Which Band Saw Do You Use?
- Thread starter DonL
- Start date
Knifemaker.ca
Dealer - Purveyor
I had a small (10"?) sears bandsaw. It was fine for cutting out scale profiles, but cutting scales from blocks is a resaw operation and I wasn't happy till I got my 14" saw. (You wouldn't recognize the brand, but they all come out of the same Chinese factory). Even then, it took a lot of tuning and good quality blades just to get a good set of scales out of a block. Can't give you a good recommendation - but maybe some realistic expectations.
Tom Militano
KNIFE MAKER
I have a cheap Harbor Freight band saw that I bought about 15 years ago. I only paid somewhere around $150.00 and I've never had a problem, believe it or not. I use bi-metal blades on it.
Mike Martinez
Well-Known Member
From time to time you just have to bite the bullet and go for it. I went through a bunch of cheap band saws through the years before I realized that it was costing more to go cheap than it would be purchasing a great one. After attending some local demonstrations at local woodworking stores, I decided to go with a Powermatic 14" (strictly wood) as it cut the best with the least amount of issues. The price wasn't too bad either, 956.00 delivered to my front door with a free riser (needed for full "14" usage), great resaw fence and work light. In my experience, nothing in that price range can touch it and even if you go more expensive, the only one that holds a candle is the Laguna saws but its nearly double the price.
DonL
Well-Known Member
Dont laugh...I use a harbor freight porta band mounted on a table I built. It's not perfect, but it was what I can afford.
Sorry Lagrange, but I'm LMAO! :lol: Because I have that same model mounted to a piece of Landscape timber clamped down in my Workmate!! I guess great minds think alike! (hey, can I see that back of that thing...might want to make something similar. It can be hard to cut on the little workpiece that comes with that model)
Thanks everyone for the recommendation. I was thinking more along the lines of a wood cutting bench top bandsaw. It never occurred to me to try my little HF porta band to cut out profiles in scales, but I may give it a try.
Diamond G Knives
Well-Known Member
I have a Dewalt porta band that i really like. I used a Milwaukee for years before it got ripped off. You will be suprised at just how functional this set up can be! I know a lot of folks are leary of Ebay, but Igot mine for $127 shipped! Came with a 14 day return from a pawn shop in CO.
Good Luck and God Bless
Mike
Good Luck and God Bless
Mike
C Craft
Well-Known Member
Here is my set up with a Dewalt.Remove the handle that came with it and make the bracket to bolt in where the handle was. Made the table and tied the switch down and it plugs into a foot switch.
I love it! It is one of those things you will say, "I don't know how I got along without it"! When the blade that comes with it dies order some DIEMASTER 2®
Engineered for Contour Cutting. Here is one site you can order them from. http://www.toolcenter.com/BANDSAW_BLADES.html
They are a little expensive but are well worth the money as one will outlast ten of the others!
I love it! It is one of those things you will say, "I don't know how I got along without it"! When the blade that comes with it dies order some DIEMASTER 2®
Engineered for Contour Cutting. Here is one site you can order them from. http://www.toolcenter.com/BANDSAW_BLADES.html
They are a little expensive but are well worth the money as one will outlast ten of the others!
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DonL
Well-Known Member
Wow, I like that set up! I may have to try and modify my HF saw a little more!
@ Diamond G
I get some of my best bargains off of ebay. Not as many as I use to back in the day, but still plenty of good deals on supplies, tools and other stuff that I just can't live without! Whenever I need something, I go to ebay then to Amazon and if I draw a blank on both places, I will then end up Googling it!
@ Diamond G
I get some of my best bargains off of ebay. Not as many as I use to back in the day, but still plenty of good deals on supplies, tools and other stuff that I just can't live without! Whenever I need something, I go to ebay then to Amazon and if I draw a blank on both places, I will then end up Googling it!
whiteeugene
Well-Known Member
C Craft I like the foot switch Idea but cutting in flip flops is seems a little dangerous to me.
I may be picking up a used Craftsman 12" tomorrow off CL very reasonably priced. Not sure about it yet but seems to have decent reviews on some other forums. BTW, what exactly is recutting? I've seen that term used a bunch lately while looking for bandsaws but I dont know what it is.
DonL
Well-Known Member
For the record, I bought the 10" Craftsman saw at Sears. After reading all the reviews on the Ryobi at HD and the Skil model at Lowes, I just didn't feel like taking the chance. The Craftsman 9" is in the same league as the two already mentioned and it has about the same poor reviews. So I paid a little more and bought the 10" benchtop just to cut blocks for scales and to cut out the scales once they're epoxied to the blade.
Later on I intend to buy a quality 14" or larger model for resawing logs into blocks and scales.
@Cojab
Resawing is where you take a much larger piece of wood and cut it down. For example, you could take a 4x4 and cut it down to 2x4's or 1x4's or 2x2's or just about any size you wanted. You could even cut veneer from the 4x4. All this depends on the quality of the blade you have on your bandsaw. Most come with cheap blades and you'll need to spend $15 to $25 for a quality blade.
Later on I intend to buy a quality 14" or larger model for resawing logs into blocks and scales.
@Cojab
Resawing is where you take a much larger piece of wood and cut it down. For example, you could take a 4x4 and cut it down to 2x4's or 1x4's or 2x2's or just about any size you wanted. You could even cut veneer from the 4x4. All this depends on the quality of the blade you have on your bandsaw. Most come with cheap blades and you'll need to spend $15 to $25 for a quality blade.
Frank Hunter
Well-Known Member
I have the green Rikon 10" 305. It's Chinese, and the factory blade is total junk. As for the good points, it's one of the best quality Chinese machines I've seen, good replacement blades were affordable, it was under 270 shipped, and it is definitely enough saw for me to cut my handle materials to size.
DonL
Well-Known Member
@ Frank,
From what I understand, Rikon makes the Craftsman 10" bandsaw like I bought. It looks just like the 10" 305 and some say they are the same, only the Sears is black with the Craftsman logo. And I agree, the factory blade is junk. Looking at a Woodslicer blade now. Which blades have you found work best?
From what I understand, Rikon makes the Craftsman 10" bandsaw like I bought. It looks just like the 10" 305 and some say they are the same, only the Sears is black with the Craftsman logo. And I agree, the factory blade is junk. Looking at a Woodslicer blade now. Which blades have you found work best?
Meridian Blades
Moderator - Knife Maker
Metal is the dewalt below, and wood is Rikon Deluxe 14.
Frank Hunter
Well-Known Member
DonL
I use the "LENOX DIEMASTER 2 Bandsaw Blade Engineered for Contour Cutting" in the 10/14V tooth, 3/8" blade, .025 thick. I picked them up off of bandsawbladesdirect.com and had to buy 4 of them to qualify for the free shipping on $100+ orders, so I've got blades for the life of the saw at this rate. It's not a scroll saw but I can follow the contour a little bit, I bet a 1/4" blade would work better for that. I'm not much of a sawyer.
I use the "LENOX DIEMASTER 2 Bandsaw Blade Engineered for Contour Cutting" in the 10/14V tooth, 3/8" blade, .025 thick. I picked them up off of bandsawbladesdirect.com and had to buy 4 of them to qualify for the free shipping on $100+ orders, so I've got blades for the life of the saw at this rate. It's not a scroll saw but I can follow the contour a little bit, I bet a 1/4" blade would work better for that. I'm not much of a sawyer.