Upgrade to USA 14" Platinum Edition BS?

[Charles Wilson]

So, I was able to get a 14" Delta BS (made in the USA). I am looking at making some upgrades to the saw.

1. Looking at upgrading the fence to a Kreg fence system. Reason why I am ugrading the fence is that there is quite a bit of deflection of the end of the current fence when it is tightened down. Thoughts?

Any other ideas about urethane bands for the wheels, band saw blades, bigger table, and blocks or guides that might help improve the performance of the saw?

Thanks,
Chuck

[Tim Lynch]

Congrats Chuck!

[Matt Meiser]

Chuck, I have a similar saw but a little older since it is has the Rockwell name on it. Mine had no fence so I bought the Fastrack fence which Kreg bought out and turned into the Kreg fence. I'm happy with mine. It will deflect with some force, but on a bandsaw you shouldn't be pushing with much force, especially against the fence behind the blade. I replaced my steel guides with the ceramics and they seem to work fine. I did the ceramic thrust bearings too, but so far have only installed the top one. My tires are fine so I saw no reason to replace them. If/when they wear out, I'll buy urethane ones, but not before. I bought some Miter Track with the intention of making a bigger table but have never done so.

Blades probably make the biggest difference. I noticed a big difference when I bought better blades. I bought the Highland Woodworking house brand and have been happy with them. They are relatively inexpensive too.

I generally don't use my saw for finish straight cuts or joinery cuts, so I might be a little more tolerant of reduced performance than others.

[Charles Wilson]

Bumpity, Bump.

Sorry, just wanted to return to the front page so I can get your opinions as I would like to get this going soon.

Chuck

[Kermit Hodges]

....Any other ideas about urethane bands for the wheels, band saw blades, bigger table, and blocks or guides that might help improve the performance of the saw?

Fence is a personal choice.
Blades can make a big difference. Depends on what your doing and what you need.

The rest is a wast of money. Urethane tires are near impossible to grind a crown in. Make no difference over rubber tires. Factory guides unless missing or damaged work just fine.

Put you money in blades.

[Charles Wilson]

I want to be able to do some ripping of 3/4" cedar stock. What kind of blades will I need?

Chuck

[Wilbur Pan]

For clean cuts in 3/4" stock, a wide 10 tpi blade with minimal set is surprisingly good. By "wide" I mean the widest blade you can put on your bandsaw, which for a 14" usually means a 1/2" blade. Go for a 3/4" wide blade if you can.

In general, you want to have about 6 teeth in the cut for the cleanest cuts. 6 teeth in 3/4" works out to 8 teeth per inch, but I don't know of many 8 tpi bandsaw blades, so I went up to 10 tpi.