Bandsaw Upgrade Advice?

[Bill Dufour]

A vfd converts 240 single phase to 3 phase,variable frequency allowing rpm control, similar voltage output to input. Cheap enough, $100, below 3 hp. It gives you slow start and power brakes which can be useful.
Bill D

[Mike King]

I've gotten a number of "no-go's" regarding the ceramic guides on Laguna bandsaws, esp for woodturning purposes. Anyone have an opinion on their guides vs ball bearing guides that come stock on most new bandsaws?

Not sure what the concern is about ceramic guides. On the recommendation of a bunch of heavy bandsaw users, I upgraded the ball bearing guides on my Felder to ceramic. In fact, I used the Laguna guides. Much better, and they work spectacularly.

[Bill Dufour]

A bandsaw only has two moving part so not much to go wrong. I would have no problem buying a used saw and replacing all four bearings.
The metal cutting saws seem to go cheaper but make sure they can run fast enough for wood. Unless they have a transmission they are too slow. Rockwell and Powermatic both made large bandsaws with and without a transmission and with high speed or low speed. So three different models, that all look pretty much the same. Only a slight difference is visible in a picture of a foot pedal or lever to shift gears. Often that critical bit is not shown or is hidden by "stuff".
Bill D.

PS: wood speeds are roughly 10X metal speeds

[lowell holmes]

I have a 14" Jet with a riser and I have a light mounted on it to light the saw table. I have it on a roller base that allows me to push back out of the way when it is not being used. I have several blades that I ordered from an out of own supplier. It is a saw mill, and I use it often in lieu of my table saw.

[Randy Heinemann]

I'm sure others would disagree (and maybe have already), however, I don't see the need for anything bigger than a 14" unless you do regular resawing and would be resawing larger boards than 8" - 10" wide. For resawing, the additional power of an 18", for example, would be worthwhile. However, if you do no resawing or only resaw once in awhile on boards no larger than 10", you certainly can do that on a 14" bandsaw that is setup properly with a sharp blade. I do it now. Sawing circular blanks really doesn't require the additional power or cutting capacity; only a good (or maybe even not so good) blade. A 1/2", 3/8", or 1/4" blade on a 14" bandsaw would cut blanks just fine depending on the diameter of the blank you're cutting. For the occasional resaw, the 14" will work, although, depending on the wood and board width, possibly a little more patience is required since you probably could not feed the board through as quickly as with an 18".