A new Band Saw recommendations

[Lane Hardy]

I am a Hobby wood worker looking for a new Band saw in the 17 inch category,
i first considered the Grizzly GO640 verible speed Metal/wood Saw at $2155.00
I do want to do some metal work but not as much as Wood, I am thinking that two saws maybe a better approach, one for wood working and a metal cutting band saw.
After looking at the various 17 inch wood saws available I am not sure which one I want.
cast iron wheels seam important as well as a Cast iron Trunion vs steel.
resawong is something I will be doing. I do have 240 volts available.
does anyone have any suggestions?
i once owed an older Delta BS that was built in Jackson, Tn that saw was much better than what they sell today.
I am looking for the band saw that I will use and will go to my son.
thanks Folks.

[Jeff Heath]

I own a 16" Walker Turner wood/metal bandsaw with a cast iron base. It has 12" of resaw capacity, and it has a gearbox allowing the user to switch back and forth between slow speeds for metalworking, and fast speeds for woodworking. They are very stoutly built, being all cast iron, and although they typically come with a 3/4 hp motor, you can find bigger motors up to 2 hp that will fit, if needed. I use mine all the time to resaw 10" persimmon, which is a very, very hard wood, and as long as I go slow, my 3/4 hp motor does just fine.

You can find saws like this for 1/4 to 1/2 of what that green bear saw was priced at.

I made a video on some of the work I did to mine here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lvfhtfNYaI

A saw like mine, with new bearings, tires, and tuned up, is probably worth in the neighborhood of $1000, give or take. I'd put the other $1200 into wood, or other tools you might need.

Just my .02

[John TenEyck]

The Grizzly is probably a good compromise if you need to cut both metal and wood. It still only has a 2 HP motor and a max. speed of 3600 fpm so resawing in thick wood is going to be slow compared to a more powerful saw. Yes, you can get by with an even smaller motor, but it's an exercise in patience that I ran out of several years ago. And keep in mind that after you cut metal you have to do a really good job of getting all the metal chips out of the saw and, in particular, out of the tires, before going back to cutting wood. I have a Delta wood/metal BS and avoid cutting metal unless it's the only option left to me. If you have the space two BS's would be a much more convenient solution. You can buy the wood cutting G0513X2 for $1195, essentially the same saw w/o variable speed, and for the $1000 you just saved you should be able to find a used metal cutting BS.

John

[Van Huskey]

I don't like mixing metal and wood cutting saws, simply due to all the metal swarf. What is your total budget to cut both and will a 14" saw suffice for metal cutting? By metal do you mean ferrous or only nonferrous metals?

[Jim Becker]

I don't like mixing metal and wood cutting saws, simply due to all the metal swarf.

Ditto....makes a major mess. Even cleaning up from drilling aluminum on my DP is a thankless chore. I'd keep separate saws for wood and metal, personally.

[Lane Hardy]

Jeff, John, Jim, Van, thank you for your reply,s
after all of your input I am going to stick with dedicated wood and metal saws for the reasons Van and Jim and John Mentioned,
i would be doing very little metal work but it would be ferrous metals. It was just a thought when I first started looking at BS again.

Thank you you for your feedback.

Lane

[Bill Space]

I am not sure what type of metal cutting you plan to do, but I have been very happy with the little 4x6 metal cutting bandsaw that I bought maybe 30 years ago. Does all I need and does it well, actually. It was so cheap then that I hesitate to say what I paid for it. But HF sells something similar at a pretty good price.

You might consider something cheap for metal cutting and be surprised how well it works. But this only applies if you are talking heavy pieces that are less than four by six inches in size. If sheet metal... well in my case I have a Beverly shear that works wonders...not sure what bandsaw is best for that.

Bill

[Lane Hardy]

Thanks Bill, the metal cutting would typically be 1/4 plate steel 1 inch square tubing or smaller. I have found that my Bosch saber saw with a Bosch metal cutting blade works surprisingly well I have made cuts 3 feet long as a total in the 1/4 steel. I just have to take my time.