bandsaws Bridgewood PBS 540????

["Gary Brewer"]

Hello, I am looking into upgrading my bandsaw and have read many articles and postings about the Minimax, Laguna, and Agazzini ( sp?). They seem to be the upper-end, high quality bandsaws that most people mention. I have come across a Bridgewood PBS 540 that looks good but I don't hear much about the Bridgewood. I was just wondering why not? Are they not up to the other upper-end bandsaws ( Minimax, Laguna )? I have been looking at the Minimax 16 and 20 and have added the Bridgewood PBS 540 to the list but I am wondering. With all the sales going on now I am comparing the current sale prices and the specs for the PBS 540 seem on par with the others but I don't have any actual experience with them. I don't want to start an argument on the best saw just is the 540 in the same category or is it a notch below the standards of the others? I actually was seriously looking at the mm16 and then wondered if the mm20 with the bigger wheels etc. was worth the extra $700. Then the Bridgewood came into the picture and is priced between the two. Am I comparing apples to apples or not. I am just in a big learning curve.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Gary Brewer

[Cameron Reddy]

What do you want to do with the saw? The MM and Laguna have much more resaw height. The 540 has the most throat room and the largest wheels (22"); the huge wheels make it the best machine for running thick-beam carbide blades. Do you cut circles? Better check out the new Laguna LT20 Bowl Turner with the very clever DriftMaster fence and Circle Cutter jig.

[Mike Wilkins]

I beleive that the Bridgewood line of bandsaws are made by the same firm that makes the Laguna machines. When you get into this line of machines, there is not much that separates them other than little things.
I currently have the LT18 from Laguna which is comparable to the PBS440 with 12" resaw height. But I upgraded to the ceramic guides, which only come standard on the Laguna line. They sell guides for other machines as well.
I beleive you would be happy with a Bridgewood machine, which also comes with an American made motor; Bridgewood also tests each machine in their York warehouse before shipping, so you should not get any surprises.
And don't forget shipping costs to a New York address.
Good luck and watch those fingers.

[Steve Rowe]

Gary, I have the LT-18 which sounds like the same one Mike has. It is made by ACM in Italy. Call Wilke to verify but I believe the Bridgewood model you specified is also made by ACM. The MM saws are made by Centauro (sp?). I have had Bridgewood machinery (not BS) in the past and they were of high quality and ready to go out of the crate. Wilke tests each machine (or at least used to - may be worthy of verifying) and they do have American motors if it matters to you.
Steve

["Gary Brewer"]

Gentlemen thanks for the info,
The Bridgewood PBS series is made by ACM. I just got back from Wilke at York Pa. . A total of 10 1/2 hours driving round trip but it was worth it. The fit and finish of the PBS 540 is very nice. The table was very flat, I brought my Lee Valley 24" straightedge and feeler gauge. I also liked the continuous duty service American made motor very much. I am going to look at Laguna and a man there also looking told me to look at Grizzley. I will evaluate all. It is nice to know that the Bridgewood is made by the same people that make the Laguna. The only negative thing about the 540 is a little lower resaw height than others in its class. A lot compared with the Minimax. I don't believe that I will every need more than 16 inches but the 540 is a little on the short side of that. The 540 steel measured 3/16 inch on the main vertical column supports and structural parts and much less on non structural parts ( I brought a fractional caliper ). The mm20 I measured ( they had a used one there ) was 1/8 on everything I checked. Thinner on the vertical box structural supports than the 540 and thicker on everthing else. I feel comfortable including the 540 in the mix with Minimax, Laguna and others for meeting my needs. The extra throat width on the 540 is very desirable for what I want to do. Has anyone needed the extra resaw height of 16 or 20 inches? That is the only other thing I am not sure of. I have not been able to do any real resawing and don't know what is a reasonable vertical height number.
Thanks Again,
Gary Brewer

[Jamie Buxton]

Gary, when you start thinking about resaw height, you might also consider the width of your jointer and planer. If you resaw a tall board, will you also be able to face-joint before and after you've resawn it? Will you also be able to thickness the board? My take is that the three capacities should be the same. Buying a 20" resaw height may not do you too much good if your jointer is only 8". Me, I've stuck with 12" for all three capacities. That allows me to tackle nearly every board I see in the lumberyards these days.

[Mike Spanbauer]

Gary,

I've a friend who just acquired a 540 and it is a fine saw indeed. I've a newer MM16, and his 540 is of the same caliber.

The used MM you looked at may have been one of the older models, just be aware if you were critically reviewing it. It was an MM20 you said? Did it have the 20" resaw height? If so, it is the newest unit.

I looked at the Bridgewood very hard before buying my MM16, as at the time the 540 was $3200 delivered to my shop, and the MM16 was 2200 w/ the show special.

Centauro makes the MM line, ACM makes the bigger Laguna's and the nicer Bridgewoods (PBS Series). Both are high quality manufacturers and have great reputations. It REALLY comes down to service and your 'gut feel' of the vendor you are purchasing from. I am fairly confident you'll be happy with the equipment no matter which saw you choose. However, if you have an issue to solve w/ the vendor, you may change your tune and think that you chose poorly. It's really a service decision, as these saws are all really awesome.

G'luck!

mike

["Gary Brewer"]

Mike: The mm20 was the old style with a 16 resaw height. The mm16 was what I was going to get and it is a great saw. I saw someone's locally and tested it out. Very impressive. The 540 is also on sale and to Rochester NY the shipping is more reasonable than the Minimax from Texas so for me the 540 is a little more but not outrageous although the mm16 comes with all the extras and the 540 doesn't come with anything extra. The people at minimax have been nice to talk to. When I went down to Wilke yesterday they did seem a little stressed out but maybe its just the pressure of the season. What you said about the vendor really hit home though. How many thousandths of an inch off would your table top on your bandsaw have to be off in order to want it fixed? I had some concerns from a talk with the sales manager at Wilke on that one. The used minimax was scalloped down ( concave ) where the blade is by 11 thousandths of an inch. If you faced the machine from left to right it dropped down then back up. The worst place on the top to be off. I used a 24" veritas straight edge accurate to .001 and a veritas feeler gauge. I rejected the mm20 based on that. The service manager also felt it was off too much but the sales manager thought it was ok. If a new Bridgewood was off by that amount I wouldn't want it. Am I being too picky? I always thought that more than 5 thousandths at critical areas was too much.
Have you had to used the service department from Minimax and if so were you satisfied? I checked out the 540 on display for being flat and it was very good. I liked the larger wheels and American made motor.
Thanks,
Gary

[Greg Funk]

Mike: The used minimax was scalloped down ( concave ) where the blade is by 11 thousandths of an inch. If you faced the machine from left to right it dropped down then back up. The worst place on the top to be off. I used a 24" veritas straight edge accurate to .001 and a veritas feeler gauge. I rejected the mm20 based on that. The service manager also felt it was off too much but the sales manager thought it was ok. If a new Bridgewood was off by that amount I wouldn't want it. Am I being too picky? I always thought that more than 5 thousandths at critical areas was too much.

I've seen a few people on SMC concerned about the flatness of bandsaw tables and I understand wanting it to be flat when you are paying that much for a saw but I really have trouble understanding under what conditions it would be an issue. If you are resawing you are likely to be using a fence and only the edge of the board would be on the table. I can see needing flat co-planer tables on a jointer but on a bandsaw I'm not so sure. I would like to be enlightened if anyone has any experience with this. I have a Laguna and have yet to measure how flat the table is.

Greg

[Cameron Reddy]

... I have not been able to do any real resawing and don't know what is a reasonable vertical height number. ...

Well, can you see buying a big wide hunk of bubinga, say 17" wide x 90" x 2" and wanting to make a big table out of it? Or, maybe it's only 45" long and you need to resaw it to cover a countertop that is 90" long...

I'm very likely to do stuff like that, so for me the greater resaw height is important. I certainly don't feel limited to working with boards that will fit on my jointer... I've got a couple of great hand planes...

[Rick LoDico]

Anything with the Bridgewood name on it will be a fine machine. I've had four of their machines and all were high quality rugged machines. One of these was the PBS 440 band saw. It was indeed made by ACM although it was a Felder not a Laguna and made more for production than a Laguna. Grab it if it's a good price.

[Ed Griner]

I recently picked up a pbs540 after a lot of research and its a rock solid bandsaw.I don't know about the others,but this would be a solid investment.If I needed something resawn wider than the upper guide height,I'd find somebody with a woodmizer.One more thing,the person,who sold me the saw,has some really outstanding(figured maple,mahogany,walnut,cherry,etc)wide widths,located in se,pa.

Good luck Ed

[Matt Day]

Guys,

I think Gary made his decision already - the original post was from 2006!