12" Craftsman Bandage ???

Dirtbmw20

Dirtbmw20

Lee Casto
Silver Member
I've been looking for a decent cheap/inexpensive one since I'm still not employed yet. I have noticed recently that every one that has bought new ones went with 14" saws. Unfortunately I can't swing a new one and haven't seen a used 14" nowhere close to me.

I would like to get opinions on this used 12" Craftsman Bandsaw. Will a 12" work for cue making and is that a "decent" saw that will get me by until I acquire more practice/knowledge and am ready to buy a new one. He is local to me and is asking $150 but can probably get him down to $125. Is it worth it ??
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Lee Casto
 
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I have one of those for sale. I used it for 2 years and it worked well. The problem with that saw and the cheaper saws is the blade guides. They are blocks and they wear and make it hard to keep the blade cutting straight. They work if you have a good sharp blade and feed the work piece slowly.


I bought a new Grizzly 14 in and it is great. but it costs about $500 delivered.

Kim
 
Yea....that $500 is impossible to swing being unemployed at the moment. Looking for something to kinda "learn" on to start out with, then progress up. I've owned several horizontal metal bandsaws but never a verticle.

How much you want for yours ?? You know it's just taking up floor space..... you should "donate" it to the needy, lol. ;)

Lee Casto
 
I have one of those. With upgraded guides it does alright but not great. Decent enough for rough cutting. The tilting arm is a bit of a pain. Ended up getting another saw and setting it up as a designated point square cutterinhalfer.
 
Murray Tucker said:
I have one of those. With upgraded guides it does alright but not great. Decent enough for rough cutting. The tilting arm is a bit of a pain. Ended up getting another saw and setting it up as a designated point square cutterinhalfer.
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I have never owned one, but that's the first thing that popped into My head when I saw this one. For some reason I just pictured the tilt causing frustrations.

I have seen a lot of them for sale in My area, and that seems to be about the average price that people are wanting for them. I have probably seen at least a couple of them for under $100 though.
 
i had one

it was the worst bandsaw i have ever seen. part of that might have been my fault as not really having the right guides and band saw knowledge to adjust them as they were. i gave it away.
 
With the general consensus the way it is, I'll just save my $100 bucks and put it towards a better saw in the future. Thanks for all the opinions.
 
One of the things to remember is that Craftsman doesn't manufacture anything, they simply rebrand. You can google the complete part number and research the original manufacturer. I don't have a 12", but I have a 9" and the manufacturer was Rikken Corp (or something like that) which is the parent of Rikon. Now that doesn't make mine a 100% Rikon, but it's got to be better than say a Central Machinery, for example.
My 2 cents,
Gary

P.S. I also have a 14" for full size work - not Craftsman
 
12" would be too short for some cutting we do.
A forearm is at least 12" long. Allow for the spur hole for rough turning .
Now you have a short forearm.
Core woods are more than 12" most of the time.

I know you can get a miter saw too but those blades are thick and waste too much wood sometimes.
Sometimes you get a nice 16" piece of wood. From that you need to cut the forearm and sleeve pieces . A 14" band saw would let cut a nice 12.5" and 3.5" pieces . You can cut the 12.5" piece while the piece is still 1 1/2 square and you can offset the center holes to follow the pieces grains.

14" is about the minimum I'd buy. 15" would be nice but they're not common.
 
JoeyInCali said:
12" would be too short for some cutting we do.
A forearm is at least 12" long. Allow for the spur hole for rough turning .
Now you have a short forearm.
Core woods are more than 12" most of the time.

I know you can get a miter saw too but those blades are thick and waste too much wood sometimes.
Sometimes you get a nice 16" piece of wood. From that you need to cut the forearm and sleeve pieces . A 14" band saw would let cut a nice 12.5" and 3.5" pieces . You can cut the 12.5" piece while the piece is still 1 1/2 square and you can offset the center holes to follow the pieces grains.

14" is about the minimum I'd buy. 15" would be nice but they're not common.
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Thanks Joey...... that's the "technical" info I didn't know how to ask but was seeking.
 
Dirtbmw20 said:
Thanks Joey...... that's the "technical" info I didn't know how to ask but was seeking.
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Except you can cut the short pieces first too. :grin:
But, if you have a 30" dowel, and the top 13" is the part you want for the forearm ( let's say the dowel has a nasty knot in the center or a run-out ) ,
with a 14" band saw, you might be able to salvage two coring dowels from that piece. Without creating a ton of noise and dust with the miter saw.
 
JoeyInCali said:
Except you can cut the short pieces first too. :grin:
But, if you have a 30" dowel, and the top 13" is the part you want for the forearm ( let's say the dowel has a nasty knot in the center or a run-out ) ,
with a 14" band saw, you might be able to salvage two coring dowels from that piece. Without creating a ton of noise and dust with the miter saw.
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Why not just use a good hand saw? :confused:
 
Dirtbmw20 said:
Thanks Joey...... that's the "technical" info I didn't know how to ask but was seeking.
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You want technical info? Here's a bunch of free technical info you can download right now.


https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/82359640/Iturra_Design_catalogue_2010.pdf


It is a catalog, but there is tons of useful stuff here that you just won't find anywhere else. This is just a scan, so the photos aren't that great, but I believe Iturra still sends out copies for free if you call them. In the meantime, this will get you started while waiting for the hard copy to come in the mail.


I'd get this book as well. Only $15, or download a Kindle version for $9.


http://www.amazon.com/The-Bandsaw-B...d_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1TS1CS2K8PM17F308JSA


The more info you get now, the more you will save on your purchase of a good saw down the road. If it was me, though, I'd go ahead and get that saw for $125 if you can. You will be able to do a lot with it right now, learn a bunch, then either sell it for the same price later on, or keep it as a dedicated machine once you have your shop established.

In fact, if it was closer I'd buy it myself at that price and put a good 1/8" scroll blade on it. I really hate changing blade sizes, and having the ability to go from a resaw operation with a 1/2" blade straight to a scrolling operation with tight radii would make it worth finding a place for it here in the shop.
 
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