Originally posted by Gabby
I must say after rereading the messages I cannot preclude the table saw. Okay, I'm down to the final two. Tablesaw and Bandsaw. And the winner for accuracy and speed is? Thanks again. Gabby
If you're looking to buy one or the other, I would go with a good band saw. With a good one, you'll have the versatility to use the fence and miter guide for square cuts. You also won't be roped into having to buy high-level blades for $40 plus a pop.
I guarantee that even with a $4000 cabinet saw, if you're using it to do a lot of segmenting, you're gonna want to build a nice sled anyways, which will cost some money and/or time.
Get a good band saw right away, and if you're worried about really accurate cuts, get/build a good hand powered miter box.
Realistically, since you were looking at a Rikon, you can spend the same amount of money, buy a great Grizzly and a $200 table saw from HD.
You can build a nice sled for the Ryobi saw, and with the right blade, I guarantee you'll get accurate and clean cuts if you're really worried about super cuts for segmenting.
My mom won't come near my stationary circular stuff, but she'll spend the day having the time of her life monkeying around on a band saw. They're just safer, unless you colossally screw up and push the wood through with your thumb following it, but
that mistake is just as bad or worse on any circular blade.
There's no denying that the the roundblade stuff is faster, but a good 14" will cut lickety split enough to make the speed difference seem small.
Gabby, you made a good choice coming here
before buying tools. I could have saved a lot of money if I'd have been so smart. Unfortunately I'm going to have to rely on switching my insurance company to compensate and save a ton of money. heh