My wife got a new car, and I finagled a new band saw out of the negotiation. My problem is that I have don't own a band saw and haven't used one in 20 years. I can look at pictures of bandsaws until I am blue in the face, but what should I look for. My main use for the band saw would be resawing and cutting turning blanks. I don't make many curved items. I have determined I would get an 18" band saw, since the wood workers that start out with the 14" seem to upgrade with extreme regularity and it would be better for resawing. None of the nearby stores have any of the 18" band saws set up so I can look at them.
I have sort of settled on one of the asian made bandsaws, since they will be lighter on the wallet. The Jet bandsaws come with a 1.5 or 3 Hp, the Steel City a 2HP, the Rikon a 2.5 HP, and the Grizzly G0514X2 a 3 HP motor. How much does motor size matter? The Rikon, Jet, and Steel City have all had price increases since the beginning of the year, but the Grizzly has not yet. So the Grizzly is the better deal by over $100. Are any of the other band saws significantly better or sturdier to justify paying a premium over the Grizzly?
Thanks,
Mike