]

Saw a review of it in American Woodworker this month. Pretty interesting, eh? The only negative point they could come up with was the ability to flex the table. This test was performed by placing weight on the outer corner of the table. The Rikon's table is larger than the others . . . I wonder if they took this into consideration?

[Nick Roper]

Certainly a nice looking saw, but I'm having a difficult time getting away from the Grizzly http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0513X
For me, only one hundred dollars more for a 17" model is hard to pass on.

Nick

[Dave Lehnert]

Been looking at a larger saw but starting to wonder if this can re-saw 13" do I need a bigger unit??

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Dang, $750 is way too much for a 14" IMO.

[Wilbur Pan]

Been looking at a larger saw but starting to wonder if this can re-saw 13" do I need a bigger unit??
One issue to keep in mind if considering a 14" bandsaw for resawing is that usually resawing works better if you have a wider blade. Wider blades tend to be stiffer. If you take a wide blade and mount it on a 14" bandsaw, and compare that to mounting the same blade on a 17" bandsaw, then the blade will have to take a tighter turn on the 14" bandsaw as it goes around the wheel. This will impact the longevity and performance of the blade.

In other words, even if a 14" bandsaw has the same resaw capacity of a 17"-18" bandsaw, you'll likely have an easier time resawing with the larger bandsaw.

[Rob Diz]

It's an interesting saw. I have looked at it, as well as the 14 inch PM with riser block.

Assuming that Woodcraft will run a 10% off powertools before the end of the year, added to the PM $100 rebate and the 4% you can save with the Woodcraft Visa, you can get the PM set-up with riser block for an out the door cost (with taxes etc) for the mid-800s.

Compare that to the Rikon saw on sale, it would seem to be worth the extra hundred or so bucks to go with the PM.

Of course, I'm still looking for a solid used 14 BS, but after a year of looking locally, have not seen anything that was worthy and well priced. Looks like I will be going to Woodcraft sometime soon to pull the trigger on one of these two saws, probably the PM.

Then again, they have the Rikon 18 for 1000.

A few hundred here, a few hundred there, pretty soon you are talking real money.

[Terry Flowers]

I'm not sure how power and other features compare, but the Rikon will resaw 13" without a riser block. What does the powermatic do with the riser? The Rikon is pretty feature rich, and according to the PW article, resawed with ease compared to the others tested.

For some reason, I am partial to the all steel frame saws compared to cast iron.

Terry

[Jim W. White]

When thinking about steel frame compared to iron I found this older article from PW (2003) interesting

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/features/bandsaws.0603.pdf

[Rob Diz]

I believe the PM has a 12 inch resaw with the riser block, although I could be wrong on that one. I don't know that the extra inch will mean much to me in the long run. Then again, I am interested in hearing impressions on the Rikon saw - it's an interesting option.

[Chuck Wood]

:) I recently purchased a Rikon 14in bandsaw and a 6in jointer from Woodcraft (Knoxville,TN). They were having there annual woodworking show 10/27/06-10/29/06. At the show I met with the VP of Rikon, and he informed me on all the features of the 10-325. Very nice machine! In fact I went to the show looking to purchase a Jet bandsaw! But after examing the two saws, the Rikon won hands down! By purchasing the saw at the show, Rikon extended the warranty an additional 1 year, and took over $50.00 dollars off the price, plus thru in a moble stand. (a $100.00 value)
The jointer was an after thought. They gave me such a great price on both peices of machinery that I couldn't turn it down! Both machines, a mobile base, and a rubber floor matt for under $1000.00!!!
Even my CFO said to go ahead and get them:D