14" bandsaw, PM or Jet?

[Michael Drew]

I have a 12" Jet. Been using it for about 10 years or so. Frankly, I rarely use it. Mostly for cutting long arches in boards for furniture. I don't use it for re-sawing, because it's kinda worthless for that task. I figured I'd buy a real saw when I move, but this past weekend I really needed a larger, better saw. Well that need inspired me to look for something better, in the state, that I would not need to pay exorbitant shipping fees. The only two saws available, both in the state, are 14" models. A Jet 714400K for $1700 and a PowerMatic 1791216K for $1800.

The two things that jump out at me as wins are for the Jet. 1.75 hp motor verse a 1.5 hp motor with the PM. The Jet's blade is 116" and the PM's is 93.5". I'm assuming that means the Jet has larger wheels? The Jet also has what apears to be a better fence, but neither look at that great to me.

Which one is the better saw? Or, would you just wait and get a larger, better machine? That might be a couple years out for me and I've grown pretty impatient with entry level machines lately. But when I look at each one of these machines, neither appears to be much of a jump in performance and/or capacity to what I have now.

I can order a bandsaw too, but who knows how long of a wait I'd have. Probably 12 weeks, at least. Laguna, Jet and PowerMatic are the machines that my in-state dealers carry. If I buy from the dealer, shipping is generally part of the price. If I order and I ship it to me, it'll be at least $1000.

[Mitch schiffer]

I don't know much about those specific models but I was looking for a 15-20 inch saw a few months back and I looked at a 14 inch powermatic and jet side by side at a local dealer. The pm did have a nicer fit and finish and overall feel. I wanted something larger I really liked the 18 inch pm but couldn't justify the cost. I ultimately bought a Harvey. I haven't yet received it so I can't yet sau if it is better or worse but from the pictures and specs it seems liked like the best saw for the money. It seems like there is a pretty big difference from the 14-15 inch saws. I would suggest you at least consider a 15 inch before pulling the trigger. I can't speak for shipping out of the 48 states.

[Tom M King]

I'd pick a modern steel framed one over a cast iron 14".

[Earl McLain]

I'd pick a modern steel framed one over a cast iron 14".

Which is what that Jet model appears to be. Both have 14” wheels, but the wheels on the jet are farther apart providing the space to resale at up to 13” height. That’s why the blade as longer. The PM is 6” I think. The steel frame will also provide more rigidity, to better tension blades. I’ve not seen the Jet in person, or that PM, so no opinion on quality of either. Good luck.
earl
edit…”resale” should be “resaw”

[Lawrence Duckworth]

The 14" Jet wasn't my first choice, I thought I needed a bigger saw but this one so far has been impressive. Probably not a noticable difference between the two (for me anyway) other than the number of dust ports.

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[Bernie Kopfer]

The difference in resaw heights would incline me towards the Jet. 6 inches resaw is too limiting. There WILL come the time when you want/need more. if you envision limited usage then either of these saws will probably work fine.

[Michael Drew]

I have not spent much time looking at, or researching bandsaws, so this new 'need' to get one that I can do more with is kind of an eye opening exercise. I don't see myself making veneer, but I sure would like to rip some 4 quarter/8 quarter boards in half. I usually work with boards 12" wide or narrower. 6-8" is generally what I buy. There is no way I can do that with the saw I have now, so I end up changing my design or just figuring out a different way to machine the lumber. After wasting enough cherry hardwood to fill a 30 gallon bag with chips last weekend, I realized I need a better machine that I can resaw hardwood with. I would rather not spend 3-5k on one though. I just blew about 8K on a sliding table saw. But now that I'm looking into a better bandsaw, I'm discovering that the larger, more expensive machines have many of the features I think would be quite useful.

Jeezusssss, this is an expensive hobby. I should have stuck with race cars.

Oh well, might as well buy one now, before I retire and have a fixed income.

I just found out that one of the local "tool" dealers carries some Grizzly machines. I might be able to order a Grizzly saw from them, and not have to eat the entire shipping costs. I was surfing the Grizzly web site and they have a mind numbing number of saws. I do not understand all the different lines. Very confusing at first glance. (I do not own any Grizzly tools)

[Rod Wolfy]

If you have the space, maybe rethink the situation. I had a Jet 14" and sold it. I had a 20" Aggazani and found that I couldn't run a 1/4" or smaller blade very well. I moved and sold the Aggy. I now have a 12" Jet for curved cuts or most of my tasks and a 21" Grizzly.

If you can't fit a 14" and a bigger saw, then maybe a Laguna twelve/14, Grizzly 16" or Laguna 18bx"?

[Michael Drew]

Thank you, Rod.

I'm actually reconsidering the 14" saws in general. The local Laguna dealer told me they have a 12/14 on order and I can claim it. But, it's on backorder, and they don't know when it will ship. So it seems I might as well just get a larger machine anyway, if I end up ordering one. I've almost convinced myself to just bite the bullet and place an order for the Laguna 18/BX. It's about 3K. Doesn't really look like the footprint is much more than the 14".

I'd probably just keep the 12" saw I have, and fit an 1/8" blade to it (3/8" is the max anyway). Keep a larger, 1" blade on the 18" for resaw work.

[Jim Becker]

Michael, if you can afford to get the larger saw, by all means go in that direction. But keep the 12" around for scrolling.

[Bernie Kopfer]

I heartily concur with what Jim just said. If you have room keep the small saw. I have that setup and it is a pleasure to not change blades.

[Lee Schierer]

The only two saws available, both in the state, are 14" models. A Jet 714400K for $1700 and a PowerMatic 1791216K for $1800.

The two things that jump out at me as wins are for the Jet. 1.75 hp motor verse a 1.5 hp motor with the PM. The Jet's blade is 116" and the PM's is 93.5". I'm assuming that means the Jet has larger wheels? The Jet also has what apears to be a better fence, but neither look at that great to me.

The two saws are both 14" saws. That means the wheels are 14 inch. The blade length difference indicates that the Jet had a riser installed for resawing. That means you can resaw wider pieces of lumber than a standard 14" saw.

[Charles Coolidge]

I did this dance last year. Having owned and sold a Grizzly 19" I wanted to downsize that thing was HUGE! But I also wanted max resaw capacity. Ended up with the Powermatic PM1500 15". For me this was the sweet spot, a smaller size/footprint 15" saw but with many of the features of the larger Powermatic saws. Plenty of HP at 3hp and for the size a very healthy 14" of resaw capacity. Takes blade widths from 1/8" to 1". Yeah as for the price...cry once.

As for getting it off the double high pallets (won't go under the garage door that high) I went full MacGyver on it.

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[Michael Drew]

OK - so the size designation on bandsaws is the wheel, correct? Not sure why something so obvious escaped me - duh.

I don't really have room for two, but I think it's too late for me to be worrying about that anymore. My 'garage' in the current home will likely not see a vehicle in it again.

I'm thinking that a rack and pinion type table tilt mechanism would be handy, and a lot more precise that a simple friction fit carriage. The Laguna machines do not have this feature. It appears the larger Jet machines have a hybrid gear tilt? Does that really matter?

The 18" Laguna machines have a foot brake. Not sure if that's terribly important, but seems like a good option.

The Jet machines appear to be heavier than the Laguna equivalents.

So now I suppose my question for this thread has changed a bit....... Which saw would be the better choice - Jet or Laguna? The Laguna 14/12 looks to be the best 'bargain' for a 14" saw. Prices below are approx....

Laguna 14/12 $1600 (110 or 220V, weight not noted)
Laguna 14bx $2000 (110 or 220V, a bit heavier than the 14/12 @260 pounds, and has foot brake)
Laguna 18bx $2800 (3hp/220V, 410 pounds, foot brake)
Laguna 18cx $4000 (adds mechanical variable speed, 1.75hp/110V, 480 pounds, foot brake)

Jet JWBS-14SFX $1700 (110/230V, 272 pounds)
Jet JWBS-15 $2500 (1.75hp-110/230V, 382 pounds, gear tilt trunnion)
Jet JWBS-15-3 $2900 (3hp/230V, 382 pounds, gear tilt trunnion)
Jet JWBS-18 $2900 (1.75hp-110/230V, 502 pounds, gear tilt trunnion)
Jet JWBS-18-3 $3100 (3hp/230V, 502 pounds, gear tilt trunnion)

[Charles Coolidge]

So when they say 14 inch take that with a grain of salt. My advertised 15 inch bandsaw only has a max throat depth (blade to column) of 14.5 inch so there's not 15 inches left of the blade. The manufacturers fudge ahem, round up, sometimes generously.

I don't find the rack and pinon matters 'that' much on a smaller saw though my 15 inch has it. The tables are smaller and lighter. On a larger 19"-20" with larger heavier tables it's nice.

Love my foot brake, it's a third hand. When I need both hands at the end of the cut the foot brake turns the machine off and brings the blade to a stop a lot more quickly.