So I get the email reminding me about Grizzly's 10% off code and I only have 5 days left. I'm cooling off in the house after doing some yard work and go to their website to dream about a new band saw. I am thinking real hard about a 513 or 514 primarily for resaw work and am trying to figure out finances and see if I can afford/justify the cost.
For some reason I thought I would check craigslist. Now normally all c-list has is 14" rigid/delta saws that people think are worth more than a new one or 10" craftsman bench models. It's either that or it's a Moak 36" behemoth that would require a semi to move and has a motor that would guarantee a Prius pole position on a super-speedway (as long as you had a 3 phase extension cord long enough )
Anyway, I am looking through the listings and seeing a lot of exactly the kind of things that are normally in there and am about to close it in disgust when I see one that just says "band saw - $1000" I figure somebody is either really proud of their 14" or it's gonna be a rusted out commercial beast needing 3 phase. So I click the link and wholly moly there is a Minimax 16 and it is actually upright and not in pieces. I look at the date posted and it's almost 2 weeks old. My heart sank and I figure it is long gone and the post just hasn't been removed but I send the seller an email anyway. Surprisingly enough it's still available so I tell the guy I will be out to look at it that evening.
The ad said 13" resaw so I started doing some research and found out that yes the older ones did have 13 inch resaw and went to 16" around 2006. I have a riser on my Jet 14" bandsaw and can say from experience I rarely resaw more than 10 inches so I'm not really worried. I also read there was an E16 bandsaw they put out that was priced to compete with the other Asian imported saws and I figured this was probably what the guy had but I would go look anyway, "just in case".
Well, I get there and meet up with John, a super nice guy and woodworker who is having to downsize since he and his wife are moving and he is not going to have any shop room where they are moving too. He shows me the saw and it's NOT an E16 it's the MM16 and is in great shape. He starts it up, saw runs smooth, no bad noises, no vibration, just a beautiful piece of Italian machinery with some oak and walnut sawdust on it.
I ask him what he'll take for it an he says He is asking $1000. I have a feeling he would go down a fair bit but this saw is worth every bit of that. It's craigslist though so I ask him if he will take 9 and he kinda blinks at me and says SURE! Heck for that price I'll toss in some stuff. So money exchanged hands, we loaded up the saw, and he adds 2 roller stands 3 more blades, (it has a lenox tri-master carbide toothed blade on it) a circle cutting jig he made for it and he even grabs the 10ft heavy duty extension cord and the dust collection hose and adds that as well, oh and a milk crate full of fine woodworking and shopnotes magazines .
When it was all said and done I think we both felt like we got a good deal. And since the rules are no pics - didn't happen, here are some pics. Please pardon the darkness of the pics and the background. I am building a new shop and don't have the power hooked up yet. Oh and by the way, the model tag lists it as a 2005 year model which was a transition year from 13 to 16 resaw and it actually has 14.5 inches of resaw, which is plenty for me.
Bandsaw (1 of 6).jpgBandsaw (2 of 6).jpgBandsaw (4 of 6).jpgBandsaw (3 of 6).jpgBandsaw (5 of 6).jpgBandsaw (6 of 6).jpg
Reply With Quote
Please help support the Creek.
. Why not meee.
