Greetings All, After looking at Delta and Jet, someone here mentioned the Rikon line. I have never seen one live and in person. Does anyone have any experience with the 10-340 18" 2HP? I see it advertised for $999 US. comparing it to the others, it seems like a good deal. I just wonder if this is one of those "you get what you pay for" situations.... Mark L.
The latest wood magazine has a comparison of these large band saws and Rikon took top honors.
To save you a little google research I'll repeat what I've said before. I bought mine from Woodcraft a few months ago. Took seeing it in person before I believed the FWW reviews from last year. It was sitting next to an 18" Jet and an 18" Delta and the side by comparison wasn't at all favorable to the Jet or Delta. It's a pretty well thought out product, has all the bells and whistles that the others can't seem to get right. Great blade tracking, tensioning, changing. Like the bearings for the blade guides. Overall fit and finish was excellent. Overall, I couldn't be happier with my purchase (especially after 15 years with an old Sears 12" tilt head bandsaw!). Wait for the next Woodcraft sale and pick it up for $100 cheaper.
Gary in KC
I've got one but have used it very little. For the most part it's a good machine but there are, as with most equipment now, some quirks I didn't like. The bolt used as a stop for the table uses coarse threads which made getting the table perpendicular to the blade more difficult (very minor but I thought I'd mention it) and the bolt was also offset from where it was supposed to mate so any change in the swivel of the mating part affects the table. I use a square to set the table as the stop just isn't reliable.
I also have had trouble getting the blade to stop fluttering (1" Timberwolf) using the methods on the TW packaging. I've tried just about everything I've read and still can't seem to correct the problem. I didn't have any problems resawing a 7" wide piece of knotty alder so maybe I'm being too critical of the flutter I'm seeing.
The top roller guides are made in a way that doesn't allow you to position them right behind the gullets of the 1" or larger blades (the carrier of the guides hits the back of the blade before the rollers are in the correct position).
As I said, these are very minor issues on a saw this inexpensive.
I like the blade tension release, the on-board allen wrench holder, the straight-on slot for installing the blade so that you don't have to twist the blade to install and I really like the dual 4" dust collection ports.
Gary
Fine Woodworking rated it a "best buy" about a year or so ago in a review of several 18" bandsaws. On the strength of that review, I bought one from Woodcraft back in February. I have absolutely no regrets.
Don't buy it at the $999 price. Wait until they run a 10% off sale and then buy it.
Make sure you've got 220 volt service in your shop if you want instant gratification.
Let us know what you end up doing.
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