can anyone recommend a good 14" bandsaw?

I am looking to set up a little workshop (it really is small!!) and although I would have loved to have a 16 or 18" bandsaw in there, I just dont think there is the room... Hence I am looking for a really good quality 14" machine with about 8 inches depth of cut. I love the look of the MiniMax bandsaws but they are just too large. Any suggestions would be very welcome.

I am also looking to get a planer thicknesser - again the size of the machine in critical. I need something that has a reasonable capacity but with limited floor space. I have about 1.5k total to spend on the two machines...

I look forward to your suggestions,

Cheers,

Reuben

Reply to
reubenwilcock
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Hello Reuben, Are you looking at new or used? And, where do you live? There is a post of a 14 inch Delta Rockwell wood & metal cutting bandsaw on eBay that a pick up only. That saw and riser kit will give you more than 8 inch cut and it is small enough that you can get it into any space you want by yourself. I have no experience with larger machines but I am very happy with my Delta 14 and riser addition. One other comment; As I have been looking at auctions and catalogues, it appears to me that there are countless spare parts and accessories for the Delta and its clones so getting and older Delta does not minimize its usefullness or longevity.

Marc (and I have no affiliation with this eBay seller either but I like watching what's out there)

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Reply to
marc rosen

First, strong suggestion--if you haven't already done so read "The Bandsaw Book" by Lonnie Bird and "Bandsaw Handbook" by Mark Duginske. Lot of useful information there that you should have in your head before buying a saw.

Take a look at the 14" Rikon Deluxe . 13 inch depth of cut and if it works anything at all like my Craftsman that seems to be on the same frame then it will do anything you ask of it. The Rikon has tension release and some other features that the Craftsman (8 inch depth of cut) lacks that make it well worth the extra cost. On the other hand, if you're on a budget the Craftsman works fine for under 500 bucks--I've gotten 1/16 inch slices out of it that were flat to 1/32 and it doesn't bog down on 8 inch lignum vitae. The Rikon has 50 percent more power and a little over 50% more cutting depth so it should also be fine in that regard.

Note that both have roller guides--if you're looking primarily for scroll cutting then these aren't the best choice, for resawing though they're very nice.

If you're on a really tight budget the Ridgid is definitely good value but you have to do your homework on accessories as Ridgid charges the Earth for them (the riser block for example is almost half the price of the saw, where for other brands it's 50 bucks or so and some for other brands work fine on the Ridgid, but you have to do your homework to know which ones). This machine has block guides and would be a better choice for scroll work and may be marginal on power for resaw with the riser block.

Also carefully consider a used saw--the 14" Delta in any of its variants is an old standby that works fine.

One consideration is blade length--the Craftsman and the Rikon Deluxe use nonstandard blade lengths (99-3/4 and 111 inch respectively)--this isn't a problem per se as any purveyor of quality bandsaw blades will custom weld them for you at no additional charge, but you may be able to find prepackaged standard length blades at a deep discount. If both saws become popular prepackaged blades should become available from the major manufacturers eventually but right now the only prepackaged blades are from Sears for the Craftsman and Woodcraft for the Rikon (and oddly, both are made by Olson) and neither are discounted, although the Craftsman set of 3 blades is very reasonably priced. The Delta/Ridgid/Grizzly/etc with and without the riser blocks use blades that are available prepackaged.

The 13" Delta works fine as long as you remember to support the ends of boards longer than the extensions. I have absolutely no complaints about mine. It's also a good match for the cut depth of the Rikon. It's also light enough that you can store it on a shelf when you aren't using it--one of the magazines this month published a neat set of plans for a cart for it that doubles as an outfeed table for a table saw and stores under the wing of the saw when not in use.

With a $1.5K budget the Rikon Deluxe bandsaw and the Delta 22-580 should have you set up with plenty left over for blades, spare knives, dust hood, etc.

One consideration--check the current draw on any saw you buy and make sure you can give it enough juice. Band saws take a lot of current at startup for some reason and if you don't have good wiring they'll let you know right quick. If there is no outlet close to where you intend to place the saw (i.e. close enough that you won't need an extension cord) then plan on putting one there and preferably on a 20 amp circuit.

Reply to
J. Clarke

You might want to do some measuring. My Laguna LT16HD has about the same sized foot print as my old Craftsman 12" BS although a bit taller.

Same goes for my planer. I currently have a 15" Delta on a mobile base and its foot print is marginally larger than the 13" portables.

Reply to
Leon

I'm buying all my machinery at Grizzly.

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Reply to
Joe Bemier

I have been researching this myself lately, and looked at Delta's, Ridgid, and Craftsman saw's in local stores. After comparing several models and reading lots of reviews online, I just ordered a Grizzly G0555 14" bandsaw and got the riser block so I'll be able to cut wood up to 12" thick.

I'll be picking up the saw later this week, so I don't have any first hand experience yet. But you can find lots of reviews online (search for G0555 on Amazon for starters).

For the money ($469 delivered before Dec 31st), the Grizzly seemed to have the most power, best construction, a quick tension release, and used standard length blades.

Grizzly Web Site:

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Reply to
HerHusband

I have the Laguna 14LT. It has a pretty small footprint. However, it's a bit expensive compared to other 14" bandsaws -- I think worth the money, though. If you have a small workshop, Laguna offers a mechanism so you can roll the bandsaw around - a nice feature for those of us that have to re-arrange the "furniture" to make room for stuff. (However, you can also buy trolleys (or whatever they're called) for other saws, too.

Reply to
Never Enough Money

I just bought a 14" Delta and regret it. Nothing wrong with the machine, just that for a few hundred more I could have gotten a larger and more powerful one. The larger ones aren't that much bigger.

If you are short on space, you probably want a table top planer. They don't compare to the full size ones, but are much smaller and actually do work.

I would suggest putting $1000 into a large BS and $500 into a small planer.

Normally I recommend buying used equipment, and would certainly get a large used BS if available. But large BS are never available used, and used planers are usually beat to hell. So in this instance I would buy new.

Reply to
Toller

I have a 14" . I want an MM20

Reply to
Jack

Thanks for all the replies - really very useful.

There were a couple ot things I wanted to make clearer: I am in the UK and hence the budget is probably double what you guys thought as my '1.5k' was UK pounds, not US dollars. Being in the UK also poses another problem, which is that there doesnt seem to be as big a selection of bandsaws over here - many of the makes you were all kindly mentioning dont seem to be readily available over here, which is a shame. I guess I can get them sent over but it would probably be expensive to do that.

The grizzlys look like impressive value for money but im not too sure about the build quality - the Lagunas (and Rikon) seem more high quality (I could be wrong?). I guess I'm looking for a bandsaw in the region of $1000, and there seem to be a lot of good looking offerings for that price. Its difficult to know whats best - welded steel frames or cast iron? I think that with a mobiilty kit I could probably fit in a slightly larger machine than I previously thought - the footprint of the 16 inch machines seems to be about the same as some 14" machines so perhaps I should go for the bigger capacity.

Regarding planers - I am now a little confused about the difference between planers and planer thicknessers. Can anyone clear this up for me (and explain the advantages of each).

Thanks again for the help!

Reuben

J. Clarke wrote:

Reply to
reubenwilcock

: Regarding planers - I am now a little confused about the difference : between planers and planer thicknessers. Can anyone clear this up for : me (and explain the advantages of each).

That's an American/English English difference in terminology. In the US (and probably Canada), a planer is a tool used to make boards a consistent thickness. It feeds a board between a surface and a cutting head (often 12" across), with rollers pressing the board against the surface (so as to ensure a constant thickness).

Same tool is called a thicknesser in England.

To make thgings a bit more complicated, there are a number of machines made in Europe (including Britain) which combine this function along with a flattening function (by converting the tool from one configuration to another). This is a jointer-thicknesser. In the US, these are typically separate tools. The planer is the US is smaller (about the size of a large breadbox), the jointer larger (with flat cast-iron beds about 48 inches or longer).

The Euro combo model is in between in size.

-- Andy Barss

Reply to
Andrew Barss

There is very little difference in design among the cast iron framed 14" bandsaws. The RIGID and Delta in the US are nearly identical. Steel framed saws are another story.

I would recommed looking at the Powermatic given your budget is Pounds. The 14" saw can be had for under $1K US if you shop around. It's a very nice product. Until they get their quality control process back under control I would avoid Delta.

Duster

Reply to
JD

Reuben...

I also have a very small shop area, and a limited budget. I went with a Jet JWBS-14DX with the 1¼ HP upgraded motor, 4" dust port, and the

6" riser. Its a very nice saw, certainly not commercial... but more than adequate for me.

Don't know about the availability of Jet in the UK, but there are parts galore and accessories for this saw here in the USA, and I'd think the only real difference is the motors/current.

Everyone will tell you to spend more, buy bigger, and whatever... but be realistic about what you really need and where you might best spend your money. And BTW, there's nothing wrong with a comparable Delta or Grizzly either.

Mike

Reply to
captmikey

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