Small band saw

Dec 07, 2006 8 Replies

Have a 14" BS, but SWMBO would like to make another doll house. Looked at Delta SM400, a 9". $100 @ Amazon. Only one review at Amazon, and negative at that. Anyone have any input on this saw? Or another one....Thanks Rick


You can't make a doll house with a 14" BS?

I'm confused, you have a 14" BS and you want to buy a 9 incher for your wife?

My wife would love to have a 9 incher.

For a doll house I'd imagine internal cuts for windows.. maybe a scroll saw would be better. For a smaller band saw I'd look at the rikon 10", but my ryobi 9" has served me well.

-Leuf

Get a very fine blade (1/4", 14tpi) for the 14" saw or get a scroll saw, is what I reckon also. I cannot see any benefit in getting a smaller BS.

-P.

My first reaction is to get a scroll saw.

If you've got *block* guides on your 14" there isn't anything that the SM400 will do that the 14" won't and the 14 should do all of them better.

If you've got *roller* guides on your 14", it probably can't use a 1/16" blade--most with roller guides can only go as narrow as 1/8--in that case, if it _has_ to be a band saw the SM400 might not be a bad choice--with wider blades it's probably not too good but a 1/16 doesn't need a lot of force to tension properly.

Rather than buy another band saw just to use a single very narrow blade though I'd go for a scroll saw that's designed for that kind of work.

More negative input, but I don't want to get too into it.

For a dollhouse, maybe you'd be better off with a scroll saw- I don't know for certain, but I would imagine that *none* of the small bandsaws are very good.

I have no first hand knowledge either, but Mark Duginske features one in his tape, Mastering Your Bandsaw. I doubt it was a $100 tool though.

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