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Randy Lucius

Randy Lucius

Well-Known Member
I came in from the shop to supper last night and was gripping and complaining about my tabletop band saw. It's just a cheap piece of junk. Constantly tinkering and adjusting to get it cut a half-way decent straight line. I told the wife I was about ready to take a sledge hammer to it. She said "Oh, hush. You made enough money on knives this week. Go buy you a better one."
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Hey, I might just do that. Anybody have any recommendations on a decent one or are they all junk?
 
Hi Randy.

I have a Milwaukee brand variable speed. It cuts and cuts using 14 tpi blades. I cut all my stock, both metal and handle material with it.
The blades are the same brand and I have broken only two pushing hard and trying tight curves. Knew better both times. :-0
The only things I don’t like about it is the length of cut (could use an angled blade) and the built in light -mainly useless and stays off.
I built a stand for it out of wood, but I think a swag table/stand and a foot switch is in its future.
My two cents....
Scott
 
Randy Lucius said:
Just handle materials. I have a Dewalt and a swag table for steel. I have a full size band saw too but I need to get a fence for it.
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get the fence for it. If you would like, I will LOAN you my copy of "The bandsaw handbook" all the info you need to set up and tune your bandsaw. The book is by a guy namesd Mark Duginske and you may be able to find it on Amazon or ebay. I got mine on ebay for like five bucks. more info than you will ever use!
 
Bruce McLeish said:
get the fence for it. If you would like, I will LOAN you my copy of "The bandsaw handbook" all the info you need to set up and tune your bandsaw. The book is by a guy namesd Mark Duginske and you may be able to find it on Amazon or ebay. I got mine on ebay for like five bucks. more info than you will ever use!
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Appreciate it Bruce. I'll look for a copy.
 
With my little jig and the saw tuned right I can get a pretty decent cut. It's just the constant fiddling with it that's a pain in the butt.

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I got the 10" Rikon. One that is a one speed ~2500rpm (mine) and the other is a 2 speed 1500/2500 or similar. It has bearings. They all take a bit of fiddling, but anything with bearing guides will do pretty decent resaw work. That 2 speed would probably do g10 better than my one speed, but it gets it done with a bimetal blade.
 
I have a Craftsman 10". One of the most effective changes I did was to put neoprene tires on the wheels. I think that book Bruce mentioned sounds like a good one. I'll have to get that myself.
 
I've found that the wider the blade the better when re-sawing, and crank up the tension to reduce wandering. So I would say find the one that takes the widest blade and fits your budget and space and isn't junk. Sorry I don't have model recommendation on a bench top, but I've been happy with my Grizzly Jet 14". (IDK why I said Grizzly. I know its a Jet, just had Grizzly on my mind. I did just buy sanding belts from Grizzly though...)
 
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Depending on what you want to cut with the bandsaw. If only scale materials the standard bandsaw will work good. BUT, if you wish to cut metal you really need to slow blade speed down to around 200 to 400 SFPM or so. I finally bit the bullet and found a used 14" Rikon that is a 2 speed, 1500/3200 SFPM. I added the DVR speed control from Rikon for the saw and now control speed from 50 SFPM to 4,000 SFPM. I'm really impressed with this saw - it works really good for metal in the 200 to 400 SFPM range and for wood up in the 3,000 SFPM I'm more than impressed. I never thought a saw could work that good.
 
If you're mostly unhappy with how it cuts as in resawing (thinning scales), then the most important thing is tuning your saw properly as Bruce mentioned and making sure your table is flat/true/perpendicular to the blade. Also I agree with Tim....get the widest blade possible (from teeth to spine)....1/2" is nice. 3/8" works pretty good.

A fence on a bandsaw really doesnt work the way they do on a table saw. A high quality fence on a good table saw is a much different design than a table saw fence.

In all reality, get your saw and table dialed in, get a wide blade and you wont need a fence at all. I haven't used a fence on mine in years.
 
Thanks to the video that Jesse posted my little cheap tabletop bandsaw is running better that ever.

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My big bandsaw. Not so much. Blade wobbles. I think the blade is bad. What do you guys think? Which blade would you recommend as a replacement and what speed should I run it at. It has four speeds on a step pulley system and I think it's on the slowest speed right now. It will mostly be used for resawing scales. Thanks!!

 
usually, on wood faster is better . also a wide (1/2 or 3/4 inch wide blade is better with 3 or 4 tpi (teeth per inch) in a skip tooth configuration. Then go thru your tune up procedure and you are good to go
 
Bruce McLeish said:
usually, on wood faster is better . also a wide (1/2 or 3/4 inch wide blade is better with 3 or 4 tpi (teeth per inch) in a skip tooth configuration. Then go thru your tune up procedure and you are good to go
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Hey Bruce. What do you think about the blade in the video? Is it bad? The saw has been tuned.
 
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