# Which Band Saw to Buy???



## Marauderer (Jan 5, 2008)

I have read all the articles in the archieves on the pros and cons of Band Saws vs. Table Saws. I have Googled the heck out of Band Saws and Resawing. I am going to purchase a Band Saw. The primary train use will be to resaw cedar/redwood to make miniature lumber for building Trestles, Bridges, and Buildings. I am specifically looking at a Grizzly 14” Band Saw. 

http://www.grizzly.com/products/14-2-HP-Deluxe-Bandsaw/G0457 

All comments and suggestions are solicited.


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## afinegan (Jan 2, 2008)

Buy this one: /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/whistling.gif 



















(Pictures from Dwight's posting http://www.mylargescale.com/Community/Forums/tabid/56/forumid/4/postid/26493/view/topic/tpage/1/Default.aspx) 

LOL


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## Marauderer (Jan 5, 2008)

Andrew are you talking about the saw or the operator?? IMWTK!


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

This isn't much help but or what it's worth: I have a Delta 12 inch bandsaw, and even though it's on the low end it's probably the single most useful tool I own. I use it all the time--I've made guitars with it, I've used it to cut firewood down to 6 inches for our small woodstove, I've used it to make boxes for presents, it'll cut brass track; I've cut miters and tenons with it. It can do a lot of things a table saw does without kickback or a big honkin' kerf. Even though it's an entry level shop tool it's held up very well 

What I wish mine had: 

14 inch resaw capability 
slightly deeper throat 
a good fence--I have to use a level and some clamps 
ball bearing blade guides 

That saw has every feature I'd want--it looks great.


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## Marauderer (Jan 5, 2008)

Thanks for the input Lownote. 

I have a table saw and a lot of other equipment but sold my Craftsman 12" bandsaw several years ago becuse it was a pain in the butt to get it set up correctly and then it would drift out very quickly. 

It looks like with a bandsaw there is no substitute for quality. 

That doesn't mean that some of the more inexpensive saws do not have quality but some of them are definitely cheap and won't perform.


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## Lawrence Wallace (Jan 2, 2008)

Here is a collection of jigs for your new Band saw when you get it. 

http://users.stratuswave.net/~wd8jik/bjig/bandsaw.htm


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## Marauderer (Jan 5, 2008)

Thanks Yogi, There is a wealth of knowledge on those pages.


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## Mike O (Jan 2, 2008)

Barry, 

About a year ago I bought a General International 14” band saw from our local Woodcraft Store http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=5944 . I looked at Grizzly, Jet, Delta, Powermatic and probably some others. GI was a bit more expensive than some but I rated it almost as good as the Powermatic. It had the features I wanted including roller blade guides, rip fence and miter gauge, two speed (slower for cutting plastic), lever blade tension release, six spoke blade wheels, a 1 HP motor, and a large table. It came fully assembled in two boxes, a base and the saw. Box to operation was about 30 minutes with minimum adjustment to the wheels for blade alignment. I’ve been very hap with it and wish I had bought a band saw earlier. 

Hope this helps. 
Mike


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## Marauderer (Jan 5, 2008)

Thanks Mike, The General is one of the saws i am considering. It has a lot of quality features including the resawing fence which is a major consideration for me.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

I read somewhere that there is a speed differance between a Bandsaw used for wood and a bandsaw used for metal. 

Do you guy recomend that one has two bandsaws, one for each purpose? 

Wood badsaws are a dime a dozen 

What brand do you suggest for metal?


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## Marauderer (Jan 5, 2008)

I have a couple of metal bandsaws that I use in my machine shop. What are you planing to use it for is the big question and then I can make some recommendations. I know that I personally would have one for each wood and one for metal working. Do you want a verticle blade saw or a horizontal blade saw?


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

I own a Delta. It's going on 15 years old and has served me very well. All of my shop tools are Delta, DeWalt or Makita. I've had and heard horror stories associated with Grizzly. You get what you pay for..


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## Marauderer (Jan 5, 2008)

Posted By Dave F on 05/04/2008 1:40 PM
I've had and heard horror stories associated with Grizzly. You get what you pay for.. 




Dave thanks for the input. I have had several Grizzly tools and have been happy with all of them. Yes, you do get what you pay for and the Stinkin Grizzly is expensive. Nice web site I signed the guest book.


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

Barry, admittedly the experience I had with my grizzly products was 20 years ago and was on a low end table saw. The warp in the table was visible from 20 feet away. I would hope (just to stay in business) that they have improved their quality over the years. If you've had good experiences with them, I may need to give them a second look. 

Thanks for dropping in on my site. I always appreciate those who take a moment to say hi in the guest log. Check in often in the coming months. The "Big Spring Expansion" begins in a week or so, I'll be doccumenting the process and posting updates regularly.


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## Marauderer (Jan 5, 2008)

Dave, I marked your web site and I will be checking in on a regular basis. Grizzly sure is different today than 20 yrs. ago. Just like most brands you need to stay away from their entry level series. I was at the Grizzly store in Springfield, MO last October. Wow, I could have dropped a couple hundred K in there in about 20 min. But alas, I didn't have 200K or the floor space to set it up  They have some really nice equipment now.


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## pimanjc (Jan 2, 2008)

I have the Harbor Freight 12in. variable speed bandsaw. It has wood and soft metal blades available for about $9. The saw sells for $124.99. 
The quality is not great, sometimes the blade comes off the rollers, but it does the job for me. 
JimC.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

I have a 14" Delta which works fine. It is built for cutting wood but I changed the driven pully to a 12" in order to slow down the blade speed for cutting brass. It takes a 62 1/2 inch blade and I am able to get metal cutting blades at Home Depot. A variable speed or easily changable pulley set would be a nice thing to have if you want to cut wood and metals, especially a very low speed for cutting steel.


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## markperr (Jan 7, 2008)

Two recommendations: 

1) Buy Quality 

2) Stay away from Craftsman 

I'm thoroughly disappointed with the one I owned. It sits dormant in my garage. It has much problems with the motor wheel and it slips. It bogs down easily and the table top is not designed to accept a fence of any kind without major modifications. 

Mark


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## paperbender1960 (Jan 3, 2008)

I bought the Powermatic 14" and love it. It comes with roller bearing blade guides. Purchase better blades, they are worth it in the long run. I cut all of my stripwood on it. 

Glen


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## Marauderer (Jan 5, 2008)

Glen, the Powermatic is suppose to be a great saw. I know they are really proud of it. Since I started this thread i have looked at a lot of other saws besides the Grizzly I started off with. Currently I am leaning towards the JET 18". I have myself convinced that the larger saw will give me more resawing capabilities than a 14 " saw. I have also looked at the General and the Delta. In resawing, like for making model lumber I can do a lot more with a larger saw.


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## Mike O (Jan 2, 2008)

Barry, 

I agree. If you are going to be doing a lot of resawing, the larger saw is probably the way to go. Might want to also check your power supply. Some tools require 20 amps and most house circuits are 15 amps. I had to pull a couple of 30 amps circuits to handle the surge load on some of my motors. 

Mike


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## Marauderer (Jan 5, 2008)

Thanks Mike, I have three 220V 50A circuits in the garage/shop already. Lots of welders and machine shop lathe and mill. Thinking of building a detached two car garage for the woodworking and trains.


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## denray (Jan 5, 2008)

I have owned three, and The Lagauna is by far the best, great for resawing 
Dennis


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## Marauderer (Jan 5, 2008)

Dennis, Thanks for the input. The Lagunas are great saws but I am not willing to spend that much on a saw. I finally made a decision and ordered a Grizzly G0514X2, which is on back order till 6/20. I want to thank all that responded and I will post the results of the new saw when it arrives and after i get it set up and sawing.


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## Marauderer (Jan 5, 2008)

Well the BS came in early and it is in the garage getting set up. I was really pleasantly suprised when they called and said it was going to be in early. I picked it up at the UPS frieght terminal (used to be Overnite shipping. Had to take the table and wheels (cast iron) off to lighten it up to get off the trailer. I hope to have it up a running by next weekend if possible (a lot going on at the Reade Ranch this week. I would submit pictures but it is getting to hard on this new format


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Well, its too late now, but for what its worth, the table saw is by for the best all round saw to have. For years, I was a cabinet maker and had my own small shop and did without a bandsaw. The few times I need to do curves, I did them with a hand held scroll saw. 
Here is a couple of things you can do with a table saw that you can't do with a band saw. 
1. Cut a clean glueable joint. With the right blade and finger boards, you don't even need to sand 
2. Cut dadoos, either with multiple passes with a flat bevel blade, or with a dado blade 
3. Cut clean rabats length wise 
4. Dimension small sized lumber (lots of waist, even with thin curved blades, but less sanding) 
5. Cutt crown molding details on wide boards. I've down this several times, but for the most parts its not something everyone should or can do. 
I only bought a bandsaw, a couple of years ago when I started building ship models. It was a jet 18". It can resaw up to 10 inches and takes blades as small as 1/8" thick. I really like it, but I do not dimension lumber with it.


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## Marauderer (Jan 5, 2008)

"Shaka Bro". I got the band saw for mostly resawing. I do have a Dewalt 10" contractors saw and 12" compound miter saw that I also use. I have a Freud 10" dado set that is great. Maybe should have gotten the 8" dado set instead of the 10". Thanks for the input and have a "Primo" for me.


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Aloha awa kea, 
Then you are set fine. A bandsaw is a great addition to your shop. I use mine a lot to resaw.


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

What does "resawing" mean?


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Jim

Basically it means cutting something thick on the band saw in one pass that would take two passes on a table saw. Usually meaning cutting something in an orientation where the object being cut is taller than it is wide, making for an unsafe condition on a table saw.


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## Marauderer (Jan 5, 2008)

From Wikipedia: A resaw is a large bandsaw optimized for cutting timber along the grain to reduce larger sections into smaller sections or veneers. Resawing veneers requires a wide blade - commonly 2" to 3" (52 - 78 mm) - with a small kerf to minimize waste. Resaw blades of up to 1" (26 mm) may be fitted to a standard bandsaw. 

Basically you are using your bandsaw as a saw mill.


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