Should I buy a jointer or a bandsaw, and maybe a jigsaw?

[Jacob Mac]

I would look for used and see what tool/good deal becomes available first. Either a jointer or a bandsaw will be a huge upgrade. I would just see what shakes loose first.

[Mark Daily]

Get a jointer first. An 8” would be great if you can afford it and have the room. I have a 6” and have rarely needed an 8”.
Bandsaw next. A 14” would probably be fine unless you plan on doing a lot of resawing.

I bought mine at Grizzly about 15 years ago and have had no problems or complaints about any of them.

[Jim Dwight]

Nobody has said this so I will. These tools are in very different price categories. A bosch jigsaw is a very good jig saw. I just looked and you can get a more current barrel grip saw like the one I have for $140 from Amazon. Maybe if you get a kit with accessories you spend $250. But unless you find a very good deal on a used machine you won't get a jointer or bandsaw for even $250. The bandsaw I want and will probably buy soon is the Rikon 14 inch that will resaw about 12 inches thick. It goes for about $1200. I use an old Inca 8 5/8 jointer that you cannot buy new but any 8 inch jointer will be over $1,000. A six inch will be several times the jig saw cost.

I have a set of chairs to make next year too - so I need a bandsaw. I do not want to even think about making them without it. But I actually rarely use my jointer. A lot of times I just smooth rough lumber with the planner and don't worry about the minor lack of straightness. I know it isn't great technique but I've had difficulty ending up with usefully thick wood when I joint it flat and then thickness it. And sometimes it still warps a little when I get to final thickness. I can edge it for glueup just fine with the track saw or table saw, depending on length. I am not saying everything can be done with just the planner but when the wood is going to be tied together into a piece, it can be flattened in that process. Regardless of how you do it, wood just isn't always perfectly flat and thinking you can change that just leads to frustration. Flat is like lots of things in woodworking. It needs to be flat enough for what you are doing.

Long winded way of saying I would get a Bosch jigsaw if you want one and then a bandsaw. And later a jointer if you want one. But checking the used market is a great idea and if you find a good buy on the jointer first, go for it.

I will also say you probably don't need to spend 1200 on a bandsaw unless you want to be able to resaw. I had a not very good one and made a bunch of chairs with it. But this time I want one I know can do everything I want to do. I'm thinking the table to go with the chairs may have a laminated top with a top veneer of figured cherry. I don't want plywood type face veneer on a table because I am worried about durability. But bandsawn veneer 1/4 thick should be durable and even able to be sanded down if it is badly dinged.

I'm rambling but hopefully there is something helpful in there.

[Paul F Mills]

Thank you for the input, everyone. It seems the general consensus is to get a jointer and then a bandsaw, or hand planes and a bandsaw. I do not have any handplanes yet and think I could pick up a few and a bandsaw for a lot less than just an 8” jointer. I need to try hand planing at some point, but not sure if that is the route I want to go yet.

While cost is not really a big issue as to which one I get first, I will likely only be able to get one this year. I keep thinking of the 8” jointer so I would be set for the future, but based on a few comments I could probably get by with a 6”. For those of you with a 6”, how often have you needed an 8”? Only a $500 difference in cost which might allow me to get the bandsaw at the same time with a few extra bills added in.

This is the chair I am going to build: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3kRuH4vv8Y. A small jointer will work for it and most of what I do.

I will not be selling my 735 and replacing it with a j/p combo. While my wife indulges me in my woodworking frivolities, she would probably frown upon that since it is only six months old.

I have a two car garage with a 4x6 worktable, an extra worktable to the side to hold other stuff, the table saw with 36” extension, lumber storage, miter saw, and the other typical garage stuff. The new bandsaw would go where the old one is, the jointer I would need to figure out. Probably ditch the extra table and put it there. My wife wants to park in the garage during the winter for some reason.

I will work on the bandsaw setup some more this weekend and try a new blade (this one should be new but is old stock). I have been able to cut small stock with it, it is thicker stuff that gives me a problem. I do not want to spend much money on it because it is still underpowered, has a small table, and small resaw capacity. I know I will replace it over time, but when is unknown.

I have not been able to locate a used jointer or bandsaw in my area of a capacity or quality that I want to buy. I am not looking for top level stuff really, but I want something that is going to last.

Thanks

[Paul F Mills]

This is a little less resaw capacity than I want, but is is a good deal? I really do not know how often I will resaw or what size, I just know I need to do 4-5” for my bedside table project.

https://charlotte.craigslist.org/tls...985656226.html

[Cary Falk]

I use my jointer way moer than my bandsaw. I consider my jigsaw to be a rough construction type of tool

[Jim Dwight]

On the positive side, the craiglist bandsaw may be able to take a riser block to add 6 inches capacity for resaw. On the minus side, I think those sell new for 5-600. The new ones are likely to be nicer than that one. I think it's over priced. But maybe they would come down.

[Mark Daily]

This is a little less resaw capacity than I want, but is is a good deal? I really do not know how often I will resaw or what size, I just know I need to do 4-5” for my bedside table project.

https://charlotte.craigslist.org/tls...985656226.html

Paul, that saw was discontinued some time ago. It may be difficult to find a riser block for it.

This is the new version of the bandsaw I bought 15 years ago. It has been more than adequate for all my needs. I even bought a 6” riser for it but never needed or installed it. It’s not much more than the one in Craigslist which I agree is overpriced.

https://www.grizzly.com/products/Gri...-Bandsaw/G0555

[Paul F Mills]

I agree it is overpriced. I had planned to offer him $200, maybe $250. In a discussion with him he said the top wheel had some issue but he cannot get it off. That ended the thought of buying it.

I am going to pick up a hand plane or two in the next few weeks and keep look for a used jointer and bandsaw. Come December, I will buy one or both, new or used.

[Steven Cooper2]

I'm with Mark above in the Grizzly bandsaw camp. I signed up for their newsletter and got a 10% off coupon and used that to essentially cancel the cost of shipping.

I don't yet have a jointer in my shop (well I do, but it is in the process of being refurbished), but I have to say having a decent band saw set up (actually have 2) is really handy for all sorts of things. I find myself re-sawing all sorts of things that I didn't plan on as well as doing oddball cuts and notches and things for other projects around the shop. I keep the resaw blade on the G0555LX 14" saw with riser, and the little one has a smaller blade

Take a look at joining a local woodworking club, I see a decent 14+" bandsaw go up in the classifieds about once a month at a very reasonable price, and coming through a woodworking club, I would guess that the chances of it being in good shape vs craigslist are much better. Same goes for jointers.

Good Luck!

[Robert Cherry]

Having just finished up a set of 15 chairs my initial reaction was to recommend the bandsaw, but then I watched the video you posted the link to. For that mid-century modern style chair you would be better served by a good jointer. You could easily get by with a decent Bosch saber saw for the minimal curved work required on that piece, but making the routing templates might take some effort (unless you have someone with a CNC cut them for you, which is what I do).

i had a 12” Craftsman bandsaw for years and once tuned up it worked fine, but was a bit slow due to being underpowered. So don’t give up on it just yet, might just need a few adjustments and proper blade tensioning

[Ole Anderson]

I have an old 6" King-Seeley Craftsman jointer that gets used frequently for putting a straight edge on boards prior to cutting to width on my TS. I get lots of use from my Delta 13" lunchbox planer. Key to not needing a wider jointer is that I buy most of my wood skip planed one side or full planed on both faces at 1/16" over final thickness at just a bit more cost than rough sawn. Price jumps up a lot if I want if surfaced all four sides, so I don't go that route. Lucky i have a great mill only 10 minutes from home (Armstrong's in Highland MI). Doing so eliminates the need for a wider jointer to get one flat face. I sometimes regret buying a 15" band saw as I don't resaw much. However I am in the middle of cutting the back slats for 6 Michigan mitt shaped Adirondack chairs, so all of a sudden, no more regrets. Can't imaging using a saber saw for that much scroll work, particularly on the 2x legs.

[Jim Becker]

Ole, as an aside, skip planed material or even S4S doesn't mean flat at all. That's not a face jointed surface. You need to check things carefully for sure. With your planer, you can use a sled to be sure you have one face flat if need be. It's more cumbersome than having a wide jointer, but absolutely a worthy process when you don't have one available to flatten wider stock.

[Bradley Gray]

Something I learned recently about buying skip planed lumber - sellers can grade it based on the best side whereas rough lumber is grade based on the worst side.

[Ole Anderson]

Ole, as an aside, skip planed material or even S4S doesn't mean flat at all. That's not a face jointed surface. You need to check things carefully for sure. With your planer, you can use a sled to be sure you have one face flat if need be. It's more cumbersome than having a wide jointer, but absolutely a worthy process when you don't have one available to flatten wider stock.

Agreed. Even if we flatten it ourselves, it starts to move as soon as temp and humidity changes. I sort through the rough sawn material, hand it to the worker at the mill (family business) he runs it over the big 24" Northfield jointer a few times to flatten it on one side (I refer to this as skip planing), then they run it through the planer just enough times to smooth it on both sides. I typically tell them to get it to 13/16" for 4 quarter stock. Then it sits in my shop until I am ready to get it down to the final thickness I need. It saves me a lot of time running stock through my lunchbox planer multiple times and emptying the chip barrel. Never had any wood noticeably twist or cup after bring it home from the mill.