I'll try to make this rant short! I picked up a new Jet18 bandsaw at the woodworkers warehouse(WW) on Sat.(i realize this would make many people happy, but i'm picky) I got the saw home and set it up. The fit and finish were very good. The saw looks really nice. I was very disappointed to see that the whole upper wheel housing flexes with any(i'm talking two fingers here) pressure. The same with the blade guides(mounted solid to the upper wheel housing. When you tension the blade the housing flexes towards the table. Basically the upper wheel and the blade guide are bolted to the side of the wheel housing without much support. I suspect that the saw could be tuned to cut nicely,but I like to get a "warm tingly" feeling of using a quality tool,not one I have to fuss with. I'm not a Jet basher! I have a 3hp jet cabinet saw and love it. The rant problem comes in here. As we all know WW is bankrupt and will not accept any returns, Jet will not take the saw from me directly,only from a distributor. I knew that I could not go back to WW, but I thought I was safe with Jet as I had great support on the cabinet saw. THE BOTTOM LINE IS I HOSED UP AND SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT A MM16. The good part is that I payed the same price as I would have for a 14" with a riser block- and the saw is more capable. I suspect after I calm down things will look up! Thanks for reading-Keith
- posted
20 years ago