Used Jet 18" or New MM E16?

[Nathan Conner]

So, I'm faced with a quandary here. Purchasing the new bandsaw pretty soon, and here are my latest 2 options. Either a local, used (about 1 hour, looks very new) Jet JWBS 18 bandsaw or a new Minimax E16, on sale?

The difference in price is staggering - I'm not sure if the feature difference is that staggering, as well. The Jet can be had for just under $900, and I can go pick it up today with help from a friend. The MM can be had for $1750 delivered to a terminal 35 miles from here, and I have to go pick it up in over a month, when it shows up.

I love the IDEA of a MM, but also love the IDEA of the 18" Jet. MM is a dream saw for me, but way more than I had planned to spend. I've just sold a 14" Craftsman that wasn't worth 2 cents for my needs.

My needs - pretty simple - some bowl blanks on occasion, and I have loads of 4/, 5/, and 6/4 exotics I'd like to resaw for veneer work, or small boxes. I'd love to see consistent 5/16" veneers come out of the saw. The cost of veneers alone could justify the MM's higher cost, but I'm going from middle-of-the-line Jet to lowest-end Minimax. (Is that comparing a Pinto wagon with a V6 to a Bentley? I don't know!)

Resawing is my primary purpose, bowl blanks can be done by hand if worse comes to worse. I had $1k budgeted for this, but that may go out the window. Can the Jet be adjusted for drift easily? Will it have any power issues? Will it hold up as long as the MM?

No, there's no foot brake, but there's the ability to put nice guides on the Jet...I can see some differences, but don't know if I'm comparing apples to apples or used apples to Asian pears...

Jet isn't made in Italy, lots of aluminum parts...but will it resaw as consistently and nicely as the MM? I have a drum sander that will help, and that's fine with me. The demos of the MM make me drool...

[Steven Wilson]

Hmmm, they're both rather lightweight so I would probably go with the Jet 18". Now, if the bandsaw in question was the MM16 (not the E16) then I would take the MM16. For preping bowl blanks you won't need too much power if you use the right blade. I've been using the Timberwolf 3/8" AS blade for awhile now and it's really good for preping bowl blanks

[Dave MacArthur]

If you are even looking at the Jet 18" (the OLDER ones of which only go to 10" resaw I believe, and a smaller motor, 1.5 hp...the new ones on the website have 12" resaw and 3hp, but be sure what you are looking at...), I would absolutely be looking at the Grizzly offerings instead. I have a 14" Delta, but I have been looking at CraigsList and reading every band saw post on the internet (LOL ;) so it seems!), every day for about 4 months... and for 900$ I would not be going with the Jet.
Grizzly 0513 17"-- $889 delivered
Grizzly 0513X2 17" --$1044 delivered

If you are looking at a NEW style 3hp/12"resaw jet 18, it sounds pretty good! But those are fairly new features for the Jet18.

[Jim Becker]

Dave brings up a good point..."which" Jet 18" saw? The older, original design was somewhat lacking in many ways. The most recent version is a much more competitive machine...

[Jim O'Dell]

Wish I could help you, but the only resawing I've done on my E16 is pine with a 1/4" blade. No drift and a tad under 1/8" thick. If I was going to be resawing exotics, I think I'd want the MM16, even a used older unit. Don't take me wrong, so far I love my E16, but I have very few minutes on it. There are others with it that have put it through it's paces. Hopefully they will chime in and give you some better information. If it were me doing what you want to do, I wouldn't be afraid of the higher price, but I'd spend it on a used MM16. Check with MM and see if anyone is trading one in on a MM20 or bigger saw. Might be able to find something you're willing to swing for. Jim.

[Alex Elias]

I have the old 18" Jet model. I a'm very pleased with it for what I need it. It is easy to compenste for drift as you wanted to know keep in mind that for resawing is not a bad idea to make your own reswing fence depending on your needs but as much as possible you want your fence to be at least as tall as the stock.
The guides on this BS are not bad specially when yuo compare them with the one you had on the craftman.
Over all for your needs if you are not going to be demanding lots of power from it (resawing 10" tall of rosewood blanks all day long) I'd save the money.
The key, or a very important one at least, get a good blade (don't go cheap there for resawing) fewer teeth 3/4" thick. Tun up everything the way it should, a good tall fence and don't go crazy fast on the feed rate, I had no problems resawing but I didn't do all kinds of it either. You can get the results you want like that.
If all you do is resing all the time and need lots of power then by all means get more power and beefier trunions and brake and bla bla bla.
PS: If it is the older Jet you could talk the guy down a bit I don't know if I would pay that today for a used one, unless I am the one selling it :) I'll be happy to get $900. Does he have some blades to gibe you with it a few blades is more money you save as well.
Good luck either way.

[Bob Aquino]

I would go with the used Jet or look for something closer in price that was new. At 900 bucks you are up to the price of a new griz or some other asian saw. If you can get the guy down a bit say 7-800 then its a better deal. New 18" jets can be had for around 1200 from what I see on the web. I have seen the 18" jet saws especially the older models go in that range and better. If you get a used saw for a decent price, you can always sell it for about the same if it doesnt meet your needs. If you can spend 900 or more, then the newer griz saws look very nice. I'm sure the MM's are very nice saws but is it twice as nice since its about twice the price? Probably not, but I have never owned one so take it for what its worth.

[Jim O'Dell]

Another saw that is in the price range you are wanting to hit that none of us have mentioned yet is the Rikon. It gets very good reviews here and on other forums, and is on sale often at 900.00 at Woodcraft. 2 hp motor and I think cast iron wheels (double check that.) Jim.

[Nathan Conner]

OK, Well, his price on the Jet has come down to $850, and I think I'm going to go for it. It's the 18X, so it still has the slightly smaller motor, but does have the 12 1/4" resaw capability. It has a mobility kit and several extra blades - may be cheapies, I don't know. He says the saw has less than 1 hour on it. Not sure why they would be selling it so quickly.

Thanks for all the advice - I'll let you guys know how it turns out, if, in fact, I do pick it up. I have to get SOMEthing. And yes, I've looked at the Rikons, but I've seen such mixed reviews, it's hard to tell. From the 12-14" guys, they say the upgrade is fantastic. From the larger-use guys, they seem to think the price is good, but it's nothing fancy. So, for the same price, I can get a bigger saw with (I think) a better reputation. Maybe I'm mistaken, but I tend to think that the Jets are better made than the Rikons. And, the Jets are made (well, SOLD) here in WA, so I'd be contributing somewhat to "local economy", whatever that means anymore.

And, as a plus, I note that the motor is exterior - I just HAPPEN (see my other threads) to have a 5HP 230V motor with no time on it that may, perhaps, bolt right up with a bit of machining. I certainly can't think of anything else to do with it. It's about 3250 RPM, if I remember correctly. Is that too fast for a BS? I can't tell from the manual what the stock motor RPM is...

So, I'll swing by and take a look, and if it's not in bad shape or anything, I'll pick it up for $850, and bring it home.

[glenn bradley]

He says the saw has less than 1 hour on it. Not sure why they would be selling it so quickly.

Not to cause you to second guess yourself but I think you really would want to know why the quick turn around on the saw. Just my .02

[Nathan Conner]

I chatted with the guy this morning about just that. They're a small machining shop, and they have several bandsaws - purchased this one for one gantry-crane they were building, made 12 cuts, thought they'd use it more, but with the 3/16" blades, he said it just won't make a tight scrollsaw-like turn like he was hoping in aluminum.

So, they can't justify keeping it, especially after several people told him it was a woodworking tool, not a metalworking tool.

Not sure how true that is, but he seems very reasonable about it. And I can understand not wanting to use it in a metal shop.

[Nathan Conner]

Went over to look, and it turned out to be an under-used, decent saw in very good shape. And he took a bit less money in the end.

There's aluminum shavings in everything, and all of the wood blades were trashed by aluminum-cutting (go figure), but I'll get it cleaned up, slap a good 1" resaw blade in it, get it dialed in and try her out. Any hints on getting the aluminum shavings out of the rubber wheels (embedded) and out from inside the roller bearings? Good stiff brush and lots of compressed air?

Thanks for all your advice, guys. Really appreciate it, and this looks to be 10x the saw I had before. I'll add photos of my first real resaws when they're done...

[Ross Nobles]

Nathan,

I bought a Jet 18 BS w/ 10" resaw last fall from a company that had used it to cut aluminum. Similar to you, low usage, very clean, & aluminum pieces all over the place. To get the aluminum shards & splinters out of the tires, I used a 4" drywall knife. MAKE CERTAIN BS IS UNPLUGGED FIRST!! I held d/w knife between 30 & 45 degrees on the tire & spun the wheel by hand clockwise, making certain to hold the d/w knife so that the blade was held into the spin of the tire. This would flick pieces of aluminium out of the tire. Periodically, I would carefully run my hand over the tire while is was not spinning to see how many pieces were left. I would alternate spinning the wheel c/w & ccw. Several pieces I had to dig out w/ the edge of the blade. It took me about an hour, if I remember correctly, for both tires. Hope this helps.

Ross

[scott spencer]

Hi Nathan - Have you looked into the Steel City 18" BS at all? I've read several very favorable comments from owners, some of which came from folks who compared it directly to the Jet.

I know the MM16 is an amazing hunk of iron, but I'm not familiar with the E16.

Good luck!