best small blank cutting machine: opinions needed

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redfishsc

redfishsc

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I'm thinking of getting a small bandsaw or perhaps even a very small tablesaw specifically for cutting pen blanks to length. I have a 10" miter saw, but it's really old and doesn't cut smooth, it's used almost almost solely for cutting 2X4's for framing.

Here's what I am thinking. Either a small benchtop bandsaw, a tiny table saw, or a tiny miter saw.

I have access to a Powermatic 66 10" tablesaw and 17" bandsaw (not at the pen shop though) so I do only need something small for cutting blanks to length.


Is that little "mighty" 4" table saw from PSI worth a rip? It's got the footprint I'm looking for.
 
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Yes, the PSI is greatly UNDERpowered!

I bought a decent circular saw, made a table for it 12" by 16", and a sliding table on top. It does great. Otherwise a good mini table saw will run $300 - $450.

AS far as small band saws go, I bought the 9" Delta and would not wish it on anyone. I have read the same from many. I have a 12 in here in Japan and have used bandsaws all my life, so I am familiar with tuning, buying the right blade and setting them up. But the Delta is one to avoid. It will work but it is not accurate.

The Rikon and a Rikon looking one from Sears gets pretty good reviews for small band saws.
 
Proxxon makes both a mini table saw (FKS/E) and a mini mitre saw (KGS 80)that work well cutting pen blanks. They also make a mini band saw (MBS/E) that I have not tried.

Mike
 
Many 'mini' tools are not designed for serious work and are more 'sub-hobby' quality. For accuracy, the table saw is probably your best bet. But, for most of us, the bandsaw is, far and away, the most practical. But it should be a full sized one. However, if you pick up a good used table saw and learn to be VERY SAFETY CONSCIOUS with it, you will get very accurate blanks. Which, for me, begs the question: Why do blanks have to be accurate? Any chunka wood will/cam be turned to your, then accurate, pen dimensions.
 
I got a little Ryobi 9" bandsaw.. Once I put a better blade on it, its a perfect answer to what your looking for IMO. I use it to cut over 90% of my pen cutting now.
 
Couldn't that miter be tuned up a little & use a fine toothed blade for a smoother cut? I've got a table saw & miter saw but never use them for pen stuff. Altho one can use jigs, I don't like getting my fingers that close to the blades for small pieces like blanks. I've got a 14in Ridgid that is very accurate. It will cut pieces of lumber to 3/4 w/ a fence & using a miter, crosscut. But for cutting blanks to length, just square a line across it & free hand cut it. Gonna mill it anyway. A 3/8 with 4TPI blade is ideal. Get a nice band saw & you'll be surprised just how much you use it & what you can do with it.
 
A big no from me on the Delta tabletop as well...just sold mine on ebay for 99 cents, and was not disappointed. I really didn't want to walk to the trash can with it!

Big saws are fun, but need the space. Hank's display on how he made the "circular table saw" was very interesting and looked practical and compact.

power is good. don't buy equipment where you have to fight material through a blade!
 
I bought a Ryobi 9" table top bandsaw on ebay for $79 + shipping. It has turned out to be perfect for all the cutting I need to do for my pens and other small projects. With the right blade there is very little drift and it can cut a piece as thin as the blade itself with no problem. I used to use a 12" miter and with all the small cuts it seemed to be to close for comfort for my precious 10, don't want to see the number cut down to 9. The band saw has made me feel much safer and I use it now for all of my cuts.
 
Originally posted by Rifleman1776

Which, for me, begs the question: Why do blanks have to be accurate? Any chunka wood will/cam be turned to your, then accurate, pen dimensions.
Click to expand...

For me I drill using the lathe so I prefer the blanks to be fairly consistent in square, and have nice squared ends like a miter or table saw will give.



Thanks for all the input guys. I'll continue looking around until the right thing shows up!
 
Which, for me, begs the question: Why do blanks have to be accurate? Any chunka wood will/cam be turned to your, then accurate, pen dimensions.
Click to expand...

Gotta agree with ya here. If you are that concerned, put it between centers to true it up, then in the chuck to drill.
 
my concern with accurately cutting blanks is that when I cut a board, i want to maximize the blanks I get from it. I don't care that a blank is perfectly square, but I want to be sure that I get 5 blanks from a board, not 4. If I drift 1/8" on each cut, I lose that last blank..
 
I just got an ad in the mail today from Rockler and they have a Porter Cable table saw for $400. It's a portable. I have one for making my Lincoln Logs and it works really good.
 
I've been putting together a small workshop for winter when working in the big one (my garage) meens braving the cold. The current candidate for band saw is the little Rikon, which seems to have everything I need and can sustain enough cutting pressure to be accurate.

Marc
 
Lowe's has a 10" 15-amp Firestorm Table Saw with Dust Collection and Stand on sale this week. It's in the weekly flyer for $89., then less 15%. Item is 261577. I just picked one up tonight in Huntsville, AL. They are normally $ 129.
 
Until I started turning pens last fall most of my work was flat work so I have both a full sized table saw and band saw. I almost never use my table saw for cutting blanks. Most pen blanks that I cut come from chunks of logs saved from downed trees in the area. My band saw lets me cut pieces of wood up to 6 inches thick into blanks, can't do that with the table saw, 4 inches is about maximum and then with 2 cuts. The band saw is much safer, it doesn't toss pieces of wood back at you if you twist it a bit. DAMHIKT
I highly recommend you go with a band saw. If you can't afford or have the space for a full sized one get a table top model. In either case toss the blade that comes with it in the garbage and get a good blade. Better yet order a good blade the day you get the saw and use the one that comes with it until the good blade shows up then toss it. When you order the blade get at least 2... that way when the first wears out you can change it and order another but no down time waiting.
 
I recently went through this same search/process. There are plenty of used bandsaws in the 300 to 500 range. I wouldn't waste my time with one of the cheap bench top bandsaws as you will only be frustrated when you find that nice piece of wood by the road and you can't cut it. An old delta would be a great bandsaw-craig's list is your friend. I missed several really good saws because I was too slow. I got a RIKON and have been very pleased. I wore out the stock blade pretty quick and got a wide resaw blade. When I got the saw, I really didn't think I would use the maximum capacity but soon after I got it, a friend gave me a nice chunk of pecan. Other than the lathe, the bandsaw is the most used piece of equipment. I've resawn and taken 3x3 blocks and resawed those into smaller turning stock. And, I have a small rikon table saw that I was using cutting blanks and cutting lowes wood logs for practice bowls, but there is NO comparison in terms of utility to what you can do with a band saw. And 2 months later I am VERY happy with the Rikon purchase.
 
Originally posted by GoodTurns

A big no from me on the Delta tabletop as well...just sold mine on ebay for 99 cents, and was not disappointed. I really didn't want to walk to the trash can with it!

Big saws are fun, but need the space. Hank's display on how he made the "circular table saw" was very interesting and looked practical and compact.

power is good. don't buy equipment where you have to fight material through a blade!
Click to expand...

My Delta 9 inch ended up in a landfill as no one would even offer me 99 cents for it. :( What a piece of trash. Now let's talk about my Grizzly G0555!!! :D
 
Ack you guys are killing me. The next person that wants to get rid of "P.O.S." 9" bandsaw, please, please PM me. My tool budget is shot for the year but maybe I can pay the shipping plus $.99 cents lol. Seriously I hope you guys were joking about getting rid of them like that.:D
 
Originally posted by Paul in OKC

Which, for me, begs the question: Why do blanks have to be accurate? Any chunka wood will/cam be turned to your, then accurate, pen dimensions.
Click to expand...

Gotta agree with ya here. If you are that concerned, put it between centers to true it up, then in the chuck to drill.
Click to expand...

So Why do blanks need to be squared and reasonably accurate?

How can you make the ones noted below - without an accurately squared blank to start with?

http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=29111

Linked to randbcrafts photos on this (IAP) site:
http://www.penturners.org/oldalbums/randbcrafts/100_4145r.jpg

And celtic knots also.

If you have an answer to how to make those in a simple way by starting off with a round blank, I would appreciate information on that. Bear in mind that most people don't have CNC or tooling to measure degrees accurately, therefore a perfectly squared base is a NECESSITY for starting the processes above in most cases.

REDFISHSC: Here is a link to my home made TS that is more accurate that I expected it to be.
http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=34019&SearchTerms=tablesaw

In watching your work and knowing your intensity, focus and insight (plus your cabinetry background), you are more than capable of making a saw like this and even greatly improving on it.
 
Originally posted by wdcav1952


my Delta 9 inch ended up in a landfill as no one would even offer me 99 cents for it. :( What a piece of trash. Now let's talk about my Grizzly G0555!!! :D
Click to expand...

that's what I bought.:D I have learned at least one thing over the last two years, buy the strongest/best equipment you can. the "hold me over" machines are more of a "hold me back" as far as I am concerned. I do not have the skill to compensate for a tool's shortcomings!
 
redfishsc, I use my 17" grizzly bandsaw a lot. One thing to think about is the ability to resaw you own blanks from reclaimed or othewise found wood. I saw 100's or 1000's of blanks from all kinds of wood and it is important to be able to maximise both figure and color in the blanks. I find it fairly easy to cut square blanks on the bandsaw and you have less kerf in the process.

Here's an example of the aftermath of resawing bowl blanks

20087342544_IM001166sawworks.jpg
 
Originally posted by rjwolfe3

Ack you guys are killing me. The next person that wants to get rid of "P.O.S." 9" bandsaw, please, please PM me. My tool budget is shot for the year but maybe I can pay the shipping plus $.99 cents lol. Seriously I hope you guys were joking about getting rid of them like that.:D
Click to expand...


Lol, just remember that a crap tool will cause you more downtime and money (in the form of time) than a good saw.




Fortunately for me I have access to a 17" bandsaw and Powermatic 66 tablesaw, both are huge overkill for a penturner.


All I'm looking for is a quick "nip the tip" cutoff saw that I can put right beside my lathe so I don't have to walk across the parking lot to the main shop has all the big tools. I'm leaning mighty heavy to a 8.5" miter saw.
 
Originally posted by leehljp

In watching your work and knowing your intensity, focus and insight (plus your cabinetry background), you are more than capable of making a saw like this and even greatly improving on it.
Click to expand...

Man, lee, now that's a compliment[:I]! I like the saw you made, has in mind just what I'm thinking.
 
[iSo Why do blanks need to be squared and reasonably accurate?
[/size=3]
How can you make the ones noted below - without an accurately squared blank to start with?

http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=29111

Linked to randbcrafts photos on this (IAP) site:
http://www.penturners.org/oldalbums/randbcrafts/100_4145r.jpg

And celtic knots also.

If you have an answer to how to make those in a simple way by starting off with a round blank, I would appreciate information on that. Bear in mind that most people don't have CNC or tooling to measure degrees accurately, therefore a perfectly squared base is a NECESSITY for starting the processes above in most cases.

REDFISHSC: Here is a link to my home made TS that is more accurate that I expected it to be.
http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=34019&SearchTerms=tablesaw

In watching your work and knowing your intensity, focus and insight (plus your cabinetry background), you are more than capable of making a saw like this and even greatly improving on it.
Click to expand...

Good points there, Hank. For these you need something more, true.
 
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