Time for a new bandsaw...help me out...

[Jacques Gagnon]

Tim,

My apologies, I misled you. Malcolm’s review was about his new Rikon drill press.

J.

[Jim Becker]

Tim, if you can't find a stouter used Euro saw within reasonable distance, consider one of the heavier 16"-17"-18" Grizzly saws. A 14" saw is a 14" saw and they are not ideal for re-saw work for both stiffness and power reasons and the inability to tension the kind of blades that are generally preferred for that kind of activity. You CAN re-saw with a 14" saw as long as you are patient and are not doing it day-in-day-out, however. I'm very much a MiniMax fan and that's what I own, but what's most important is what you want to do with the tool and that dictates the size and capacities you need to go with, regardless of the color/brand.

[Justin Rapp]

Jim,

I have the Laguna he is looking at and it is not a light-weight 14" saw and built for resaw (at the hobby level) . However, it can only go up to a 3/4" blade, however plenty of choices out there.

[andy bessette]

The first thing I do every day is check Craigslist and Facebook marketplace for tools. I've been looking for a bandsaw for a year. The used tool market in my area is terrible. I am afraid of how long it would take to hold out for that bandsaw. Not sure how big it is either but I need something that can be mobile.

The MiniMax machines are mobile. A beautiful one just sold on this forum a couple weeks ago. Broaden your geographical range.

I recently sold an 8" Powermatic jointer to a fellow in Kentucky. He paid Fastenal only $200 to ship it to him from Los Angeles area. They do what is called third party shipping. Absolutely no reason to wait a year with zero results.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Tim,

My apologies, I misled you. Malcolm’s review was about his new Rikon drill press.

J.

I got the stuff to hopefully wire up the bandsaw this weekend. I did get both drill press and bandsaw but only did a review on the drill press so far. That said, I did a whole lot of research before buying the Rikon. I have used a Jet 18” regularly that I do not like for various reasons that I won’t bash them on here. The reasons I went with Rikon was: 3hp motor, blade brake, easiest adjustment on the market in my opinion, very well made, great bang for the buck, and a lot of thought in the details on this machine, such as the included resaw attachment for the fence and the keyed lockout (I have a small child and my shop is in the house.) Really when comparing other saws I can only think of one thing on any other saw I really liked better, and it was a gimmick- the disc brake on the Laguna. It looked like a motorcycle brake, but do I need a vented disc brake over just a plain old brake on a bandsaw? Nah. On my Bike, yes, but on a bandsaw I didn’t see that it made enough difference. The easily adjustable guides on the Rikon were a real sell for me. I hate setting up the Jet that I have free use of.

I depended a lot on reviews in my research, but did have hands-on with Powermatic, Jet, Laguna, Grizzly, and some “old iron” before landing on the Rikon. (Edit: all were good but the Rikon for me was the most for the money.) Soon I hope to have a review. I have a lot of parts to cut out for the boat build and some resawing to do.

Still have to put her together, which is bolting on the table and a few other parts and wiring the plug. I just redid three rooms in my house- busy week. No time.
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[Jacob Reverb]

Tim,

did you have look at Malcolm Schweiser’s review of the Rikon bandsaw he recently acquired? This could possibly be another option to consider.

+1

Been pleased with my 18" Rikon 10-345...

[Matthew Hills]

Looking to get a new bandsaw. I resawed a 6 foot long 5" 8/4 piece of walnut last night on my little 10" WEN bandsaw and it about died. Took me a good 20 minutes to make the cut, stalled multiple times, but she did the job. I was pretty proud of her.

Was this with a reasonably sharp, low-tpi blade?

Sounds like you had fun in the end!
(and sounds better than my early attempts to "resaw" 2" of maple with a scroll saw -- but the project got done in the end!)

Matt

[Tim M Tuttle]

Was this with a reasonably sharp, low-tpi blade?

Sounds like you had fun in the end!
(and sounds better than my early attempts to "resaw" 2" of maple with a scroll saw -- but the project got done in the end!)

Matt

It has a fairly new Wood Slicer from Highland Woodworking. I think it's 4tpi.

[Tim M Tuttle]

Okay, so I've read up quite a bit the last couple of days on bandsaws. Especially Laguna vs Grizzly. Here's what I've gathered...

Laguna can have spotty customer service. I've heard it's great and I've heard it's awful
I've heard very little negative about Grizzly's customer service

Laguna has ceramic guides to Grizzly's bearing. Everyone seems to love ceramic guides. I have no idea why one is better than the other so if anyone has any info there I'd appreciate it.

After reading more I think I am leaning more towards the 17-19" range. Specifically, the Laguna 18bx, Grizzly G0514X2, or Grizzly G0513X2BF. The bigger Grizzly and the 18bx are about the same price right now with Laguna's discount.

Fit and finish overall seems to favor Laguna. Not that Grizzly's arent good but the chances for a lemon from Grizzly are higher it appears.

One the warranty side Laguna wins 2 years to 1.

Overall, Laguna has more bells and whistles but I am not sure how much those bells and whistles will benefit me. Any other thoughts from you all on these saws would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[andy bessette]

...I've heard very little negative about Grizzly's customer service...

You really didn't try hard enough. Theirs is one of the worst in the industry and there are plenty of posts right here on SMC to back this up.

[Nick Decker]

I think you're very wise to lean toward the 17-18" range. Very little difference in shop footprint, big difference in what blades you can properly tension. I have a 14" Rikon. No problems with it, other than I wish I'd gone for a larger model. Most manufacturers, Rikon included, will advertise their saws as being able to "accept" a larger blade than they should. It won't take you long to confirm that. Buying a 3/4" blade for my Rikon was a waste of money. With a 1/2" blade, it's a very good 14" saw.

I can't speak to Grizzly, but I did closely compare Rikon and Laguna before buying. While the Laguna did seem to have a bit better fit and finish, the Rikon just seemed stronger. No nonsense might be a way I'd describe it. Couple that with the sketchy Laguna customer service that you mentioned, I went with Rikon.

Edit: I respectfully disagree with Andy's post. The impression that I have, from reading posts here, is that Grizzly's customer service is good.

[Malcolm McLeod]

I've had the Rikon 18" 10-370 (2.5hp) for 4-5yrs, and have not had any complaints.

Re-sawing 8-9" wide cherry and 10"w beech have been easy. I've occasionally run a poor quality 1" 2.5tpi blade on it - probably not ideal, but it worked.

[Rod Sheridan]

I'll pile on with a recommendation for saws in the 17" range as opposed to the 14" range.

Being able to tension a 3/4" 2 or 3 TPI blade will make a big difference in resaw ability..........Regards, Rod.

[Chapel Eastland]

Ordered a Grizzly 17" 513X2BF yesterday from Amazon. 1680.00 w/free shipping, no tax. Paid an additional 80.00 for an additional 4 year warranty.

Already heard from Grizzly advising it should be delivered next week with lift-gate service at no additional charge.

You can hear good service/bad service stories all day from all vendors and owners. In the end, this Grizzly gave me the best bandsaw bang for my bucks and what I want to do. In particular I wanted a switch and foot brake.

I looked at Laguna, Rikon, Powermatic, Jet, but went with the Grizzly. I'm not fond of the Laguna ceramic guides, the Powermatic 14" is old tech and hasn't been updated, the Rikon left me cold and underwhelmed, and the Jet wasn't for me.

So you see I have my biases, valid or not. Others will say the same/similar about Grizzly.

In the end, you pay your money and hopefully get what you want, and find out it's the bandsaw operator who brings the best out of each bandsaw.

[Cary Falk]

I current have a Grizzly G0513X2. It is a fantastic but I want something with a larger resaw. I have ceramic guides from Spaceage Ceramics on my saw. Do they do a better job than the bearings? I am not sure. They are much quieter which I appreciate. You can get them for Rikon as well. They probably not as easy to adjust as the Laguna ones. Not trying to hijack this thread but I have it narrowed down to the G0701, Laguna LT18 and the Rikon 10-347. The things I don't like about the Laguna are no below table dust port and it has only 18" resaw conmpaired to the other two at 19". The Laguna and Grizzly are roughly the same price by the time you factor shipping and tax for the Grizzly. I have always had great luck with Grizzly. Grizzly probably sells more equipment to hobbiest then all the other manufactures combined so you will see more complaints. I have delt with CS only a couple of times in the last 15 or so years and never had an issue with the results. Ther Rikon makes the list because it has everything on my list and the cost is almost half of the other 2. That also makes me wonder where the cost savings is and if I am going to spend this kind of money I want a serious saw. It is also about 200# lighter than the Grizzly and 150# less than the Laguna. That should muddie the water more for you