Bandsaw Guide Post Flex Test

[Andrew Joiner]

I've been looking for a bandsaw. Done lot's of reading up on resawing,and the pro's and con's of various saws.


I was inspired by what Christopher Schwarz says about the new 18" Powermatic in his review here:
http://blogs.popularwoodworking.com/editorsblog/default,date,2008-08-26.aspx:
"The saw has an 18" resaw capacity under its bearing-style guides, which all adjust independently (nice touch). As evidence of the stoutness of the saw, Barry dropped the blade guide all the way down to the table. Then he invited us to try to move the guides. No dice. The guides are rock solid."


I finally got to see some saws in person, but not the new 18" Powermatic. I tested 4 saws in the store. The two 18" steel frame saws had a lot of flex in them when I pushed on the guide posts. One was a Jet and the other was a Steel City.

The 14" cast iron frame saw in the store was stiff and solid. I would expect a bit more flex with a riser installed, but I would bet not as much as the 18" steel frames.

This has me wondering how this flex effects resawing. It can't help!

The 18" saws say they can tension a 1" blade, but the 14" is best at tensioning a 1/2" blade.

So what's better a 1" blade with a flexing guide post or a 1/2" blade with a stiff guide post?

What saw do you have and how much flex do you have in your guide post? Was this a big factor in your saw choice?

[Jason Beam]

That has never been a consideration of mine. Both my saws resaw just fine and i can't tell you if there is any flex in that particular area mostly because I can't see how it could possibly matter. Especially in resawing. A well-tuned saw used properly should never push so hard on the guides that they move very far in the first place. Your tension and your technique are the critical things in a bandsaw cut.

I'd be more concerned about the guide post not moving parallel when raised/lowered which would require you to readjust your guides for each given thickness. This isn't neccesarily about performance, though. It's just a pain to have to keep adjusting the guides everytime you want to change thicknesses.

[Sonny Edmonds]

I have to wonder about the log deck you are going to need to build to handle the timber to feed it. :rolleyes:
I've re-sawn a redwood bridge timber I was given into boards, and I had to begin by cutting it down so I could man-handle it in halves (length-wise).
So is bigger really all that much better?

[William Falberg]

A strip of steel .032" thick isn't going to exert much force on anything, so the question is moot. Bigger is bigger. Better is better.