next power tool purchase- bandsaw?

[paleydp]

My husband has offered to buy me a bandsaw for mother's day! Started checking the web and I'm overwhelmed. We have a little benchtop Ryobi neither of us likes, but it cuts blanks. Was looking at Craftsman 12in, 2speed, tip-top for $350, mostly 'cause my father had one and it's held up well. Any suggestions in the $300 to $500 range? Don't want to go overboard, was thinking a belt sander might be a more useful tool at this point so I could try that method of squaring (I have a lathe and grinder and benchtop drill press).
Thanks for your always valuable input!
Denise

 

[Scott]

Hi Denise,

You will be amazed with the difference when you get a good bandsaw! For the price it is hard to beat the Grizzly 14" bandsaw (http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.cfm?itemnumber=G0555). Grizzly has been trying to improve their equipment offerings, and bandsaws were one of the first things they worked on! This is one of their newer machines, and it is really done well. I have heard many glowing reports about it!

I have a Jet 14" bandsaw, and it is very nice! You may be able to get a good price on one as scratch-and-dent through General Industrial Supply (http://www.generalindustrialsupp.com/).

There are a couple of Grizzly's sanders that are pretty good, and you might be able to make a deal on combined shipping. Just a hint!

Scott.

 

[gpalm]

Denise,

I've learned over the years of buying tools, if it is something your are going to use frequently, don't skimp. YOu end up buying something else to replace it later on as you've learned with the Ryobi.

About 18 months ago I was in search of a bandsaw myself. Being a mechanical engineer, I am rather finicky about the equipment I buy. After lengthy research I settled on a Laguna http://www.lagunatools.com

They seemed to be the best bang for the buck, the quality is excellent, great reputation and outstanding customer service from my experience. I am still impressed with this machine. To give you an idea of the smoothness of operation, I can stand a nickel on edge on the table, cut a piece of wood, and the nickel won't budge. I purchased the LT18, which is quite a ways outside your budget. But if you can somehow open you budget some more, they have the LT14 listed for around $900.

Give them a call, you might be able to work a deal, especially if there is a woodworking show coming to your area. I purchased the LT18 directly from them at one of the shows for sigificantly less than what's listed on their site, which included Laguna guides, Re-Saw King blade, assortment of regular blades, mobility kit and delivery directly to my house.

Good Luck

 

[Daniel]

Denise,
comgrats and happy mothers day. Now my two cents worth. I own the 12" tilt head Craftsman band saw. Mine practicaly self destructed in a very short time due to the pully not being tightened well enough at the factory. so I woudl say if you do get one go over every nut and bolt thouroughly. or use the dickens out of it right off so it will be returnable if you run into the same thing. I had to kind of invent a fix for mine and it has been fine every since. having said that I would not recomend it. it has a set max cit depth. I woudl replace mine with something more like the Grizzly machine mentioned above but able to ad the riser block for a deeper cutting capacity. and the tilt head can be a real pain when you need a square cut. overall it is alot of features at a discount type price and so it all is just on the cheesy side. Lots of plastic and aluminum. find something made of steel.

 

[daledut]

I recently purchased the Craftsman Professional 14" band saw. It seems like a very good saw for $469. I would recomend that you buy "The Band Saw Book" before you buy a saw. It tells what to look for in a quality saw. I got mine from Amazon.

BTW the Craftsman had all the ear marks of a quality saw as listed in the book.

Also, whatever you buy, plan on getting a Timberwolf blade for it. The difference in cutting ease is like night and day compared to the stock blade.

My 2 cents worth.