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Band saw recommendation

S

Scott Faulkner

Joined
May 28, 2023
Messages
14
Likes
2
Location
Cement City, MI
I am new to wood turning and see the need for a bandsaw. I have a jet 12 21 so 10" bowls are about as big as I can go. What's the smallest bandsaw you would recommend? I've looked at 10" rinkon 300 too 500$ and both jet android grizzly 14" 1k to 1,400$. Is it really worth the extra money for 14"?
 
A couple features would drive my decision

Resaw depth minimum 12” for me and 16” would be better yet.
2-3 hp motor
Brake - just a nice safest feature - necessary if you have other folks in your shop
Ease of blade change
Large table

Lots of choices
 
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Hard to beat a used 14" delta with a riser block for a bargain choice. They typically sell around $500 in excellent condition in our part of the world, and you can easily put a bigger motor on it if you find it underpowered. No comparison to to the 20" SCMI/Centauro I have now, but I did plenty of resawing of 10-12" boards on it for many years (I had a 2 hp motor on mine). It's a little slower, but a tenth the price. Retrofitting OK (not great) dust collection and bigger tables is reasonably straightforward. I now keep it with a skinny blade for cutting curved work. Many people will say it's unable to put adequate tension on the blade, all I can say is I got good results over a couple decades of use.

Yes, it is worth quite a bit to go from a 10" saw to a 14" saw. Given the number of times 14 was too small to do what I needed to do I would have found 10 to be intolerable.

I don't have much experience with green turning blanks on the bandsaw as I use a chainsaw to knock the corners off 99% of the time, but you're going to want a blade with a relatively wide kerf and 2-3 tpi skip tooth design so it can clear the swarf easily.
 
Not to mention, most bandsaws advertised "size" - That is , say a 9 inch - refers to the width of a board you can run through it between blade and upright column (generally about the same as the wheel diameter) and has nothing to do with what you are probably looking for which is Re-Saw capacity (meaning how thick a piece of wood can it cut) - That is, assuming you want to cut bowl blanks round.

So yes the 14 inch ones from Rikon , Jet, Grizzly in the 1K to 1.5K range would be very much worth the money. My 9 inch benchtop bandsaw has about a 2-1/2 inch resaw capacity , so it is rather useless for cutting bowl blanks round (I got it for some simple pattern making for flatwork) - So the few times I wished I'd had a bandsaw to cut a bowl blank, is when I realized in hindsight that I should have saved up the money and spent another 600 to upgrade to the 14 inch model, and it would have been far more useful in my shop.
 
My first bandsaw was a 12 inch Powermtic with a 3/4 hp motor. When I could cut slabs flat enough with the chainsaw, some times close was good enough....., then I would use the bandsaw to cut rounds. If you are bowl turning, you need a good chainsaw and a good bandsaw. Years later, I got a Laguna 16HD that cut 16 inches high and had a 4,5 hp. Baldor motor on it. It will still walk through anything I put on it. While expensive, I was selling, and it more than paid for itself the first year I had it. The older Delta's with the riser block, as long as it also has a 1 hp motor, might be a good compromise.

robo hippy
 
You have a smaller lathe, for now, but if you continue in turning you may find yourself gravitating to a larger lathe. With that in mind, I also think a 14" BS is a good idea.

I think the first consideration is electricity. Do you have 240V available or would you like to keep it 120V?
 
Roger Wiegand said:
Hard to beat a used 14" delta with a riser block for a bargain choice.
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Agree. I have one, used it for a few decades before upgrading. Like Roger said, you can upgrade the motor if necessary. And the table is sorta small but relatively easy to add on a shop-made extension.

You'd think that for 10" bowls you only need a 10" saw. But like @Brian Gustin mentions, you need to look at resaw height instead of wheel size. Also, that log with the 10" bowl inside it is going to be larger than 10". And when you max out the saw's size capability, it's going to be underpowered - especially cutting wet wood.
 
Scott Faulkner said:
I am new to wood turning and see the need for a bandsaw. I have a jet 12 21 so 10" bowls are about as big as I can go. What's the smallest bandsaw you would recommend? I've looked at 10" rinkon 300 too 500$ and both jet android grizzly 14" 1k to 1,400$. Is it really worth the extra money for 14"?
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I would keep my eye open for a good used bandsaw. Check Craig's list, other near-by woodworking clubs and other places. Do not be in a hurry and only buy a quality tools. Many times a woodworker will pass away and the family will be happy to sell their tools. I found a sale at a small woodworking shop that was going out of business and bought a 20 inch Agazzani bandsaw in excellent condition for $1000. Also remember, never pay more than half price for a used tool.
 
Just to pile on--no matter what size band saw someone has, in the back of their mind they're always thinking, "I wonder if I should have a bigger/more powerful bandsaw..."
 
I have a Grizzly 14 with riser (a must) and could not do it with anything smaller. Wish it had a 2hp but cuts well as long as it has a sharp blade. Has lasted well over 20 years. On that 1/2 price it only holds if they want to bet rid of it bad and no one else is in the market. By the way whatever you get you will want to upgrade to Carter Guides.
 
Scott Faulkner said:
Thanks so much. What is the riser? I'm not familiar with that. I will kee the guides in mind that's great information
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Riser is a block that goes in the back to raise the head. This increases resaw capability and increases the length of the blade used.
 
I used a Ridgid 14" (Delta clone) for several years before getting Laguna. With the riser block mentioned by others it was functional. Kept it, thinking i'd keep a thinner blade on it but haven't used it in probably 5 years. The 12" resaw the riser block provides helps if you learn how to manage expectations. The extra height takes the saw beyond its intended use, but very capable. You're about 3 hours from me (i worked a few MIS races as a firefighter--made that trip some. Not nearly as much as Indy, but enough to remember seeing signs for Cement City). I'd be willing to sell if you're having trouble finding something local. I could use the space, that's for sure!! If nothing else, you'd be welcome to come down and see what we're all talking about, have a coffee, and provide me with an excuse to clean out my garage and get turning again!!
earl
 
Pay attention to your specs if you have certain needs. Contrary to popular belief a 10”, 12”, 14”, etc. bandsaw does not refer to the cut but the wheel diameter on standard 2 wheel bandsaws. As such, the width of cut between the blade and column will be slightly less.
 
Most bandsaws have very small top tables. Depending on what you are doing, you might have to build your own. I do want more on the infeed and outfeed areas. Important to leave room for yourself too.

robo hippy
 
Earl McLain said:
I used a Ridgid 14" (Delta clone) for several years before getting Laguna. With the riser block mentioned by others it was functional. Kept it, thinking i'd keep a thinner blade on it but haven't used it in probably 5 years. The 12" resaw the riser block provides helps if you learn how to manage expectations. The extra height takes the saw beyond its intended use, but very capable. You're about 3 hours from me (i worked a few MIS races as a firefighter--made that trip some. Not nearly as much as Indy, but enough to remember seeing signs for Cement City). I'd be willing to sell if you're having trouble finding something local. I could use the space, that's for sure!! If nothing else, you'd be welcome to come down and see what we're all talking about, have a coffee, and provide me with an excuse to clean out my garage and get turning again!!
earl
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Thanks Earl appreciate it. I might take you up on that offer!
 
Michael Anderson said:
As long as you don’t maim yourself with it o_O (this is just a half-joke Doug)
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Oh its valid. There’s an old saying “you need to be smarter than the tool”. Some tools need to be approached with great respect and admiration of what they are capable of. Every time time I spin up my table saw, a chainsaw wheel, or a chainsaw, my heart jumps a little - just a reminder of how quickly one of them can ruin your life if not given proper respect.
 
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