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Thread: Best small (secondary) Bandsaw?

  1. #16
    30" tannewitz is a good secondary small saw.

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Silicon Valley, CA
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    989
    I went with the 10" Inca.

    I do use it quite a bit, although the throat depth does get in the way sometimes.
    A 14" saw (or the inca 710) would be nicer in that respect,
    but I wanted something more compact than my old 14" saw.

    You can still get some parts from incamachines.com, but pretty expensive.

    The new 10" rikons seem to be the best new machines available in this size class.
    Grizzly G0555 has been a long-standing value recommendation for 14" saws.
    Otherwise I'd be looking for something vintage to scratch that itch.

    Matt

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    Marina del Rey, Ca
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    1,934
    My paired bandsaws are an Agazzani 20" and a MiniMax 16". Have owned several 14" Delta's.
    "Anything seems possible when you don't know what you're doing."

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Western Nebraska
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    4,680
    Quote Originally Posted by Darcy Warner View Post
    30" tannewitz is a good secondary small saw.
    Can't disagree with that one!

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Western Nebraska
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    4,680
    I was working on a porch swing yesterday, cutting some curves on the 14" Delta while thinking about the 36" Oliver in the other room. That little Delta sure handles the second saw role well in my shop. We've had a discussion like this in the past on Sawmill, it was years ago and I remember it spawned several offshoot threads about modifications on the Delta, specifically tension springs. I had theorized that detensioning the blade was a ridiculous waste of time and I vowed to test mine by never detensioning it again. My Oliver gets babied (unnecessarily), and it is a great saw. My Delta hasn't even been untensioned or had any maintenance besides a few blades for 6 or 7 years (if my memory is correct), and it is a great little saw.

    My meandering point is, just go get your 14" Delta back, it's a big saws perfect sidekick.

  6. #21
    You guys using 14" Delta's:

    Do you ever find you need more throat?
    That's obviously the reason I am "sorta' kinda' " considering that 20" throat Inca.

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    8,973
    I can't think of anything I ever did with the 14" saw where I wished it had a larger throat. Round things, like table tops are centered outside of the blade.

    I was given my 14" Delta decades ago. I upgraded the motor to a 1-1/2hp Baldor, riser, new bearings, tires a couple of times, guides, fence, spring, tensioning handle, and I can't remember what else. I don't know how much money I ended up putting into it, but it's still a flexible cast iron framed saw. When they first came out with the 10-326, and were selling it for 899 with free shipping, I remember wishing they had presented that before I'd put all the money, and effort into the Delta.

    It does what I need a 14" saw to do, but for the difference in money I put into the Delta, I would have gladly paid the little extra for that Rikon. If I had to buy the Delta, I expect I would have more total in the old one, and it still doesn't have as nice anything as the newer steel framed one.

  8. I have a 9" ryobi as a second bandsaw and it's a piece of junk to say the least.

    Let me guess... changing blades is starting to suck?

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Silicon Valley, CA
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    989
    Quote Originally Posted by Allan Speers View Post
    You guys using 14" Delta's:

    Do you ever find you need more throat?
    That's obviously the reason I am "sorta' kinda' " considering that 20" throat Inca.
    I suppose a scroll saw is another alternative if your primary goals in an alternate are curved cuts and throat depth.

    Matt

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Kapolei Hawaii
    Posts
    3,236
    Owning both a Delta 14" and a Rikon 10", I would say either is a worthy investment as a secondary. I paid 100 bucks for my used Rikon and got the Delta free. (stealth gloat). My $0.02 on a riser for the Delta, don't do it, the 3/4 hp or so motors can barely pull full height in hardwoods. Stock, its a fine "small" bandsaw. Size is relative. The Rikon is no slouch, IF you have a big bandsaw. I use that the most.

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
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    12,298

    Riser block on Delta 14"

    Quote Originally Posted by Kyle Iwamoto View Post
    ... My $0.02 on a riser for the Delta, don't do it, the 3/4 hp or so motors can barely pull full height in hardwoods.
    If I may comment on that, my 2-cents USD: The usefulness of a riser block may depend on what you cut, how you cut, the blade, and perhaps even how the saw is "tuned". I put a riser kit on my 14" Delta and have put truckloads of green wood and a lot of dry wood through it, a lot of it to the 12" capacity of the riser. Once I had the saw tuned and tensioned properly it worked flawlessly. I used it for everything from green log sections to dry dimensional lumber - a friend once brought a 12' 2x12 which we resawed into 4 thin boards. I've sawn everything from thick pine to white oak to ebony and other exotics, most of it to prepare woodturning blanks. All of my sawing was with 1/2" 3-tpi blades after I had experimented with lots of combinations.

    Note that with the small motor I did have to push wood through the saw slowly (but not so slowly that the teeth were rubbing the wood instead of cutting) - the best speed is a fine line, especially with the an underpowered saw. Also the blade has to be sharp - I usually sharpened the blade at least two or three times before replacing it.

    To tune the saw I made the wheels coplanar (when tensioned) with shims, replaced the stock tension spring and bracket with stronger versions from Iturra Design, and bought a tension gauge so I wouldn't be guessing at the tension. I found that 1/2" blades were all the saw could handle and it did well with them. Without proper blade and tension the saw was nearly useless with thick wood but it did OK with thinner stuff.

    These days my primary saw is a more powerful 18" Rikon and I keep the Delta for small stuff. I still prefer a 1/2" 3-tpi blade on the bigger saw. (for the kind of sawing I do)

    JKJ

  12. #27
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Alberta
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    2,162
    Curious, John what tension did you run the 1/2 blades on your Delta with riser ? Also after you added Iturra spring and bracket how much did that increase the saws ability to tension that 1/2 blade ?To the O.P. ,sorry not trying to hijack this thread.

  13. #28
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Exeter, CA
    Posts
    691
    Yes, did the same dumb move. Bought an 18" MiniMax, sold my totaly rebuilt 14" Delta. Regreted it, so I bought an old Delta 10" BS and just finished replacing all the bearings. Like both saws.... Randy

  14. #29
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    Piercefield, NY
    Posts
    1,660
    I have a Jet 18" with a 1/2" 3 TPI blade and last year I got a Rikon 10-305 that I use with a 1/4" blade for curvy cuts. It works great, it's not as powerful as the bigger saw but I can cut through 2-4" thick hardwoods and get a clean shape, it's just a little slow on the thick stuff. I didn't have room to have a 14" saw in the shop too, the 10" sits on top of a cabinet so it doesn't take any floor space and I can move it around easily.
    Zach

  15. #30
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    E TN, near Knoxville
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    Tensioning the Delta

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Kees View Post
    Curious, John what tension did you run the 1/2 blades on your Delta with riser ? Also after you added Iturra spring and bracket how much did that increase the saws ability to tension that 1/2 blade ?To the O.P. ,sorry not trying to hijack this thread.
    Before upgrading the saw, I simply couldn't tension the blade properly on the Delta. According to Delta the saw will handle a 3/4" blade which must be marketing hype. Trying to tension a 3/4" blade to where it would cut correctly bent the tension bracket on the saw so it maxed out before it could even reach the tension I wanted on even the 1/2" blade.

    Before getting the tension gauge I tried tensioning various blades with the flutter and the deflection methods. I still got horrible cuts in thick wood (say 8-12"), notably bowing, sometimes severe. (no problems cutting thin stock 2" or under.) After tensioning with the gauge the bowing stopped completely as did the increased friction that the bowing caused which made it difficult to cut at all. Sawing with the Delta was MUCH improved.

    After replacing the tension bracket on the Delta with a stronger one from Iturra plus their stronger spring I could finally tension the way I wanted. I think I used around 15-18000 psi with the Lenox 1/2" flex blade on the Delta. Tensioning to over 20000 on the Delta required so much force on the adjustment knob I "felt" the saw would be stressed if I continued. I found that with the gauge setting the tension to those values made the built-in indicator go nearly the maximum on the scale. (On my 18" Rikon setting the tension on the 1/2" blade where I want it puts the indicator near the Rikon 1" mark.)

    Contrary to what the tension gauge instructions say (set to tension recommended by the blade manufacturer) I had a difficult time finding what tension to use. I couldn't find it anywhere in the Lenox literature and the blade dealer didn't have a clue. Some said use the machine manufacturer's recommendation (non existent) and/or be sure not to exceed their tension (also not to be found). Several articles said most blades should be between 15000 and 20000 psi. The only chart I found was from Starrett who recommended 20000 to 30000 for most of their blades but this was for cutting metals on big industrial saws.

    The meters measure the amount of blade stretch which translates directly to PSI, regardless of the blade width or thickness based on Young's Modulus. From John TenEyck: Stress = Young's Modulus x Strain = 30 X 10^6 x deflection/gage length

    This might be a useful article: https://woodgears.ca/bandsaw/tension.html

    And some stuff from John TenEyck:
    https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....04#post2640804
    http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...33#post2640833


    The gauge I have is a Starrett, fairly expensive, around $300. Iturra design sells one much cheaper. He told me the redesigned gauge they sell now is still about 1/2 the price of the Starrett. His contact info if anyone wants it (I don't think he as a web site):

    Louis Iturra
    KALLL@comcast.net
    904-642-2802 • Work
    4636 Fulton Road, Jacksonville, Fl 32225-1332

    JKJ

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