I sure appreciate your input. I've been reading these forums for about 2 weeks trying to get all the wisdom I can get. We're refinancing and I'll be spending about 7k on tools. One of my biggest purchases will be a bandsaw. One bandsaw that was continually mentioned was a mm16. They were SO expensive I couldn't even begin to think about owning one. Then i see this saw and I ot real excited. If it wasn't for your wisdom I may have thought $1200 was a good price and jumped at it. Now I see that $600-$800 Is a better price for that saw. Thank you all SO much☺
Hi neighbor
I live east of redding and have the same saw, I like it a lot and it has been well used. I have never had to get parts from mini-max so I don't know about that .
I got my saw 25 years ago and what I have replaced is mostly bearings and the drive belt. I did have one bearing go and wear out the bore in the wheel but that was an easy fix for a machine shop.
I think it was around $1000 new so $600 to $800 is fair.
From my experience tools like this in the area tend to sit on craigslist for a while unless they are a great deal. I would offer him what you think is fair and he might just get back to you after a while.
Good luck
Tom
That's good to know Thomas, I've got the owners phone number. The saw is still for sale on Craigslist. Maybe it will still be there in a month. Are you in Palo Cedro, shingletown, Burney. Its good to know there is another Creeker nearby☺
I have a green s45 and it has a 1.8 HP single phase motor. Bought it (jumped on it actually) locally when it showed up on CL about 8 miles away for $525, gave him $500. It was/is in great condition. Had it about a year now and love it. Bought a couple of new old Lenox diemaster II blades (144 inches) for dirt cheap off ebay. Although its called an 18" bandsaw, it actually measures 17". It has a resaw capability of approx. 10", not really great if your into that. Randy
I have this bandsaw and like it a lot. I like the table size and height. It seems like a nice basic bandsaw which runs very smooth. But I am no expert. I am responding to a couple of comments which seem wrong to me. My version is 20 plus years old. Check my thread if you want to know more.
The wheels are flat not crowned and the teeth do hang over. They are bigger than 17 inches by a lot much closer to 18 inches.
The guides are the European and easy to adjust.
The motor in mine is 220v 1.8 hp. The European measurements are strange to me. There were models which had a Baldor 1.5 hp motor.
This is what I know.
Okay guys I just saw this bandsaw. I bought his jet 1.5 hp 1100 cfm dust collector for $300. It has the filter on top. I saw this collector on Amazon for $720 so I jumped on it. I think I have fallen in love with the saw. It looks to be high quality. The guides looked to be a great design but I haven't seen them before. You guys asked me about the motor on the saw. I took a picture of the name plate on the upgraded motor. They replaced the 1.5 hp motor with a 3.6 CEG MOTOR. The motor appears to be a high quality motor that was made in Italy. Please shoot me a little more advice. Doni need to sell a kidney to get thus saw. Thanks Brian
CEG is a good motor, SCM uses them extensively. I'm still a bit skeptical that they were able to source and install a 3.6 hp single phase motor on that saw though. I installed a 1.8kw / 2.4 hp on mine and it was a headache w/much drilling, machining a new pulley, etc.
Would still offer $800.
Last edited by Peter Kelly; 02-21-2018 at 10:54 PM.
I paid $600 for my S45 a couple of years ago with no fence and the smaller motor. Bandsaw prices have gone up a lot in the last couple of years. I bet he won't let it go for $800. I would not sell mine for $800. It is too good of a saw.
Hi Peter, I didn't hear the saw run. It looked good. The motor looked like it belonged on the saw. This is what I was told about the saw from the owner. The guy trying to sell the saw works at a huge saw Mill in Anderson Ca. It's called Siskiyou Forrest products. His boss and owner of the mill is a wood worker. The mill apparently resaws all day everyday with huge monster machines. The boss gave him the Jet Dust collector and the min max s45 bandsaw to do what ever he wanted to with it. The owner is apparently filthy rich and he just went out and bought a newer version of the saw. When I first got there I asked him what motor was on the saw. Expecting it to be some made in China motor. He said his boss is extremely wealthy and only buys and uses the best. I couldn't see the motor plate well so I took a picture. That's when I could see it was a CEG motor that was made in Italy. It said 3.6 hp and I think it said 16.8 amps. It looked like it fit perfectly. I opened the upper door and felt the tire. It felt good. I did notice the blade was really far forward on the tire like another poster said. I sure loved the saw when I was looking at it. With that Italian motor on it I felt like hmm maybe I can own this little Ferrari 😎. As I think about it more something that my friend at the cabinet shop told me I'd ringing in my ears. He told me you don't want to buy a saw from a busy shop of some sort. He said they will be really wore out. He said buy a saw that was used in a garage by s hobbyist. The bandsaw must have been used enough to kill the first high quality motor it had on it. The owner probably used the heck out of the first motor. He then bought great 3.6 motor, he probably used the heck out of it. Then he just went out and bought a brand new version of the saw. Another poster mentioned their well used s45 was a great saw but they did need to have parts fixed or made at a machine shop because they couldn't just go out and buy them. Maybe I should just stick with my plan of refinancing the house and getting a Grizzly 0514 or a Rikon 14" 10-353🙂
Last edited by Brian Byers; 02-22-2018 at 3:25 AM.
I really depends on what you're looking for, and how common used bandsaws are in your area. Where I live I have never seen a Minimax bandsaw for sale, and I've seen two Lagunas for sale in the past 15 years. There were two two old Jet JWBS-18 bandsaws on Craigslist for $1100 recently, and they both sold in less than a week. The seller of the S45 you're looking at has dropped the price to $1000. If you want it, go offer him $800 or $900 and see what happens. I've never seen one of them in person, but it's my understanding it's a step up from a Grizzly or Rikon. The 16" Walker-Turner for sale where you are is also a good saw at a reasonable price if it's in good working condition. You might have to replace the bearings and/or tires on it.
I owned a Rikon 10-325 14" I think that was the model number. It was the Rikon 14 inch with the cabinet which I sold to buy the Minimax S45 bandsaw. I would never switch back from the S45 to the Rikon. Buy the S45. I think it is a lot better in every way. It has better guides. It has a bigger better table. The fence is better. It is a nice small foot print for a large saw. And it runs so smooth.
We are refinancing our house now, it's taking longer then I thought. If I got through the refinance 2 weeks ago like I thought I would I'd be on it. In our current budget situation it was hard for me to be able to get the $300 to buy his jet Dust collector
Okay guys, sorry to hit you up again. My mom found out I was looking at this Itialion bandsaw and is sending me $1000 but I'm not as wise as you guys are. If you were looking at the saw you'd probably be able to see or hear a problem. I may not. I was blessed to be able to ask Louis Iturra from Iturra designs about the saw. He's one incredibly nice guy who knows bandsaws EXTREMELY well. He agrees with you all. Good saw but he said he'd offer $600. He helped me figure out which bandsaw is right for me if I don't get it. I'll get the Grizzly 0514X2 for about $1900 shipped. I'd have to wait about 6 weeks to get it. Mr Iturra said new grizzly bandsaws were pretty good these days. He did say the motors are poopy and he feels I'd have to get a motor in a few years. He said at that time I could get a higher quality motor and then I'd have a great saw. I wish I could have you all on video chat as I look at the saw again. These are my current concerns.
Peter has replaced a motor on his s45. He said it was a pain in the butt . He was curious as to how this owner pulled off getting a 3.6 CEG single phase motor on that saw. This owner had to probably be creative to get this saw going. He is a wealthy man who owns a sawmill so he probably had access to the best parts a machinists around. If he did do something Mickey Mouse I wouldn't catch it.
Another concern I have is that this saw used up a high quality 1.5 motor. Then installed this, I'm sure he put a lot of miles on this saw before he decided to sell it and get a new minmax. After that many miles could this saw have a lot of hidden parts that are worn out. Somebody else a few days ago mentioned they had to take parts of his s45 to a machine shop.
I don't like the small miter slot. Don't like having only 10" of resaw. I also read the tires are different on this saw. I was told they were flat not crowned. The blade is really far forward. How would I replace tires if I had to. I probably couldn't buy Carter urethane tires.
I can only think of one more question at the moment. If the 3.6 motor dies how much would a new one cost. If this saw was modified to take this motor I'd probably have to buy another CEG 3.6 motor. I couldn't find out what that would cost.
Thomas S Stockton you live fairly close to me. How much would you charge to go with me if I decided to go take a final look at the saw.
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