Advice needed: Stick with my Powermatic 141?

[Pat Fitzsimmons]

Do I dump/sell the 141 and purchase a Grizzly $500 BS or do I try reworking the 141? The problem w/ the 141 is the tension mechanism. Tensioning via the hand wheel/spring/sliding blocks binds and prevents the tensioning or 'detensioning' of the blade. Also, adjusting the lower blade guides is a real pain. Also, the crowned rubbers are shot and it doesn't look like crowned rubber replacements are available.

However, it seems that the 141 should be a grand dame. But, my inclination is not to try a rejuvenate the 141 and purchase a Grizzly. Comments/advice needed. Thank you.

[johnny means]

If you have $500 to spend, you could get an awesome set of guides, new tires, and a few nice blades and have a great saw with a nice compliment of upgrades. Or you can get a new bare bones saw, that you will soon have you wishing for those upgrades. The tensioning issue most likely just needs a little fiddling. I would stick with the PM and throw my resources at a known winner.

[Mark Ashmeade]

Hmm...

I have a Grizzly G0513P bandsaw. I got it when the Polar Bears first came out, $100 off at the time. I can say it was a HUGE step up from the RIDGID BS it replaced. That said, the guides aren't my favorite feature of it, I'd rather have ball bearing guides. All in all, a reasonable saw for reasonable money.

However, it is no Powermatic. The Grizz shares the shop with a 66, a 15S and a 60B. There's a quality gap between the Grizz and the PMs. If I already had had a PM bandsaw, I wouldn't have bought the Grizz, I'd have invested in the Pm to address any deficiencies. It wasn't worth doing that with a RIDGID BS.

People who drive Mercedes-Benz don't change them out for Fords.

So while I like my Grizzly bandsaw, I can't recommend one over Powermatic quality, especially the McMinnville ones.

Good luck.