Bandsaws

[Pamela]

I am looking to buy a bandsaw, and would like information on different brands. I have looked at the Delta 14" at Home Depot but when I decided that this is the one I wanted they quit selling it, they seem to mainly sell Rigid now. I live near Kingston and don't have many places to look for large tool items in this area, only Home Depot and they don't have much variety. Any suggestions of places in Eastern Ontario to shop would be helpful.

[W.Y. in BC]

Don't be afraid of buying the Ridgid. I have one and it is an excellent saw . It does everything I could ever expect from a 14" one. Ridgid has a lifetime warranty..(against defective parts and workmanship). I use mine a lot and it's over 2 years old.
W.Y.

[Bud Christiansen]

Depends on what you are thinking of doing with the bandsaw. If what you're looking for is a saw that will cut curvy lines in flat stock up to a couple of inches thick, just about any saw will do. If you intend to resaw wide stock, you will probably find the Ridgid 3/4 hp motor woefully underpowered, particularly for hardwoods. In fact, even my 1 hp Delta sweats when I'm resawing wide maple or the like, and that's with a Timberwolf blade on it. My best advice would be to decide what you need the saw to do for you, and then repost the question. I'm sure that you'll get some quality answers here. Among the regular denizens on this forum we probably own just about every make and model of saw on the market, and believe me, we're not shy about telling everyone about their good and bad points. One general caveat... watch out for the cheepie offshore clones unless you are prepared to do a fair bit of tweaking to get your brand new saw to cut properly.

[Andy in Georgetown]

Hi Pamela,
Bud is correct with his comment "decide what you need the saw to do for you". Unfortunately most of us do not have a crystal ball so it is almost impossible to answer that question accurately. I have bought more than a couple of tools large and small that are unable to do what I want NOW, although they appeared to be adequate as little as 12 months ago.
If you can use someones BS do so, it's a great way to learn what you want. Read as much as you can, most libraries have at least 3 or 4 bandsaw books on their shelves. Come back here each and every time you have a question.
A good question would be "what does everyone own, what do they use their BS's for, what would they change if they could, would they buy the same model again"? I will start:
Model.Delta 14" 1hp, no riser yet.
Uses. Cutting rockers and other large radii s?
What would I change. Better dust collection
Would I buy again. Maybe but I have not yet used it to the maximum e.g. re-sawing. So far it has not disappointed me, but it was expensive.
Hope this helps, good luck......Andy.

[Mike in Calgary]

Buy the Ridgid and put riser blocks on it any you won't find anything better.
Mike

[Barry in London]

Hi Andy. Being a newbie I'll ask what may be a dumb question. Wouldn't a scroll saw and a jig saw be ALMOST as good as a BS for a lot less cost? Would it depend on how much woodworking you're doing? (Time factor.)

Regards

Barry

[Woody]

Hi Pamela,

I bought a Ridgid 2 years ago, with a riser block. It's fine for small work. But when I started resawing 6" or 7" thick hardwood, the motor (3/4 HP) had to strain.

I've just bought a 1.5 HP motor ($300 from Princess Auto) and installed it on the saw. Now it cuts like an industrial beast. If you want resawing power, do it right the first time and get a more powerful machine.

On the other hand though, Ridgid's customer service is 2nd to none. They are truly excellent and knowledgeable about their products (not the cust. service in Markham, but the one in Tennessee).

Woody.

[Harry in Sutton]

Hi Barry,
you totally correct. It will depend on the work you try to do. A bandsaw will cut faster and more accurate through two inch material than a jig saw. For thin stock, 1 inch and less, a scroll saw will cut smaller radii, although very slow. However, try resawing 6 inch stock with anything but a bandsaw and you are out of luck. Like anything else, you need to judge the need for tool based on your projects. Since I never know what I need next, I have them all.
Harry

[Bud Christiansen]

Dead on, Andy. Here's my bandsaw story....14 in. 1 hp Delta with riser block and Accusquare fence. Mostly used with an auxilliary high fence for resawing wide hardwoods. (My wife Lyn does fretwork.) I was just about set to buy the Laguna 16HD, but I couldn't justify the huge price difference, since the Delta I wound up with had been to a couple of shows as a display unit and was in last year's colour, and was severely discounted. If I had to pay the real price for it, I would have gone for the Laguna with its extra power, but I'm not complaining (too much). If I ever get time, I'm planning on building a couple of goodies like a circle cutting jig to make the saw even more useful.

[Bud Christiansen]

A P.S regarding the dust collection issue. I picked up a 4" plastic port (Woodstock Int.) at my local tool supplier, cut a hole in the bottom wheel cover door, and mounted it with mounting tape. A 90 elbow and a short piece of flex hose completed the installation. I can resaw a hundred feet of 12 in. maple and not have enough dust in the air or on the saw to even see. Chester may have a better idea (after all, that's his business) but it works for me. I agree that the stock dust collection setup SUCKS!

[Randy Gillard]

King 1403 (enclosed base). Bought used (1 year old). Took some tweaking, but runs fine now. Lots of power. Resaw 6" oak very well.

Randy

[W.Y. in BC (smoke in the]

Bud;I'm contemplating doing the same thing. Did you cut the 4" hole in the bottom right, (facing the cover from the outside), bottom left,, or top right or elsewhere and what did you use to cut it out with.
W.Y.

[J.P.Rap Hamilton]

I have a 14" King with riser block.
It took quite a bit of work to get it up to snuf but it does everything I want it to now.
What would I change? More power(3/4HP sucks)
Would I buy it again? If price was no object...no...but given my financial situation ,I have no regrets.
Under the same circumstances I would do the same thing in a heart beat.
J.P.

[Bud Christiansen]

Bottom right, Bill. I made a cardboard template of the flange, removed the door, then cut the opening using my jigsaw and a very fine blade. If your jigsaw doesn't have an accessory sole plate for scratch-free work (mine does) I'd suggest covering the whole door with masking tape first. Start to finish the whole operation took about an hour.