Bandsaw Recommendations 16 inch or bigger

[Frank Necaise]

Looking to get a bigger bandsaw than my old Delta. Looking for something 16 or bigger. Please let me know your thoughts and suggestions, including new versus new. I am leaning towards a MiniMax or Laguna..

[John TenEyck]

What is it you want to do with it? That would help better guide the responses you get.

John

[Ben Rivel]

Love my Hammer N4400 for an all-arounder saw, but yea any recommendation really depends on what your specific needs are.

[Frank Necaise]

Looking for an all a rounder. Ripping and general rough board breakdown, some resaw. Can use the old Delta for more curved work.

[David Powell]

Frank, I know your preference is a MiniMax or Laguna, but I added Grizzly's 17" saw (G0513X2BF) to my shop for resawing and kept my 14" Delta for curves. Worth taking a look at.

[John TenEyck]

Or go for Grizzly's Euro fighter and get the G0636X. Do a search on here for some reviews and comparative info. I've had one for a little over 2 years. For resawing and breaking down heavy stock it is a monster. I have a 14" Delta, too, for smaller and curved tasks.

John

[Dave Cav]

I had a Grizzly G0513X2 for a number of years. It was (and is) a fine saw; my neighbor has it now and mostly uses it to break down bowl blanks. I got a MM20 a couple of years ago and couldn't be happier. I keep a Woodmaster CT 1" blade in it and use it for resaw and rip work mostly although it does get used for the odd crosscut job. I also have an old heavy duty Grizzly 14" (steel frame) saw for scroll work.

[Art Tripp]

I have the Laguna 18BX Bandsaw and like it really well.

The saw ships horizontally and came well packaged, encased in sturdy Styrofoam and surrounded by cardboard. I think there was wood palleting beneath but we left it off at the dealer when we slid it into the back of my pickup. My dealer had the saw in stock which saved the standard $75 dollar delivery fee, and made unloading quite efficient as I was able to back my pick-up into the shop and to the spot I was going to place the saw. My son and I unloaded the (heavy) saw by sliding it to the back of the tailgate and pivoting it to the floor where we stood the saw upright with our wives assisting in the removal of packaging. Assembly went well with all parts included.

The overall power, cutting capacity and machine quality has been great and it has handled everything I have needed it to do, resaw, general sawing and curves. My blade selection is the Carbide-tip 1" Laguna Resaw King, and Bi-metal Lenox Diemaster 2 blades, 1/2" 4tpi & 1/4" 6tpi - though I am looking to add another blade (1/2 - 3/4 range) that is less expensive for use in sawing questionable reclaimed boards which may contain hidden nails (though I will be checking each both visually and with a metal detector prior to cutting). The saw is easily able to tension each blade with room to spare on the RK (the saw is rated up to a 1-1/4" blade but I prefer not to work at the max of my machines and the 1" does great and all I need). The table is spacious, provides a stable surface to work on and is easy to adjust for tilt operation. The fence works well and the flip down is convenient for repeat cuts of the same length. Dust collection does a good job and I like both ports being located on the same side of the machine which keeps the hose out of the way during operations in which I begin on the infeed side of the saw and end up on the outfeed side to end the cut. My dust collection consists of a 2hp Grizzly w/ canister filter connected to the saw via a 4" PVC pipe and a wye that connects to both dust ports, which keeps the saw internals clean. I truly appreciate the foot pedal shut-off / brake and it is a feature that is a huge plus for safety and efficiency, providing the ability to both shut down the saw power and to bring the blade to a more swift stop. The blade can continue to run for a very long time after shutting off which has the potential to be a hazard should you try to remove an item nearby, make adjustments for the next operation, or even should you step away momentarily to place the cut piece somewhere and return for another evolution without realizing the blade is silently still turning, and by using the brake to bring the blade to a stop you eliminate the wait. While I haven't worked with a machine that has the standard bearings for the blade guides, one of the reasons I chose the Laguna was for the ceramic guides and I have been more than pleased with their performance and definitely recommend them.

In my bandsaw decision, I did much online research and to see various options in person I gave a thorough look at 14" through 18" saws, Rikon, Jet, Laguna and King, traveling to multiple dealers in various directions (approximately one hour each way on each trip). Viewing and getting your hands on as many saws as possible is time very well spent and my final saw choice varied greatly from the initial saw I was considering, and while it was beyond what I originally intended to spend, in the end it was money well spent and I have been more than satisfied with what is now sitting in my shop and giving great service. As a side-note, I didn't really know much about Grizzly - the bandsaw was my first large 'professional' purchase, so I was relatively inexperienced at the time of my search - but have since added a Grizzly G0490 Jointer and a Grizzly G0548Z Dust Collector to my shop and have found Grizzly to present a good and at times somewhat more affordable option.

Keeping your Delta, as it looks like you are planning to do, can be convenient by allowing you to keep a smaller blade on the the Delta and an alternative blade on the new saw, limiting the blade changes you would need to make if going back and forth between various cutting evolution's.


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[Rod Sheridan]

For new, you might consider the Felder FB510.

https://www.felder-group.com/us-us/p...aw-fb-510.html

Regards, Rod.

[Brian Holcombe]

MM20 is a very good saw.

[Jim Andrew]

I have an 04 Minimax 16, with the shorter resaw. I wanted a better saw than the 14" versions, and bought the MM 16 because of reviews here on SMC. It has been very good, although I don't use it for a sawmill, I did cut a couple 8' logs when I first got it, but the weight of green wood kept me from abusing the saw for long. I bought a bandmill and use that to cut my lumber. I like the euro guides, and it is very easy to adjust and smooth running.

[Tom M King]

I would buy that 27" Centauro on your local CL.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

My $0.02 for what it's worth: I just bought the Rikon 14" professional model with the 3hp motor. While looking at it, I looked at Laguna and Rikon saws from 14 to 18". Rikon really has a great value for the price. I looked long and hard at their 18" saw, but it was already a stretch to fit a 14" in my small shop. I really feel Rikon has a great product. I love the thought they put into their saws, such as the toolless guide wheels.

I'm not going to bash Laguna here, but based on a friend's experience, I was admittedly biased against them. I will say this- the blade brake on their 220v 14" saw was like a motorcycle disc brake. That was impressive. They had ceramic guide blocks which looked very well made. What was very confusing to me was they had an outlet on the column so you could plug in your own work light, but the outlet was 220v. Who even makes a 220v work light? Why not step that down to 110???

I have access to a Jet 18" band saw locally. I do not like it. It has some plastic parts that have broken shortly after being put into use. I'm not going to completely bash Jet over this one saw, but unfortunately that was my experience with it.

I have heard nothing but good about Mini Max. I didn't have Mini Max money, and I also needed to be able to buy the saw in stock on my trip to the states, so they were not an option for me.

For sure if I were you and I had room, I would keep that Delta for small work. I have a Ridgid, and as much as I hate it, I'm probably going to keep it with a tiny blade on it for scroll work, since small stuff is all it's good for. I've spent a lot of $$ on upgrades to it, so I'm keeping it. It sure is nice to not have to change blades as much.

[Will Boulware]

Another $.02 - go find an old 20" Delta 28-350. I've got it's ugly sibling, the Rockwell 28-3X0 - same saw, just has square wheel covers. These things run incredibly well and are very easy to work on, and they're not hard to move. Mine will resaw somewhere in the 13 inch range, though peeling off slices of veneer from an 11 inch board is as far as I've taken it so far.

I run mine with a 1/2" resaw blade most of the time and get great results, but it's strong enough to tension a much larger carbide blade if that's your thing.

[Edwin Santos]

MM20 is a very good saw.

I have the MM20 (now known as the S500p). I can only say good things about it.
Whether it is the right saw for the OP is harder to say. It might be too much saw for some and not enough for others but either way the build quality is very good. If you are debating between two different sizes, go with the bigger choice.
Edwin