Reliant Bandsaws

[John Powers]

From time to time I see a Reliant Bandsaw on sale on craigslist. today 16" reliant for 279 near Philly. What's the word on these quality wise.

thanks

[Kent Fitzgerald]

Reliant was the house brand of the Trendlines and Post Tool retail chains. They went out of business about 5 years ago, so you're out of luck for service or parts unless you can find equivalent pieces from another brand.

Reliant was marketed as an "economy" alternative to Delta, Jet , etc. Quality was, well, about what you would expect for the price. As one example, the Reliant 14" bandsaw is identical (except for paint color) to the Harbor Freight 32206. The HF is frequently on sale for around $250, so an old Reliant machine would have to be quite cheap to be a good deal.

I don't know much about the 16" bandsaw, except I vaguely think I maybe remember that Grizzly might have had a similar machine. 16" is an unusual size, so finding blades, tires, etc., could be a hassle.

[Lane Mabbett]

They're very similiar to Grizzly. I've resurrected from the dead a 14" Reliant band saw by ordering replacement parts from Grizzly so they're almost identical - the exploded details from both the Reliant and Grizzly are amazingly similiar. Having said that, the saw was only 12 years old or so and seemed to have died an early death in an otherwise easy life.

[Ralph Lindberg]

I had one
The parts are probably 100% compatible with Harbor Freight and Grizzly (older models). I did use a Grizzly raiser on mine, it took some work to modify the raiser, but it worked.
I was not happy with the quality. So I sold it on eBay for $152, which I thought was a little low, the last two I watched on eBay sold for $175 & $200. So, you can tell I think that the asking price for the one you are looking at is high

[CPeter James]

I looked at these when I bought my Delta and I would not pay over $100 for one as there are used Deltas and Jets out there for not a whole lot more.

CPeter