band saw question

dave sutton

dave sutton

Banned
my current bandsaw isnt as smooth as i would like.

i need a new one. without spending an arm and a leg

what are you guys running.

i guess my question is what is most important when looking for a good bandsaw. HP i would think.

dont think size would come into play as much 12'' 14'' 15'' ect

another concern is a friend told me blade size matters.

so my next question is what size blade. thickness wise

i find myselg getting jammed up or twisting when cutting hardwoods for point stock.

so basically my goal id to be able to cut a 1.5x1.5x14 piece of ebony into 4 pieces with some accuracy

my ultimate goal to get bobs point jig so i get 8 points from 1 piece

the saw comes first tho

any help would be appreciated
 
To be honest something that would hold a 3/4 blade would be much better then the junk I have, but I've been keeping My eye out for one locally. I'd love to find one that hold a 1" blade though.
 
I was told by several (including Bob) to get at least a 14'' bandsaw. Oh- they also said to get at least a 1'' blade.
I found a Grizzly 18'' with a 1''+ blade capacity- just haven't had a chance to set it up yet, so I can't give a firsthand opinion.
Good luck.
~Beau
 
dave sutton said:
my current bandsaw isnt as smooth as i would like.

i need a new one. without spending an arm and a leg

what are you guys running.

i guess my question is what is most important when looking for a good bandsaw. HP i would think.

dont think size would come into play as much 12'' 14'' 15'' ect

another concern is a friend told me blade size matters.

so my next question is what size blade. thickness wise

i find myselg getting jammed up or twisting when cutting hardwoods for point stock.

so basically my goal id to be able to cut a 1.5x1.5x14 piece of ebony into 4 pieces with some accuracy

my ultimate goal to get bobs point jig so i get 8 points from 1 piece

the saw comes first tho

any help would be appreciated
Click to expand...

Well Dave, as they say, size does matter. I've got three 14" band saws and wish I had an 18". I've also got a small 10" which is totally useless and needs thrown out but I don't feel like carrying it out. 14" is by far the most common and anything that needs done can be done on it. If you can afford a larger one then go for it as the larger the saw usually means the casting are much stronger so that larger bands can be used and tightened properly. The Chinese knock offs of the Delta 14" can be set up to cut very true. You just need to get A good set up manual such as one from Duginske or some other expert. They tell how to set the wheels and guides so that the saw cuts extremely accurately. Duginske even shows a 14" saw cutting veneer about 8" wide and around 6' long and about .030 thick. I have one set up just for cutting my inlay material at the correct thickness of .150. Another is set up for accurate cutting of points and veneers and the third is just my general saw for what ever needs cut. I've got a 3/4" band on my inlay re-saw set up, and a 1/2 band on my points saw. With the saw set up properly, I take a squared 3/4 piece of wood 9" long and get for points out of it if I'm using veneers.

One nice thing with the Asian 14" saws are they are cheap to buy and almost all of the Delta parts are a perfect fit. I have a good fence on one which cost about a 140.00 but it changes sizes and keeps the same angle for the drift very quickly. I'm thinking about getting another for the other saw.

Dick
 
Last edited:
I am running a jet 18 in with 3/4 or 1 inch blades and I love it. If you have the room I would definately get a large saw. I am a believer in buying bigger than you really need. I use mine to slab malachite and turquoise from 3 inch thick blocks using just a wood blade. It does kill the blade for wood but I have been using the same one for over 3 years and it still pushes thru the recon stone. I have my blades made up locally for 17bucks for general cutting. The timberwolf blade are slightly better than other brands I have tried but I only tried a few. Chris.
 
band saws

All good advice from the above posters but I want to emphasize: size DOES matter. The larger, the better. One concern is blade fatigue from the tighter radius of a 12" saw. I'd say 14" is the minimum you should consider. You also get a greater throat depth with a larger saw. I use a Delta 14" with a 1/2" blade for almost everything & when tuned up, it is a precision machine. This link will take you to a picture showing how a turning square was ripped into the parts I needed with only a .040" thick "slab" remaining. You can't get much better than that.

http://dzcues.com/images/IMG_2963a.jpg
 
This is mine. I have had zero problems with the machine.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/14-2-HP-Deluxe-Bandsaw/G0457

I equipped it with a Timberwolf bimetal blade. Mr. Barenbrugge may have been the one to point me in their direction, not sure. I use it to cut up aluminum when making router brackets and such, and it still cuts through my wood straight, whether I am cutting through 8/4 boards to process squares, slicing corners off before turning, or making point stock.

It has upper and lower bearings, and when trued up and set according to the manual, it can cut rather accurately.

I would add that I think the geometry of teeth and how many is very important depending on the type of material being cut.

That saw will support up to a 3/4" blade, but the one I am using is not that large and I am unaware of any shortcomings due to it. Perhaps smoothness of cut is helped?

Kelly
 
blade width

I use a half inch blade for general work and resawing on my "Cheap" Harbor Freight 14 inch band saw that I tuned up carefully and made a few mods too. It does a commendable job resawing. A 3/4 inch blade would be better if I resawed a lot as the wider the blade the better it holds a line. Also, for resawing use a skip tooth blade with a low tooth count. A 2 or 3 skip tooth is best. The reason is that this type of blade clears out massive amounts of sawdust so cuts wide pieces more efficiently. And the Timberwolf is one of the better blades out there for the money.
The mods were: Ball bearing guides, a nice fence, custom made "zero clearance" plates to prevent tearout, and a tensioner to make blade tensioning fast and efficient.
 
Last edited:
I have a 14" Delta contractor band saw here. I wish I bought a bigger one. It does have a 3/4" blade on it though. It is good for making short width cuts but not good enough for making length cut with accuracy.
 
Most 14" will only hold a 3/4" blade. Grizzly used to have a 16" which would hold a 1" but without looking again I think they replaced the 16" with a 17".
I have the 16" and if I were to do it again would go with a minimum of 18".
Bigger is definitely better when it comes to a band saw....IMO.
If I had the room I would also set up multiples of the 14"s and have one 18".
 
Thanks Dick, I'm going to try Chapters and see if I can get Duginske's book.
There are 2 different books available. I bought a used 14" with no manual and have no idea how to set it up properly. Now I'll know.
 
So where does horsepower factor in? Grizzly and a 14" 1 hp saw but it doesn't say blade size. I'd like min 3/4 but love 1/2"

I see the central mach 14" at my local harbor freight. No shipping. But no fence LOL. will that do the job

As I said my goal is to cut pointstock more accurately.
 
band saw questions

Size does matter, but so does set up. I have a 14 inch Jet, that didn't cut very well. I put on a set of carter guides and went to a 3/4 inch timberwolf blade. It was like day and night. Like most of the posters, I would love an 18inch, but would require it to have roller guides. As per horse power, I don't think it matters for what we are doing. If we were trying to cut 12in veneer slabs, maybe.
 
dave sutton said:
So where does horsepower factor in? Grizzly and a 14" 1 hp saw but it doesn't say blade size. I'd like min 3/4 but love 1/2"

I see the central mach 14" at my local harbor freight. No shipping. But no fence LOL. will that do the job

As I said my goal is to cut pointstock more accurately.
Click to expand...

H/P is an elusive term. Ones 1 H/P is another companies 1/10 h/p. The Taiwan 3/4 h/p that came on my one saw burned up pretty quickly and I replaced it with a 1/4 h/p Dayton motor. It cuts small stuff up to about 8/4 OK but thicker than that it is a pain so I'm about to replace that motor with a 2 h/p 230V for faster cuts.

Dick
 
I have a 16" Grizzly. I would put it in the Okay category. Not great but okay. I was at Grizzly in Missouri and saw a guy demo cutting veneers from about a 10" piece of wood. He used a 1/4 inch blade and peeled those thin veneers off smooth and straight. Every saw I looked at in their demo shop had 1/4" blades. I use a 3/4" blade on my saw, but I have seen the 1/4" blades do a better job than my saw by far. I once borrowed a machinist friend of mine's powermatic metal cutting band saw to cut some Ivory and metal. He also had a 1/4" blade on it and it cut my ivory slabs better than my Grizzly. It also cut some gear rack material down the middle and it varied no more than a 1000th or so any where you measure in thickness over a 4 foot cut. I have tried carbide blades and was not thrilled with the cut they gave. So all I know is I don't know enough about band sawing, because the 1/4" blades doing so well make no sense to me.
 
Last edited:
cueman said:
I have a 16" Grizzly. I would put it in the Okay category. Not great but okay. I was at Grizzly in Missouri and saw a guy demo cutting veneers from about a 10" piece of wood. He used a 1/4 inch blade and peeled those thin veneers off smooth and straight. Every saw I looked at in their demo shop had 1/4" blades. I use a 3/4" blade on my saw, but I have seen the 1/4" blades do a better job than my saw by far. I once borrowed a machinist friend of mine's powermatic metal cutting band saw to cut some Ivory and metal. He also had a 1/4" blade on it and it cut my ivory slabs better than my Grizzly. It also cut some gear rack material down the middle and it varied no more than a 1000th or so any where you measure in thickness over a 4 foot cut. I have tried carbide blades and was not thrilled with the cut they gave. So all I know is I don't know enough about band sawing, because the 1/4" blades doing so well make no sense to me.
Click to expand...

chris maybe thats where the HP comes into play. powering thru the material instead of slowing down and moving around
 
Nice

I can't imagine needing more than that for cuebuilding!
 
Last edited:
Nice

Nice- looking bandsaw John. I read about building a wooden platform filled with sand to raise those European-styled bandsaws up to a comfortable working height.
Enjoy!

~Beau
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top