My wife, who absolutely hates gift buying for me, said it is cool if I buy a band saw for Christmas. To her credit she never says no, rarely asks what it costs but I still like getting her approval for bigger purchases. She did ask if it would expand my ability to create projects and that was enough for her to be on board. I am a lucky man.

So your opinions and on the best 14" band saw under $1000 ($800 ideally) would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to break the upper price limit and I am not really interested in shopping used. Where I live the used market for a quality machines is very limited although I just missed getting a two year old Powermatic PWBS-14CS yesterday on craigslist. For $850 I knew it would go to the first buyer.

I do like the Rikon 10-326 but it is 100 dollars over my self imposed limit and the 10-324 seems like a nice compromise. I can upgrade the guides to a Carter set down the road if I really feel the need. Compared to most people on this forum I am a marginal hobbyist woodworker and my greatest limitation will probably always be my skill set and not the machine. Thanks in advance and Happy Thanksgiving.