Bandsaw for small shop

[Erik Loza]

100% agree with Mike ^^^: If someone wants “just one bandsaw to do it all”, then I would get something in the 16”-18” range (your choice of mfr), ideally with FLAT WHEELS. Most of these will have around 12” resaw height and do most anything the average ww’er needs. Put a 1/2” Timberwolf on there go to town. When I was doing the trade show circuit back in the Italian days, the two blades I always demo’ed with were a 1.0” Lenox Tri-Master (the Woodmaster CT was not known then, otherwise I would have gone with it) and a 1/2” Timberwolf skip-tooth blade.

However, if your work is very bandsaw-centric, then you really should own two bandsaws. Any little 14-incher (with a 1/4” blade), then a heavy duty machine with a 3/4” or 1.0” blade. The heavy duty saws “could” be made to work with a 3/8” or 1/4” blade but any time I had to re-fit one for a blade like that, was always like, “Man, wish I had a saw just for this”.

Erik

[roger wiegand]

So I did "everything" bandsaw related on a 14" Delta with a riser block for most of the last 50 years. And it worked. Resaw up to the limits of the saw (~13" IIRC) plus every other bandsaw task imaginable, including cutting bowl blanks in green wood to shape. I did burn out the motor when I was young and foolish and popped a much bigger (2 hp) motor in in its place. I just replaced the tires recently and long ago I changed the guides to carter bearings. I managed to bend the upper wheel adjusting plate (a cast iron replacement for the pot metal part was available on ebay-- a big upgrade) and I stripped the tension adjuster rod. Got an aftermarket replacement with a handwheel that is a dream to use after the miniature Delta original part.

Last year I had the opportunity to acquire a Centauro-made MM20 and have to say I'm in love all over again. Resawing has become a breeze rather than a somewhat fraught and tedious chore. Once again my skills and abilities are limiting, not the saw's. Love the power! Really happy to have it in the shop. It's not perfect, changing blades is a real PITA due in large part to the "driftmaster" fence it came with that needs to be completely removed to open the doors far enough to change the blade. It came with a big carbide blade and I haven't changed it out yet, though the cut is more ragged than I think the saw is capable of (the prior owner told me it needed replacing when I bough the saw)

I'm keeping the Delta as well with skinny blades on it for any curved work or smaller work. Blade changes on it are a 2 minute task, so pretty easy.

[lowell holmes]

I have a full size roll around stand with a 14" Jet on it.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Delta-14...-274/205112200

https://www.lowes.com/search?searchT...ll+around+base

[JOEL MONGEON]

Great replies everyone, I appreciate the discussion. Seeing as I am in a single car garage I can't see myself becoming a 2 bandsaw kind of woodworker. I've been getting by with a doing curves using my scrollsaw and or jigsaw to create templates then using the router table to cut the final pieces. My primary use for bandsaw would be more of tablesaw replacement.

I see your point Mike about a smaller delta bandsaw covering all the tasks. From what I've been reading it is more likely to drift and not make as straight cuts because they can't be tensioned enough. You mentioned in another post that you'd recommend a a saw with 17-20" wheels. All 3 of the saws I'm looking at fall in this category. So I'm assuming one of these would be what you consider "one machine for all bandsaw tasks". How would a 14" delta fit into that scenario? Aside from getting a lot taller, the footprint between a 14" and say a 19" isn't that much of a difference. Maybe 3" more when you consider a stand or cabinet that a 14" will sit on. I just went out to measure the footprint of my wife's scrollsaw I bought her. It is roughly 25" X 33" which is roughly the size of a large 18" bandsaw but the bandsaw will see a whole lot more use.

While I decide and wait for my saw to show up I'm going to be making more room by getting rid of the scrollsaw and Dewalt planer tables/stands and making a cabinet that will fit both tools. I'll just slide them out and clamp them to a benchtop when I want to use them.

What is really making me lean towards the Felder are the 6" X 12" table extensions that quickly attach to any of the 3 sides. I tapped up a rough approximation of the Felder's table size of the tablesaw I currently have. From the front to the blade is about the same distance as a tablesaw but I like that I can quickly put an extension as infeed or outfeed to make much safer cuts. They also have a much longer extension table that I could always pick up later on. I know I can always make my own table extensions but I'd rather be working that fiddling with how to attach it and level it. It reminds me of the MFT 3 I got. I bought the extension table for that and love how easily it can be attached to any side and is perfectly level. I use it maybe 50% of the time depending on what I'm doing.
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I think I'm putting way too much thought into this

[Rick Potter]

I agree.

May I suggest you store your table saw a while. You may find you will need it.

[Mike Kees]

Joel I do not know what exactly you intend to make/do in your shop. I also have never attempted to replace a table saw with a bandsaw. So with those two observations I would think that a bandsaw would/could work quite well if you worked exclusively with solid wood most of the time. I have read of quite a few guys who do this and use a tracksaw for sheet goods if and when needed. When I read your first post I was thinking bandsaw in addition to your table saw hence the Delta suggestion. If you are thinking of a" one bandsaw replace the table saw" then definitely the bigger machines are where you would have the most versatility. The Felder/Minimax saws that you were talking about are in the cry once/enjoy forever level of machines. The delta level machines work very well for what they were designed for, essentially running a 1/4''-3/8'' band width. Where things go wrong is when guys put a 3/4'' band on them and try to tension it. This usually happens after a riser block is installed. Next the full leap down the rabbit hole , stronger tension springs, reinforced upper wheel hinge ,bigger motor all trying to make a machine do something it was not designed for . Resawing wood has divided the larger bandsaw world into two main types of saws . General do everything types like Grizzly 513-514 saws or Laguna 18 BX. Or the more Resaw specific saws like Minimax MM16,MM20 etc. The main differences are the Resaw height of a saw and the beefiness of said saws. Grizzly's Go 636 is a lot heavier than there 513 models. Horsepower shows up as well ,when you start seeing 4-5h.p. motors these saws are usually more Resaw designed. A lot of the Resaw specific saws also have a lower table height which may or may not affect your uses. Hopefully some of this information helps you in some way.

[Evan Van Dyke]

So, can I ask why you excluded Rikon back at the beginning of this thread? I ask because I just went through the same search you are doing, and I settled on the Rikon 10-347 (delivered yesterday, yay!). I got it for about 50% of the cost of the SCM/Felder saws ($2400), and for my needs (ripping and resawing) it seems like it will do everything I need... 4HP motor, foot brake, tall adjustable fence, big table, large resaw capacity. I just can't justify spending over $5K for a saw which (at this point in my woodworking career) I likely won't be able to tell the differences. If I sawed veneer all day, every day, then I could see the attraction. But I'm headed more in a hybrid direction, and the BS work will all be cleaned up with hand-planes anyways. I thought about it for joint work, but honestly a good backsaw is faster than setting up the bandsaw anyways.

Interested to hear what you end up with- do let us know.

[Tom Bender]

Get the band saw, keep the table saw and turf the chop saw.

[JOEL MONGEON]

Happy Holidays and thank you all for the helpful replies. It's been a while since I wrote back and thought I'd give an update since I have a few quiet minutes.
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I received my FB510 on Nov 17 (after delaying delivery due to family obligations). I was super excited to see the delivery truck arrive at my house. Tucked in the back of the truck was my bandsaw! It was a little exciting getting the palette over the threshold of my garage but the driver and I eventually got it. I then had more emergencies pop up so was not able to touch my saw for a few days. It looked huge boxed up in the middle of my garage!

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About a week later I got my brother in law to help get the bandsaw off the palette with some moving shoulder straps. It was very easy and fast to do this. I then set up the machine and was able to do a zoom call with Rod from Felder the next day to go through set up and my first cut.

A day or two later I had to again stop using my saw and quickly build some proper stairs into my shop. I had been using a plastic fold up step stool since I installed my flooring last winter. It gave up and I fell through the step. Once I build my new stairs I was able to get my saw set up in it's final position and run some 5" dust collection hose to the outlet.

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I've since bought a few magswitch featherboards and magnetic clamps. I also bought a UJK bandsaw buddy for blade alignment.

So far I'm super pleased with everything. It is a big beefy machine. I've got a 1" Ripper bandsaw blade from R&D on it. I bought one cast iron extension table which is a great addition. I might need to buy a second one so I can have both infeed and outfeed. I also bought a miter guide. I wasn't as happy with the extrusion for that so I cannibalized my Incra miter guage Incra miter guage so I could have an extra long extrusion and stop.

I have to say, dealing with Felder Canada was a real pleasure. Rod Sheridan made the whole process great. He was able to answer all my questions promptly either through a few nice phone calls or emails. He even set aside some time for a zoom call when I was ready to get my machine up and running. One of the reasons I did decide to go with Felder was that the machine itself was built in Austria and that the dealer here in Canada is extremely helpful and easy to reach for answering questions. My bandsaw is so large and expensive I did not want to buy from a store and have a problem they would not help solve. Felder Canada is a few hours away from my location and I've been told that if I need service they can send someone out to my house. I'd hate to buy a machine that did not have such great support.

I do have a few questions that I would like help with. When my bandsaw is running I notice that the machine seems to rock a bit. I'm thinking that is because of the mobility kit and that it is not resting on the concrete floor but a layer of dricore and cork flooring. I tried putting a yoga mat underneath to dampen vibrations but it only helps a little. I'm wondering it I can put a few 2x4's under the front and back of the saw and screw the saw to that. Would that help dampen the vibrations? Or maybe just find the spot where it will be permanent and remove the mobility kit and just have it restintag directly on the cork floor.

I also noticed when using the ceramic guides that the guide post would vibrate/shake quite a bit. This is when the guide is extended almost completely. Now that I have a 1" blade on the saw I am not using the guides and the whole assembly isn't shaking when the saw is on.

The tires are flat on the FB510 but I'm wondering about blade tracking. Under tension I see the blade lean left or to the right depending on where the blade is on the wheels. The table on the FB510 cannot be rotated so I want to try and figure out how to get the blade to track parallel to the miter slot. I'm using the UJK bandsaw buddy on the blade to determine if it is parallel or not.

That's about it for now. Bottom line, this is great big solid saw. I'm very happy with it. Any questions I have have to do with my lack of experience with bandsaws. Thanks again to Rod for originally reaching out to me. I'll try to reply to any questions or comments but might be a bit slow as the kids are out of school for the holidays and maybe doing virtual learning in the new year.

[Jacques Gagnon]

Joel,

Thanks for the update; I am happy to know that everything went well and that you are enjoying it.

I look forward to visit and see it in action once things settle down.

Regards,

J.

[JOEL MONGEON]

Thanks Jacques, I cannot wait for this wave to be over and have people over.

So I've got a resaw king blade on order but have no idea when it will arrive. Laguna said to order through any of their Canadian dealers to avoid paying an $80 duty but there has been zero communication as to when I can expect it. Maybe I should have bought a Lennox Tri-Master blade instead.

I'm thinking I want to order a second larger aluminum table so I can have it as an infeed table over the front gap where you install the blade. The cast iron table isn't wide enough to clamp down onto the f bracket. I also just noticed poking around the Felder site that I can get a laser for my bandsaw. I gotta say I'm very tempted to get a laser! Can't have enough lasers in my life

I just put the final touches on my first bandsaw project. It is not a piece of high end furniture but rather a simple mitten rack that my wife has been bugging me to make. I started with a 1x10 pine board and used my bandsaw to rip everything to size. The joinery was done using hand tools so I could experiment making angled dadoes and through mortise and tenon joints. My favorite part of this little project was getting help from my oldest kid. He helped dad do the initial measurements for the base. He then got bored and went to play with Transformers, but still, a win!

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[Jacques Gagnon]

…winter is always more enjoyable when mittens are happy !

I am curious to see what others will contribute; I have never felt the need for a laser on the bandsaw but will be happy to be prove wrong 😁.

A Lenox blade has been on my list for a while.

Salut,

J.

[Christopher Charles]

Congrats Joel, looks like a great saw. I have never, ever used a miter gage on my 18" Agazanni and unless you have need for lots of crosscutting on your bs, I doubt you'd get a lot of return on spending the time to align the miter slot, especially if you have table saw already. That table extension would be nice as an outfeed. I've found that roller stands are helpful for larger pieces (as long as 14'); not sure an infeed table would be all that helpful (and I'd be running into it all the time in my small shop!).

I have noticed i'll get vibration with mine on a mobility base if I don't get both leveling feet with an equal(ish) amount of weight on them.

Personally, I have a laser on my drill press that I also never use and honestly can't imagine how one on a bandsaw would helpful, even though it does sound kinda cool!

Nice project and I'm sure you'll enjoy your saw. I like mine now more than I did when I bought it in 2008...

Best,
Chris