I'm tired of living without a bandsaw so am gonna break down and BUY one :-( .... QUESTIONS.... 1. Any suggestions as to brand....meaning the most bang for the buck (about $400). 2. Does RESAWING demand a wider blade than typical and ,if so, how wide a blade does one need??? I dont know if this is an answerable question...... THANKS....
BILL
Bill asks:
For $400, I really don't have a clue as to what to suggest for a bandsaw aimed mostly at resawing. Used?
Blades are a whole 'nother topic. I get good results with 1/2" and 5/8" blades, and pretty good results with 3/4" blades. Commercial resaw machines use blades
2" and 3", and sawmills use 6" wide blades.For the most part, good technique and a 1/2" or 5/8" blade is plenty. If you can't tune your machine and blade combination to hold a line, then getting a wider blade isn't really going to help.
Beyond that, we'd probably need to know more about your resawing desires, plus the other uses you plan for the bandsaw, in order to make sensible suggestions. Narrow resaws are one thing: consistently doing 8-10" thick and thicker wood is another.
Charlie Self "I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be." Thomas Jefferson
Delta, Powermatic and Laguna are good brands, but not for $400. Resawing is a bitch to do with a narrow blade. There are bandsaws that are specifically designed for resawing. The wider the blade, the better.
I have a Hitachi CB75F band saw which will let me mount up to 3 inch blades. If you can find one (I don't think they're currently manufactured) it's a great tool for re-sawing.
Boden
Phisherman wrote:
Unfortunately $400 doesn't get you as much as it used to. The latest American Woodworker (#104 November 2003) had good things to say about the Grizzly G0555 for $375. They say "Given the features and the price, this saw is hard to beat for value in a home shop machine." You can buy the riser kit for $50 to give you 12" of resawing capacity.
One of the problems with the lower priced saws is the motor will have a tough time making 12" resaw cuts all day long. Most manufacturers claim you can install a 3/4" blade, but normal recommendations is not to go above a
1/2" blade with a 1-1.5 hp motor. The wider the blade the easier it is to make a straight resaw cut. The bigger/most expensive saws have more hp and can handle a wider blade.I live relatively close to the original Grizzly warehouse, but I'm not associated with them, don't own their stock, don't get a discount, don't have family members that work their, don't think I own any of their equipment.
Bandsaws are quite useful .. BUT I have been using a 12 inch Crapsman for over 40 years without much trouble...
BUT I sure do not Resaw much with it and even then 5 inch thick lumber is its limit...even using extremely slow feed rates... Accuracy is fine using a 1/2 blade . using a 1/4 inch blade is not an option with this saw...
IF I did much resawing my Crapsman would have been hauled to the dump or sold years ago... and Honestly if I were 20 years younger I would replace it this morning with a much better saw (heck most are much better)...But since I am in my 60's I think I can manage to keep on surviving and avoid resawing as much as possible...
400 bucks .... ? Bill I think you have been smoking some of that Hemp you want to resaw.... !Bob Griffiths
FWIW, I own a Grizzly G0555 w/Riser Kit. With a 3/4" blade and the speed set to slow, I have been able to resaw 11" to 12" without any problems.
-- Al Reid
"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." --- Mark Twain
Can you find another $99? My Jet 14" is $499 from Amazon.
Depends on who you ask. Picked up a 2002 magazine last night from the stack and Lonnie Bird was talking about resawing. Said he loves his 3/8" Lennox. Says most 14" bandsaws can't tension a 3/4" blade enough to do a good job resawing. Point being it's width and tension that count.
Don't know if he's tried the "low tension" TimberWolfs. I plunk a 1/2" TimberWolf blade on mine when I resaw. Saw a review of Laguna's blade that's made especially for resawing. Think it would end up being close to $150...
A classic case of YMMV.
Phisherman wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
It's not so much the width of the blade that's important, as the number of teeth-per-inch. When you resaw, the blade travels thru a long distance in the wood (6, 8, 10 inches if you're resawing wide lumber), and it has to carry the sawdust all the way thru. That means you need a big gullet to hold the sawdust, which means not very many TPI. Generally low TPI counts, like
3, mean wide blades.John
I thought I saw that too. But look again - I think it say's $1.50 per INCH to buy and two bux a foot to sharpen.
On Sun, 16 Nov 2003 20:55:25 -0500 (EST), snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net (Bill) brought forth from the murky depths:
See if your library has a copy of Duginske's "The Bandsaw Handbook".
Then go purchase iron and blades here, respectively:
These two sites will answer all your question.
--- - Friends don't let friends use FrontPage -
I think you would do good to buy the Grizzly "Ultimate" band saw. This summer, I bought the USA made Delta 14" and my neighbor bought the Grizzly. While the Delta cost me abou twice as much as his, the saw he got was very good. He also purchased the riser kit and has resawn 12/4 ash with little problem (he DID have to take it slow). The Blades we both use is the Timberwolf "low tension" blades at 1/2" and 3 TPI hooked tooth. I am VERY happy with the Delta and have tuned it closely while adding the Carter guides and Iturra's polyurethane tires. It performs very very well. BTW, I have resawn several species with a 1/4" Timberwolf (because I had it on the saw and didn't feel like putting a wider blade in place) with good (not excellent) results. The wood did need to be run through the planer to take out the saw marks.
And the Griz comes with Carter-style guides too....
So, for the money you want to spend, get the Grizzly.
I bought the Grizzly G0555 (Ultimate 14") saw a few weeks ago. I added some Timberwolf blades and so far really like it. I bought the riser kit, but so far have left the saw alone. I want to get to "know" it better before I add the riser.
I just spent some time tonight sawing some boards out of some walnut firewood - eeek!, I cut some 3/8 and some 1/2 after I squared up the log a bit. I'm very happy with the result. The saw cut clean and easy with no signs of bogging down or other problems. I know a 6" log isn't much of a test, but for a newbie like me it was a lot of fun.
You can get a better saw, but I d>I'm tired of living without a bandsaw so am gonna break down and BUY one >:-( ....
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