14 vs 17 inch bandsaw? Cast-iron vs aluminum Trunnions?

[andy bessette]

When a saw band breaks, that's it. Tension and friction is lost and the blade stops. I've never seen, nor heard of one sending the blade flying.

Me neither.

[Kory Watson]

Update: I went with the 14BX deal.

Now I need to put in a 220V outlet…

Would have loved a 17” bandsaw, but upon seeing them in person at the store, they were way too big for my space.

[Rod Wolfy]

Congrats Kory. If you need info or help on the 220v, PM me. I'm about 1/2 hr north of Seattle.

[Greg Parrish]

Update: I went with the 14BX deal.

Now I need to put in a 220V outlet…

Would have loved a 17” bandsaw, but upon seeing them in person at the store, they were way too big for my space.

Congrats. Same saw I ended up getting last Friday. Wish I’d have had your discount though. Good deal!

[Kory Watson]

Too bad I haven’t wired in a 240V outlet yet. And gotta wait until Tuesday for the mobile base.

https://imgur.com/a/91LPP7s

[Mike Mason]

For many years I had the typical 14" cast iron Delta bandsaw with a 6" riser installed, and I never felt that I could resaw very well on it. A few years ago I purchased a Laguna 14/bx 14" steel frame bandsaw with 13" resaw capacity and installed a 3/4" wide carbide tooth blade that never leaves it. It's proven to be an exceptionally good machine for me; I not only can use it for resawing 12" wide hardwood boards in ~1/16" thick slices for veneering purposes, I find that I use it for lots of other things as well (including joinery) since the cuts are so smooth and accurate. One thing that I also now do is to rip any questionable boards on it, then run their edges over the jointer, for safety reasons. The physics of cutting on a bandsaw are such that it is probably the safest stationary power tool in the shop. FYI, I kept my old Delta and now use it only for cutting curves with a 3/16" wide blade.

[Scott T Smith]

When a saw band breaks, that's it. Tension and friction is lost and the blade stops. I've never seen, nor heard of one sending the blade flying.

I haven't had a problem with flying bands from my shop bandsaws, but the sawmill is a different story. Band tension is much higher (1,400 psi on a 2" hydraulic piston); I've seen bands shoot out of the dust collection chute on more than one occasion. For sure, when a band breaks it gets EVERYBODY'S attention at the sawmill!

[Anthony Whitesell]

Are you looking for your forever tool? I stopped a while back buying step-up tools (where you buy this now and plan to buy that bigger/better one later). My last step up purchase was my G0490. I should have gotten the G0490X (spiralhead instead of straight knife). In my defense, I had just purchased the G0513X2 bandsaw. I should have followed my self-imposed rule. Now I can't bring myself to spend the money on the spiral head and throw away the perfectly good straight knife head. I saved my pennies and purchase the Bosch 12" GSM, yeah only $60 more than the 10" but don't plan on replacing it. It's (hopefully) a forever tool. Not I have a 15" Jet planer and would like to install a spiral head in it. Same issue, I can't bring myself to throw away the perfectly good straight knife head. The upside on the planer is it was only $400, requiring some TLC to get it running again, so I have the "margin" to purchase the head. But still, what do I do with the old head?

With that said, would the 14" be a step up tool and you really want to get the 17" as a forever tool? Then save you $$$, wait for any type of sale from Grizzly and get the 17". I have the G0513X2. Likely a forever tool for me. Someday way way off maybe I I will have wished to have gotten the 19". So far I have never regretted getting the 17" over the 15", or regretted anything about the G0513X2.

As someone that has considered and made decisions based on very similar comments and questions, I leave you with this:

Aluminum vs cast iron: I don't know if there is a difference. They saw the high mass is helpful when at the machine limits (some say upon reach 51% of the machine limits). Do I think the cast iron wheels would be more durable than the aluminum? Yes, I do. They are under a great deal of stress tensioning the band and using the saw.

Foot brake or no? The G0513X2BF was not out when I purchased my G0513X2. Would the foot brake be nice? Definitely. I can say first hand the saw takes quite a while to slow down, especially after a blade snaps. Would I like to have the foot brake? Yes. Is the foot brake worth an additional $270? I don't know. That is a tough one, IMO.

17''

Grizzly G0513 - Aluminum Trunnions | $1,250 (super sale at 16% off, most affordable 17'' bandsaw I see on the market)
Grizzly G0513X2 - Cast-Iron Trunnions | $1525 (are cast-iron trunnions worth $300?)
Grizzly G0513X2BF - Foot brake | $1795 (is a foot brake worth $300?)