Jet Band Saw

[Norm Koerner]

I have the opportunity to buy a 17-18-19" Jet bandsaw that has supposedly light use. Sorry I don't remember the exact size. Supposedly it costs about $1200-1300 new and they want $800 and will deliver.

Any comments on the quality of that machine for a home shop with resawing in mind would be appreciated. If I were to buy new, how does Jet compare to Grizzly or others? Thanks in advance.

[Mike Cruz]

Well, to answer you question, the size matters a lot. At 17", I would say the price isn't anything to write home about. For a 19", you might want to seriously consider it. I had the opportunity to grab an 18" Jet for $500 about 6 months back. The table had rust, the blade on it had a serious kink, and the guy that was selling it was going to plug it in to show me that it ran...with a 100' 14 gauge extension cord! I didn't buy it because $500 was the TOP of my budget for a BS and I couldn't risk having to spend another $200-300 to get the saw back up in well running order. Had it been in better showing shape, I would have snagged it.

I don't know if that helps, but it is my two cents. If it didn't directly help, think of it as a "bump".

[Tom Veatch]

I don't believe Jet has a 17 or 19 inch saw in their product line, so it's probably the 18 inch. There are two versions of the 18" saw, the no-frills version has current street prices, new, in the 1150 to 1550 range. The other is in the 1400 to 2000 range. $800 (~60% of average street) is within my comfort zone for a machine in good or better condition.

I can't give you a personal experience comparison with other brands, but I have a Jet 16" and have never regretted the purchase.

If it's the 16" saw, street prices run around 1100 new. $800 used isn't something to get too excited about.

[Mike Cruz]

Tom, you are obviously more "wise in the ways of Jet tools than I". Thanks for the input.

My rule of thumb is that if I am going to buy used, then my goal is about 33% of new. I will pay up to 50% of new, but my goal is about a 1/3. If the BS is in near new condition, then 50% is not out of the question. That would put the buying price at anywhere from about $550 to $800 depending on the age, bells and whistles, and condition.

Something else to consider... a BS like this one is really set up to be a resaw BS. Unless it is already or you plan to add things to alter that, like roller guiedes, for example. The stock guides are steel and quite large (from what I have seen on a couple), to accomodate large blades (1"+). I'm not saying you can't use this BS for anything else, but at that size, you may want to consider dedicating it to resawing and get a 14" or 16" for curve/pattern cutting...if you don't already have one.

This advice is certainly not what you HAVE to do or whatever. Just my view to try to help. Obviously, if budget or space does not allow two saws one saw will work fine...you just may find yourself changing blades and guides a lot. And if BS's don't come around much on CL where you live maybe you should JUMP on this saw (figuratively, not literally )

Hope that helps.

[Perry Holbrook]

I've had an 18" Jet BS for several years, it's a critical piece in my production shop and has served me well for what it is. I don't do a lot of resawing but what I do is satisfactory. Having said that I plan to replace the saw with a larger production saw sometime this year, something with more power and faster blade speed for my production needs.

My saw is in good shape and has several blades, carbide, bi-metal and carbon steel. In my opinion, $800 would be to much to ask for my saw, if that helps any.

Perry

[Mike Cruz]

I meant to say this earlier, but forgot to. Not all 18" band saws run in the same herd. The Jet you are describing, if fairly new is nothing like the 20 year old 18" Grizzzly that I just got off CL for $100. (Gloat to be posted later when some parts come in and I put it back together after ripping it apart to clean and inspect it.) That said, the one I just bought is nowhere near what a new Grizzly 18" would be like (actually, I don't think they have 18's anymore, just 17's and 19's.) Mine has a 17 1/2 in wide capacity, and a 10" resaw capacity. The new Grizzly's have a 12" resaw capacity and much better frame.

So, there are a lot of factors in comparing BS's, not just Jet vs Grizzly, but age and condition, too.