18" jet bandsaw

[Craig D Peltier]

Someones selling there 1.5 hp model #jwbs-18 Jet Bandsaw for 800. Theres no more info than that. I currently have a 14 inch grizzly with 6 inch riser. I want a better saw that has nicer adjustements (for instance upgrading from a 14 to 17 grizzly the adjustements tools are nicer)/

Is 800 a little high? I think it maybe by a hundred or so. Any negatives or positives on this saw?

[Barry Reade]

Reports give the frame as weak. It just didn't stack up as the saw for me. I ordered a Grizzly G0514X2 and it will be delivered tomorrow. I looked hard at the JET. Read the reviews on Amazon and the other wood working forums.

[Mike Shields]

Someones selling there 1.5 hp model #jwbs-18 Jet Bandsaw for 800. Theres no more info than that. I currently have a 14 inch grizzly with 6 inch riser. I want a better saw that has nicer adjustements (for instance upgrading from a 14 to 17 grizzly the adjustements tools are nicer)/

Is 800 a little high? I think it maybe by a hundred or so. Any negatives or positives on this saw?

The saw MSRP'd for 1200 back in 2004.

I'm sure you've heard the saying "you get what you pay for"...

I'm going to post mine for sale as soon as I get the fence back on. My asking price will be around 800 obo.

I don't have alot of experience with bandsaws, but I do know that saw does not make me drool; vibration, tensioning, dust collection, small table, poor fence and miter.

Guess I just talked you out of buying mine!

Mike in Denver

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Craig,

I looked at the same saw 2 years agp. I saw it for around $1000 new but then I was in San Antonio at the time. Prices do seem to differ based on locality.

[Jim Hill]

Craig,

The saw you're looking at is an older model, and has received a fair amount of criticism. The newer Jet 18's have a little bit larger motor, easier to adjust guides, and I've heard the frame is stiffer. 800 for a new model in good shape might be in line, but I think it's too much for the older model. Personally, if I wanted the saw, I would think 5-600 would be about all I would give for it. Good luck.

Jim

[John Shuk]

Seems a little high for a saw that I've never really heard anyone rave over.

[Ron Knapp]

I believe I have the model Jet that you are looking at. The lower guides are a bit of a pain to adjust but once I worked with it for a while and found some different wrenches it’s ok. The included blade is a real throwaway and I switched to a Woodslicer which was a great improvement and recently to Lenox which are even better. At the time I purchased the band saw I needed something that didn’t need 220 to run. I have not had any problems with the power on this unit but of course more HP is always better. If you are doing a lot of resawing or are in a production environment you would be better off with a more expensive machine running on 220.

I don’t do a lot of resawing so speed is not that important to me and the saw does resaw fairly well though not quickly. It does have a large table which I was looking for and the blade guard is on a rack and pinion which make adjustment nicer then the Delta 14” I have used in the past. I was able to resaw fairly well even on that class of machine as long as you’re not in a rush

At the time I purchased this machine there were very few 18” band saws in this price range but today there are more choices and if I were purchasing today I would look at them all. I have used some newer models and the Rikon is a pretty nice machine. The newer Jets are an improvement and I suppose Steel City must have a comparable model. My recent experience with Delta would drop anything they have from my consideration. I’m not a Grizzly fan so I’m not your best source on that brand but others can probably give you some good advice there.

I think any woodworking machine needs to be tuned up to work properly and after tuning the Jet I’m happy with it. It’s far from the greatest band saw available but for the price I have been very pleased with it.

I paid $999 for mine (Jet Sale) new so I would agree the price you are seeing for a used machine seems high to me and I would probably look elsewhere.

[Nathan Conner]

I got mine from an aluminum-welding company that had tried to cut aluminum blocks with it (with the original blade, now missing most of its teeth) for around $550 a year ago from an ad on Craigslist.

For the price, it's been a fantastic saw, and I think the upgrade from the Craftsman/Jet 14" cost me only about $150, so it was well worth it.

I had to rewire it for 220, chuck the old blade, purchase a set of Timberwolf blades (great luck with them so far) and spend a few hours with brush/blower/spirits to get the junk off of it, but, seeing as I came from a not-so-nice 14", it was a HUGE upgrade for me.

As long as you set it up correctly (and it takes some fiddling), it's done everything I've asked of it. I've resawn 11"+ pieces of Walnut without a hitch. I still need to plane/sand afterwards - some people claim to not have to on some of the newer/fancier saws, but it does what I expect it to. It's stable, quiet, no vibrations. It's missing a guide window, a foot break, and really stunning dust collection, but it's completely functional and has plenty of capacity.

Looks like you probably passed on it, but it sounds like it was worth it.

Good luck with whatever you got.