14" bandsaw, or can I get by with chainsaw for turning

[Scott Horton TN]

I'm new to turning and and gathering up the bits I need to enjoy the hobby some. I teach a high school robotics team and my small "shop" (2 car garage), is quite full of stuff already. Even the new wood lathe with retractable wheels is a burden on my space. I'm retired and can't swing an expensive, big bandsaw for sure. I've got a lot of other bits I need worse to start, and for the foreseeable future. I could pickup a delta clone pretty inexpensively, ($50-$100 around here). Add a riser to it, maybe some better guides, and a proper blade. But I really don't have the space if I can get by w/o it. I had one a few years ago, pre-wood lathe, that I let go as I just wasn't using it. So my only need for it would be for prepping wood for the lathe. My lathe is a 20" PM2020. For turning I'll probably piddle with a little bit of everything, I'm mostly interested in doing segmented stuff right now. But being able to turn a chunk of cut would is appealing. I have an older 10" table saw FWIW.

My question is, can I get by with a chainsaw for making blanks from green wood, or is a bandsaw a must have? I see lots of videos with people turning chunks that have almost a branch sticking out of them, it seems an octogon'ish shape for a bowl blank would be OK. But I don't know. I do have the upside of a reasonably powerful lathe I think.

Other than "suck it up and get a high end bandsaw (Rikon PM, etc)", can anyone offer me some input on the issue? Can I get by with a chainsaw, or will I be a lot better off from there, with a basic, possibly slightly upgraded 14" bandsaw?

[John TenEyck]

IMO there's no reason you can't make due with a chainsaw for cutting out bowl blanks. A bandsaw makes them nice and round, but that's not a major requirement, especially with a big powerful lathe.

John

[Earl McLain]

Even with a band saw I usually just cut roughly octagon-ish. Downside to chain saw is that’s a rip cut on a bowl blank to knock off the corners—but at least it’s not full on rips. In the next year or so I’ll solve the chain saw strings by upgrading saws and learning to use a rip chain.
I started with a Delta clone and added a riser block. Then a few years later I picked up a steel-spines 14” saw that was built with 12” resaw. My opinion—The cast Deltas and clones do okay as 6” resaw, but aren’t built for the riser. If I was doing it again, I’d probably just bite the bullet and buy an 18” throat with 12” (or better 14”) cutting height—headed that direction anyway, should have started there! If you decide to make the space for a band saw—the larger size does not take much more footprint.
You can get by with chainsaw for bowl blanks, but if you add a band saw I’d bet you’ll find a lot of other uses— even in your robotics class. Good luck!!

[Alex Zeller]

I think you'll be disappointed with a cheap clone. I had a Harbor Freight one given to me and no matter what I did it always needed an upgrade. The motor wasn't powerful enough with a riser block so I put a spare 2hp one I had on it. The belt slipped so i replaced them with nice ones. I had to replace the spring with a stiffer one to get enough tension on the blade. After dumping too much money into it I removed the riser, put the original motor back on, and gave it away. I have used a Jet version of the Delta and it was much nicer. But, like people always say, go big or go home, so I bought a 19" BS which is day and night better. Cutting up blanks now is a joy. I would stick with your chainsaw for now.

For turning you don't need anything more than a small shed for the bandsaw. If you do stick with it I would look into maybe something like an 8x12 so you'll have lots of room to store blanks and rough turned bowls.

[ChrisA Edwards]

Scott, is this you from the Ducati club?

[Richard Coers]

If getting by is your goal, you can get by with a hatchet, axe, sledge hammer, and splitting wedges. Remember turning is not a new invention, it started way before electricity and power machinery.

[Scott Horton TN]

Scott, is this you from the Ducati club?

Hi Chris, yes, its me. How are you doing! Good to "see" you.

[Scott Horton TN]

For some reason the forum didn't send me any notices, spam filters probably caught them. Just now thought to check back for replies.

Anyway, thanks Everyone for the input. Appreciate the sanity check and conformation.

[Scott Horton TN]

Even with a band saw I usually just cut roughly octagon-ish. Downside to chain saw is that’s a rip cut on a bowl blank to knock off the corners—but at least it’s not full on rips. In the next year or so I’ll solve the chain saw strings by upgrading saws and learning to use a rip chain.
I started with a Delta clone and added a riser block. Then a few years later I picked up a steel-spines 14” saw that was built with 12” resaw. My opinion—The cast Deltas and clones do okay as 6” resaw, but aren’t built for the riser. If I was doing it again, I’d probably just bite the bullet and buy an 18” throat with 12” (or better 14”) cutting height—headed that direction anyway, should have started there! If you decide to make the space for a band saw—the larger size does not take much more footprint.
You can get by with chainsaw for bowl blanks, but if you add a band saw I’d bet you’ll find a lot of other uses— even in your robotics class. Good luck!!

Thanks Earl. My old 14" that I let go of, I used to use with the class. But they are relatively dangerous for younger kids. And everything they work with is small. They can draw something in CAD and cut it out with the CNC machine and I don't have to work about anyone cutting their thumb off LOL. For the occasional bandsaw need, I have a Milwaukee deep throat portaband mounted on an upright stand. It works great and with a slow moving metal blade, is less dangerous IMO. But again, for robotics, with a few exceptions having the draw it and cut it works out better. So I got rid of the (wood) bandsaw.

[Kevin Jenness]

Lyle Jamieson "gets by" with a chainsaw, no doubt you can too. I wouldn't like to be without a bandsaw, for turning blanks and many other tasks, but I "get by" with one, although I understand four is the optimal number.

[roger wiegand]

Although I have a large and pretty powerful band saw I almost never use it on turning blanks, I find it quicker and easier (and perhaps safer) to round them up on the lathe, with the added advantage that you can move the blank around as you go if the grain isn't exactly as you might have anticipated. I knock the corners off with a chainsaw then use a 40/40 grind gouge that can remove a tremendous amount of wood from an uneven blank in a hurry with minimal stress using Stuart Batty's "float the bevel" method.

[Don Frank]

If I had to choose between the two it would certainly be a good chainsaw. I own several gas ones and an electric Makita but I recently purchased a Ryobi 40v battery powered saw and I am incredibly impressed with how that thing cuts. It cuts as fast as a gas saw and is balanced well and works great. Being able to use it indoors is a treat and I often cut sections of wood off when it is centered on my lathe to help balance the piece.

[Scott Horton TN]

Although I have a large and pretty powerful band saw I almost never use it on turning blanks, I find it quicker and easier (and perhaps safer) to round them up on the lathe, with the added advantage that you can move the blank around as you go if the grain isn't exactly as you might have anticipated. I knock the corners off with a chainsaw then use a 40/40 grind gouge that can remove a tremendous amount of wood from an uneven blank in a hurry with minimal stress using Stuart Batty's "float the bevel" method.

Thanks Roger. Very helpful. I'll look up those methods. What size gouge do you use for these?

[Scott Horton TN]

If I had to choose between the two it would certainly be a good chainsaw. I own several gas ones and an electric Makita but I recently purchased a Ryobi 40v battery powered saw and I am incredibly impressed with how that thing cuts. It cuts as fast as a gas saw and is balanced well and works great. Being able to use it indoors is a treat and I often cut sections of wood off when it is centered on my lathe to help balance the piece.

Thanks Don. I've been studying just that. Whether to get a battery powered saw or not. I've watched some reasonably impressive videos of some battery powered versions. Trying to pick one now. Narrowed to Ego, Echo. The on-line reviews and my own experience led me to those. The reviews are a little dated though and both brands have new models. Taking a leap of faith they got better. Considered corded, but then I can't go get a chunk of green wood from a down tree, etc. Portability woudl be helpful. I've got sketchy rotator cuffs and I really don't want to be slinging a gas model to start it. Considered an EZ start Stihl, but really don't want to screw with gas and premx.

[Kevin Jenness]

I used my son's Milwaukee cordless chainsaw recently and it worked well but you have to keep the chain sharp and be patient. There's a big difference in power between a high end cordless saw and my 53 cc Husqvarna. For smaller work an electric saw will be fine.