Rikon vs Steel City 14" Bandsaw?

[Philip Florio]

I'm looking for a 14" bandsaw.

Right now with Woodcraft's 10% sale I can get the Rikon Deluxe (10-325) for $737 with tax.

The Steel City one (50100) is $706 from ToolKing which includes shipping.

From what I can see the difference between the two is Rikon has a fence but then I've read reviews that the fence isn't very good and some are posting they will replace it anyway.

Any suggestions, the 10% sale is only good at Woodcraft till Saturday {7/28}, so I need to decide.

Thanks,
Phil

[Don Taylor]

Personally I would go with the Steel City. I have the 18" bandsaw and their drill press. Great quality and a pleasure to use.

DT

[Philip Florio]

I see that the Steel City requires a riser block to equal the clearance of the Rikon. About another 90 bucks.

Phil

[Denise Palko]

Any suggestions, the 10% sale is only good at Woodcraft till Saturday {7/28}, so I need to decide.



I would first call your local Woodcraft before the sale. From what I remember, Steel City will not permit retailers to further discount their tools.

Of course, I could be mistaken, but it's worth a phone call.

[glenn bradley]

I'm sure the SCTW is a great saw but you'll need the riser block to cut any height. This may not be an issue depending on what you will do with the saw.

[Philip Florio]

The Steel City would be from Toolking.com.

From what I see online, Woodcraft doesn't have Steel City bandsaws.

For the extra expense of the riser block I guess I'll go with Rikon.

Phil

[George Summers]

This month's Woodworker's Journal compares the top ten 14" bandsaws. Steel City and Rikon are included.

George

[John Longwitz]

...nothing wrong with the fence. Maybe not the best but good enough for my needs. Can be left in normal upright position for cuts about 4" thick or so. Can also be positioned 90 degrees over to get up close to the blade on thinner stock. Put a "Woodslicer" blade on it and resaw to your hearts content.

[Henry Cavanaugh]

I purchased the Rikon and am a happy camper.I had read in the past alignment issues when adding a riser block some of the time to various saws. I was looking to resaw logs so the height was important in my decision. Supporting your local store isnt a bad idea. Get a woodcraft credit card and the 4% off will buy you a new blade.

[Bill Wyko]

In the latest issue of woodcraft journal magazine the Rikon was names the best band saw out of all that were tested. I don't know if you have put your hands on one yet but the Rikon is a top notch setup.

[Philip Florio]

Thanks everyone.

I'll go with the Rikon. I'll also benefit from picking up at the local Woodcraft store as opposed to having the Steel City sent freight.

I just wish I could get a 5 year warranty on the Rikon!

I'll go there tomorrow and put more on my charge card. I'm like a kid in a toy store when I go there, but then I think we all are!



Phil

[Bob Aquino]

I'm looking for a 14" bandsaw.

Right now with Woodcraft's 10% sale I can get the Rikon Deluxe (10-325) for $737 with tax.

The Steel City one (50100) is $706 from ToolKing which includes shipping.

From what I can see the difference between the two is Rikon has a fence but then I've read reviews that the fence isn't very good and some are posting they will replace it anyway.

Any suggestions, the 10% sale is only good at Woodcraft till Saturday {7/28}, so I need to decide.

Thanks,
Phil

Why not go up about a hundred and get something like the 17" grizzly g0513? Its 795 before shipping and would give you an extra 3" depth of cut. It will handle a 1/8th blade if you need to go that narrow. I've heard nothing but good things about that model. If you want to same some, they have the cast iron frame saws at about 470 shipped.

[Jack Briggs]

The 2-speeds and 13" resaw capability are why I'd go with the Rikon.

[Philip Florio]

That's about $150 more, sure is nice but then all of it could be a nightmare with the freight company.

BTW, I have to say I've had better luck with freight companies than UPS!

UPS is only good for light weight items that are packed well!


Phil


Why not go up about a hundred and get something like the 17" grizzly g0513? Its 795 before shipping and would give you an extra 3" depth of cut. It will handle a 1/8th blade if you need to go that narrow. I've heard nothing but good things about that model. If you want to same some, they have the cast iron frame saws at about 470 shipped.

[Sean Kinn]

I have a silly question for those of you with the Rikon...

Do you remember roughly how big the box it came in was? I'm thinking of jumping on the Woodcraft 10% off sale this weekend, but I may have a transportation issue. Thanks!

[Jimmy Newman]

I bought a Rikon 10-325 at Woodcraft several weeks ago. The box weighs about 250lbs and fit in the back of my mother's Suburban just fine with the 3rd seat taken out. In length, pushed up against the back of the back seat, it had about 3" from the doors, and was maybe 20" wide and 28" tall. Something like that? I suspect it would fit in a small SUV with the back seat folded down or in a (non-short bed) pickup truck just fine, although I can't promise anything.

Unfortunately, I finally threw the box away last week, so I can't go measure it for you.

I will say I'm pretty happy with the saw. I had a problem with the threads that secure the guide assembly being stripped out from the factory (so the bearing assembly would wobble because the set screw couldn't be tightened). The folks at Rikon were very good about getting me a new post sent out.

[Philip Florio]

Thanks Sean for bringing that up.

Since my store is out of stock, I'll just be ordering today. I'll ask if they know.

Phil

[Sean Kinn]

Thanks Jimmy. I think I could squeeze the machine itself in my small sedan with the seats down...but no way I could get a box that big in there. Looks like I'll be unpacking and loading on the sidewalk at the store, or thinking of other large items I need and renting the small uhaul for the day if I want to take advantage of the sale.

[Eddie Darby]

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/upload/contents/335/NOV06PW_40-44_BAND%20SAWS.pdf

[John Longwitz]

...like others have said the packaged weight is about 250# or so. If you have no one to help assemble here's how I did it myself. Assembled the base. Took the top wheel off to reduce weight (easy). Tipped the base on it's side and saw also. Bolted saw to stand. Tilted the whole thing up. Finally installed table, top wheel, and fence. 'Course it would be better to have a helper. Great saw!

BTW..box would fit in the back seat of a sedan but there were four guys handy to load mine at Highland Hardware in the back of my 4-Runner. Loading into a sedan might be troublesome even with extra hands.

[Curt Harms]

I have the Rikon and am happy with it. The Rikon is a steel frame, the Steel City 14" is a cast iron C frame. It depends on which you like better. I don't see the Steel City 16" euro style saw on Tool King's site. I'd be interested to know what $ the 16" goes for, it sure looked impressive at Redmond in Atlanta and the form factor wasn't much bigger than the Rikon. Also, the local Woodcraft is carrying some Steel City equipment-it sorta looks like Steel City might be replacing Delta:eek:.

Edit: I thought the 16" Rikon had a 2 h.p. motor and 12" resaw. WRONG!!! 10" resaw & 1.5 h.p. motor. Sorry for the bad info.

[Henry Cavanaugh]

I transported the 14" Rixon in my Saab Hatchback with the rear seats down. I seperated the base which needs to be assembled and the cast iron top to lessen the weight. Saw is 52 x 21 x 16 plus packaging.

[Henry Cavanaugh]

Edit: I thought the 16" Rikon had a 2 h.p. motor and 12" resaw. WRONG!!! 10" resaw & 1.5 h.p. motor. Sorry for the bad info.

Unless its New Rikon has a 14" delux and an 18" and no 16". The resaw height for the 14" is 13"

[Emmanuel Weber]

I think the 16" goes for around $1000. I myself purchase recently the 18" model and I have absolutely no regret (that is after I finally managed to carry the damn thing down into my basement).

[Mick Zelaska]

The Rikon was rated best of 10 tested in this months Woodworker's Journal. Steel City rated very high.

The Rikon fit in the back of my 2005 Pathfinder with the two back seats down. Woodcraft loaded it for me, but as usual, my two sons were no where to be found when I need them so I had to unloaded it and set it up myself----no easy feat 'caus that thing is heavy.

[Rich Rice]

I purchased a Jet 14" BS with the riser block last week, but it had alignment issues (couldn't get the wheels coplanar) and it had to go back to Woodcraft. At that point I looked at the Rikon and the Steel City 14's. I need the large capacity for resawing guitar tops, so the Rikon gets my vote. I was about to purchase their floor model, but the salesman left me alone while he helped somebody else...

Upon closer inspection, the adjustment knob for the upper wheel was halfway stripped and wobbly. It tightened up with the wingnut, but seemed to be flimsy, and had to be either broken or defective. Further inspection revealed a seized thrust bearing on the lower guide. This was the only Rikon 14"" they have, and with a heavy heart I left the store empty handed.

I'll be heading back there this morning, and ordering one up (new in the box), as I can't seem to find any better saws for the money, size, strength, or resawing capacity. I hate to wait, as I have work to do immediately- but I think the Rikon 14" looks like a pretty fair saw overall, and (feature for feature) blows the Jet out of the water.

I sure hope they will honor the 10% off pricing on a new order, as this BS b.s. has consumed me for the better part of a week...

I'd get the Rikon 18", but it runs an additional $350 and I don't have the space in my tiny shop. I need to store the saw, and move it every time I use it. The 18" looks great, but it's really heavy and considerably larger- plus the 240 volt requirement is a hassle. My 240 is on the other side of the shop, so I'd need to use a huge extension cord, add another electrical run, or completely reorganize.. doesn't seem worthwhile.

[Carl Oresick]

I was wondering if any 10-325 owners could comment on the dust collection performance of the single 4" port. I was loking for a dual port setup but if it works...

Or one could add a ~2.5" port in the vincinity of the lower guides I suppose.

[Rich Rice]

I was wondering if any 10-325 owners could comment on the dust collection performance of the single 4" port. I was loking for a dual port setup but if it works...

Or one could add a ~2.5" port in the vincinity of the lower guides I suppose.

I borrowed the floor model of the 10-325 while waiting for my new saw to arrive. The 4" port worked OK to remove the bulk of the dust, but it doesn't really address the dust that escapes by the lower guides. Now I have my new one, and it looks like the port was changed to increase the venting from the lower wheel housing- the new one is less restricted- thus it works better. The other issue (below the blade guides) remains the same.



It occurs to me that one could easily fabricate a simple funnel shaped catcher to route most of the dust into the cabinet (below the lower guides). There appears to be a bit of space there, and doesn't look like it would be too difficult. That small amount of dust doesn't really bother me too much. I originally thought about making a little chute from some sheet aluminum, but even a cardboard chute with some masking tape would do the trick. If you wanted to get really fancy, you could just duct tape a shop vac nozzle to the underside of the table, but it sounds like more trouble than it's worth. The duct takes the bulk of it away better than I thought it would.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/dabluzeguy/DSCN3195.jpg

I love the saw. There were some tweaks that were necessary to get the fence square, as I took it to maximum adjustments and they weren't getting it square to the table. Eventually, I pulled the two allen head screws out and shimmed the left side with some aluminum shim stock. After a couple of tries, I was able to square things up nicely.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/dabluzeguy/DSCN3194.jpg

[Denny Rice]

I was speaking to a salesman at Woodcraft today, they told me within 30 days they will be handling a full line of Steel City products, including table saws and band saws.