Another Band Saw question - 14" this time

[Greg Griswold]

I am looking at purchasing a 14" band saw, and a riser block. I am a hobby wood worker, but would like to be able to do some resawing. I am looking at the Grizzly, Jet and Delta. I would like to get the most bang for my buck and was hoping I could get some input from those of you with these saws.

Also, is there something I am missing, is there some specific feature that I should consider?

Once a decision is made as to brand, what options do I need to look at, other than the riser block?

Thanks, in advance, for you input.

Greg

[Chris Padilla]

Greg,

Do a search on "bandsaws" and then sit back, get comfy, and start reading, reading, and reading. Lots and lots of posts here about that very thing.

[Steven Wilson]

I am looking at purchasing a 14" band saw, and a riser block. I am a hobby wood worker, but would like to be able to do some resawing. I am looking at the Grizzly, Jet and Delta. I would like to get the most bang for my buck and was hoping I could get some input from those of you with these saws.

Also, is there something I am missing, is there some specific feature that I should consider?

Once a decision is made as to brand, what options do I need to look at, other than the riser block?

Thanks, in advance, for you input.

Greg

Let's see, you can look at replacing the guides, cuting a hole in the lower housing to rig up a better dust collection system, replacing the spring with something that can tension a blade better, replacing the tension crank, adding a wheel brush, replacing the motor pullies and adding a link belt, changing the fence to something decent, replacing the motor w/ 2hp in order to cut wet bowl blanks, etc. It's easy to take a 14" Jet (or the equivalent from another manufacturer) and run up the cost to $1000 with upgrades. The 14" saws are decent for a lot of things but they may not be what you need, depending on what you want to use one for. Anyhow, in about 2 weeks you might want to take a look at the Minimax web site as they might have a 14" bandsaw that would be worth considering and at a fairly decent price point. I wouldn't feel comfortable elaborating right now.

In the meantime, do a search on Louis Itura, call him up and order a bandsaw catalog from him. He has a whole lot of interesting information (and cool stuff) for making the best out of a 14" bandsaw, really a wealth of information.