Surprising Review - Chinese Delta 14" Bandsaw 28-206/276

Addendum:

I forgot to mention another thing. There is a $50 rebate on these models, bringing my cost to $260 US.

Beat THAT!

Greg G.

WD thus spake:

Sorry, I forgot about it until this morning as I was sorting through a pile of roofing material reciepts. Like you, I discovered too late that I could have picked up a small medium duty lathe for $223.

Oh well, maybe next year...

I don't think the Delta could keep up with that without a new motor. But for my needs, it seems fine. Buy what ya need and can afford!

Greg G.

Too late now, you should have posted it yesterday and it would have encouraged me to pick up their only bandsaw, a Delta 28-276.

Can someone encourage me NOT to buy a Grizzly G0514 a 19" 3hp bandsaw? It will be use mostly for resawing, since my Crapsman cannot or struggling to rip a 10 to 12 feet, 6/4 hard maple.

Hi Greg - Thanks for the excellent review. Can you give some more detail on how you trued up the wheels? Thanks/Brian

Greg wrote: [snip]

You're welcome. I STILL can't believe how well it works for the $260 I've got in it. I was looking at the Grizzly G0555 because of the bad press this unit has received, but I am glad I got it. The only thing I would change at this point are the crappy tires, a bigger motor and extender kit.

I called Delta and the wheels are on backorder (read: on a slow boat from China) until MARCH. There was no way I was waiting that long to use this thing. So...

As for the wheels, pull the tires. Check run-out with a dial indicator - both radial and lateral. If your radial (around the wheel/diameter) run-out is excessive, it's a problem. There is no easy way to correct this. But the lateral run-out I corrected with (and don't scream when you read this) judicial application of a pry bar and pipe clamp. Go easy with it, you have to slightly OVER correct as aluminum flexes - until it breaks. Use a straightedge to determine which side to pull out or in, and work a little at a time. Apply pressure at or near the spokes on the outer hub. Find the high/low point of the error by rotating the wheel back and forth until located. Work it out a little at a time. Don't try to do it all in one stroke. Remember, aluminum cracks without warning, and you don't want to destroy the bearings either. My bottom wheel was out - I used the cast iron frame as the support. If the top wheel is out, it's more difficult. You will probably have to mount the wheel on a shaft in a vise and work with it. This is a neanderthal method, but it worked for me. I would estimate that run-out on the order of .005" or less would be smooth enough for enjoyable use.

For balancing the wheels, static balancing is sufficient. Place a rod with a centered point on the lower side which is the exact diameter of the center hole into the wheel and set on a table. The direction it consistently tips is the heavy side. Use a Dremel or die grinder to carefully remove metal from a non-critical area of the outer hub to lighten it. Just like you would balance a lawnmower blade. Continue until it will just about balance on the point. The wheels are relatively low speed, so this should suffice. If you have access to dynamic balancing equipment, so much the better.

Remember, the tires suck, and they will probably introduce some degree of blade vibration. Highland Hardware and other vendors sell new rubber and urethane tires. I believe they are interchangeable with the better Delta saws. ~ $25 each.

One more thing. If you fu%# it up, don't come crying to me!

Good Luck,

Greg G.

I live just outside Harrisburg, Pa. about 2 months ago I drove up to Muncy to get the 17" Grizzly Band saw. If you get a chance you have to get to one of their show rooms. Man that place is packed full of machinery. They have all their bandsaws lined up in a row. And I was very very very tempted to go with the 19" instead of the 17". I was actually tempted to go with the

16" and the cast iron wheels but, I needed the extra depth of cut. I was some what concerned about the aluminum wheels on the 17" but I decided to give it a try, so I ended up with the 17". Took it home, uncrated it, wiped off all the cosmoline. Assembled it, stuck a 220 plug on the end of it. Put a 1" wide 2tpi blade on it, line up the rip fence straight with the miter slot. Stuck a 4' long rough cut oak 2x8 on edge against the fence. Oops the board had a bow, so I stuck my 6ft. level against the fence and held the board against that, so both its ends hit the level. Cut about 1/4" off at the end, 3/4 off at the middle. The thing cut like butter, pushed as fast as I was comfortable with. No problems. After I got the first side straight, I laid that down on the table and took a cut along the 2" way just to straighten things up. Then stood it back up on the 2" width, set the fence to 13/16 and cut the board. The blade seemed to cut in toward the fence about 1/16 so I checked the blade guides again. (I didn't get the ball bearing guides, I liked the ones that came on the saw better). I adjusted the guides, and cut the rest of the 2x8 into 13/16 strips. It cut great and very straight. I made a sled for it, and actually use it to cut basket handle blanks, (1x3/16x48 long), out of oak, ash, and hickory that I cut off my wood lot with no problems at all. I normally use 4ft. long logs, but I have rigged up supports so I can cut longer logs also. They have a horizontal saw mill also, but it's way past my budget. Also I got a couple 1/8" wide blades for it, and they are great for cutting stuff I used to have to use the scroll saw for. As far as I could tell the 19" is built identical to the 17" so I am sure you will be very happy with it. I know a number of people don't like Grizzly, but I haven't had any trouble with anything I have gotten from them. I have been a machinist for 26 years, and figure if anything is to far off, I can just make a new part. I have yet to have to do that with any machine from Grizzly. Now if you want to talk Crapsman, that's a whole nuther story. I had a Crapsman wood lathe, that I milled a complete new head stock for. What ever s*it metal they made it out off, the bearings kept loosing up. I kept boring out the hole larger and larger and getting bigger bearings for in it. I even made a steel bushing that I started pressing the bearings into. But the base metal kept wearing big. So I finally just made a new headstock. Anyway have fun with your new bandsaw.