Bandsaws- what would be your choice?

[mowerman1193]

I been considering buying a bandsaw. Looking to use it for both resawing thick boards into thinner boards to use for scroll sawing. and also to make some bandsaw boxes.. I have a cheapy bandsaw ( Ryobi 10") but it isn't very useful for these type projects..

What saw would you recommend for this type of work? Not looking to get a huge saw. and would like something in the $500 price range..

I have heard good things in the past about the Rikon 10" saw.. Not sure of others but recall reading about these. Any word about the Steel City brand? My local woodcraft store has this brand.. though I do not know what the pricing is on these.. Really like to buy local but open to online too I suppose

Kevin

[SteveK]

I bought the Rikon 10" from Woodcraft for breaking down boards for carving and other. Good saw, but I wouldn't think it would resaw.

[stephenD]

Get the biggest badest widest blade saw you can. I have an old sears saw that takes 1/2 " blades and really want one that takes 3/4" blades, just for the resaw stuff.
Once you get the saw, buy the best blades you can. It will make you smile.

[Rolf]

I have an older Delta 16 with the 6" riser I can re-saw a tad over 12".
It is a Model 28-475X I bought when a local woodworking store went out of business it has 1-1/2 HP motor. I added Carter roller bearings that gave me the a bit larger throat.
I have used a variety of re-saw blades and on a lark decides to try this Infinity blade http://www.infinitytools.com/93-1_2-...BSB-093.625IR/
It is amazing. Re-sawing requires a bit of horsepower and good guides. Also the saw has to be properly tuned.
I would look for a saw with a 12 inch+ hight 16" throat. I don't think the risers are available anymore for the older saws.

[theframer]

Rolf is correct, the riser block for the Delta Bandsaw is no longer available. I have learned from experience that the "GREEN" version of their riser block does not match up, so unless you are a machinist or have a close friend who is, it will cost you a ton of money to get the other vendors riser to work. I'm sur you can figure out how I know this.

[mowerman1193]

Thanks for the tips.. I am guessing that unless I hunt around for a used saw my $500 ball park isn't going to buy what I need. Will be keeping an eye on craigslist etc.. Oh and by the way.. I do know a machinist quite well..

Kevin

[Earl the Scroll Sawer]

I have the Sears saw that is the same as the Rikon 10". I'm very happy with it but no way would it works for resawing. You need a heavy, big saw for that with a big blade.

[wood-n-things]

I have the 0555x from grizzly it is a 14" and i bought the riser kit with it. I love it and it does a great job re-sawing or fine cutting with a smaller blade. i use the timber wolf blades.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/14-E...Bandsaw/G0555X

[Bill Wilson]

A 14" saw with a 1 HP motor is not really big enough to do a lot of resawing efficiently, IMHO. They'll manage OK, but it's tedious and time consuming. I also have a Grizzly G0555 14" saw, with the riser kit, but rarely find myself resawing stock that wide. I found that, for my purposes, it's easier and faster to resaw 6" or less widths and glue up panels if I need wider stock. If I were to do it over again, I'd be in the market for a 17" saw with a minimum 2HP motor. It would handle a 3/4" resaw blade better than a 14". May even be able to use a 1" blade, which would be even better suited to resawing.

[grandpuppies]

It is more money than you mentioned but if you want a really good bandsaw nothing beats the Laguna 14" saw. If you can the 14"SUV is fantastic. With good blades it can do just about any thing you want it to with no problems. There are some sales going on now so you can probably get a good deal. Happy hunting.

[mowerman1193]

When I say I want to resaw..I am talking about a max. height of around 6" for the most part would be 4-5" for making ornaments.. You see my brother owns a lumber mill and I can get a lot of his scraps... but most lumber is 1 - 1-1/2 sometimes 2 inch thick.. I have a planer but just a light duty ryobi 13in. and taking lumber from 1+ inch down to 1/8 - 1/4 inch takes a lot of time and makes me a large pile of sawdust.. I have re-sawen some just with my little freebe ryobi bandsaw.. but that is a slow process.. Been thinking a better saw would save me time money and piles of sawdust. LOL.. My brother will let me resaw after hours but I have to change over the equipment and change it back.. which is somewhat a job.. on the machines he has.. and is not really worth it unless I was doing a truck load at a time.. take longer to set it up than to resaw the truckload on his machine too, LOL The machine he has takes two people to run it too.. you set up the width boards you want by spacers between the blades an have one person loading the boards and another catching them at the other end.. and it goes as fast as you can load it, LOL

[luckypup]

I resaw regularly with a delta 12 inch and a 1/2 inch blade. Usually 3 to 5 inch material. Like you, for ornaments and such. Bigger would be better but maybe not necessary.

Ray

[Jim Finn]

I re-saw over 400 board feet every year for seven years now using my one HP GO555 with riser. Mostly red cedar but some walnut, maple and oak. I started using 5/8" Woodslicer blades for re-sawing and they work well but dull quickly. I now use Supercut 1/2" carbide "gold" blades and love them. They are a little cheaper than the Woodslicer and last five times as long. I get zero drift re-sawing eight inch and six inch boards, using a re-saw fence.

[Rolf]

Jim How is the finish with that blade?

[Jim Finn]

The finish on the cut is about the same as with other blades. Will require planning as all band saw cuts do.