Help/advice on what vertical band saw to buy

[Southside]

I am quite against buying from China, which can really make things difficult at times - like the 42" fan I am trying to find right now to help pre-dry lumber stacks - but I will say my Grizzly is well made, of course it's older and who knows what is going on these days, but I can't think of a complaint I ever had with it.  

[Walnut Beast]

I am quite against buying from China, which can really make things difficult at times - like the 42" fan I am trying to find right now to help pre-dry lumber stacks - but I will say my Grizzly is well made, of course it's older and who knows what is going on these days, but I can't think of a complaint I ever had with it.  

That's stuff I like to hear

[tule peak timber]

AFAIK they're all made in taiwan. Even the powermatics are made in Taiwan. The fit and finish are better on brands like PM. Don't know if that happens when they get here or specified in the contract.  

Some good saws come from Italy. Maybe they originate in Taiwan too.  

Globalization.

In the case of SCMI , they are a vertically integrated company starting with their foundry's in  Rimini Italy. Agazani was bought out by a German company .

[Brad_bb]

I've been back and forth on different brands now.  I was thinking Grizzly until I remembered @firefighter ontheside 's comment recommending a lever cam to tension the band like on our mills.  Grizzly doesn't seem to have that.  Powermatic and Jet appear to have a lever tension.

Am I wrong about the Grizzly?  How important is the tension lever.  Seems very convenient to me.  I'm assuming you NEED to take the tension off when not in use?

[btulloh]

The lever is nice.  There are after-market levers that can be added to most of the 14" models.  Don't know about bigger models .  The lever is not a deal killer but better to have one than not.  

Grizzly stuff has a pretty good reputation in general.  Don't know if that's changed.  May depend on the particular model.  

Sounds like the SCMI saws are really nice, but a lot of money for some of us.

No easy answer available I guess, but you're getting closer to one.

[btulloh]

Some people just add a nut on top of the tension knob/crank and use their drill motor and socket to speed things up. Not as convenient, but if your favorite choice of saws doesn't have the lever, you've got options. 

[Larry]

I  take the tension off my 20" Delta every time.....I change the band.  I've only had it 25 years, so it may not last with this kind of abuse. ;D

High quality USA and European saws are common on the used industrial market.

[firefighter ontheside]

I've been back and forth on different brands now.  I was thinking Grizzly until I remembered @firefighter ontheside 's comment recommending a lever cam to tension the band like on our mills.  Grizzly doesn't seem to have that.  Powermatic and Jet appear to have a lever tension.

Am I wrong about the Grizzly?  How important is the tension lever.  Seems very convenient to me.  I'm assuming you NEED to take the tension off when not in use?

My Grizzly 513 does have the lever.

[btulloh]

I  take the tension off my 20" Delta every time.....I change the band.  I've only had it 25 years, so it may not last with this kind of abuse. ;D

High quality USA and European saws are common on the used industrial market.

Same here. Never had any issues from leaving tensioned. 
Thought maybe I was being a bad bandsaw guardian, but . . . Maybe I'm ok.  :D

[Dan_Shade]

Mine has a lever too.  I'm also guilty of keeping it tensioned most of the time. 

[Tom King]

I un-tension my larger ones, when I think about it, which is not that often.  None have a lever, and it's no big deal.

Check CL for used ones.  I bought my Centauro 24" for $600, and $75 for one of the little ones.  I put some money in the 24", but not enough to make me remember how much.  I did buy a VFD for it, because I don't have 3-phase.

I never change sizes of blades on any of them-just walk up to it, and use it.  It's especially nice having one set up to resaw, but the little ones end up getting used the most times for oddball stuff.

[Brad_bb]

@firefighter ontheside , I was wrong.  It looks like it does have the lever.  I'm looking at this one as a starter bandsaw.  If I find I need bigger, I'll get a bigger one.  



 

[Dan_Shade]

That's the same one I have, but mine doesn't have the brake. 

You'll like it. 

[firefighter ontheside]

Its a good saw.  Same as mine, but I don't have the brake either.  I guess I remember to take the tension off about half of the time.

[Southside]

Well that makes 3 of us that have the same saw, and I do use the lever, got in the habit of it sometime after I got my sawmill.  

On mine you set the tension with a knob and have an indicator dial to know where it's at then the lever is a cam that simply releases the tension but keeps a memory of where you set it so when you re-tension the band it's right where you had it.  Very simple.  

[Brad_bb]

Next question is going to be what width/TPI bands do I need and how many to start with?  Are there different hook angles like on our sawmills?  
Thanks, Brad

[WDH]

 Find that I only use 1/4" blades as I only cut curves, but I do not re-saw on the bandsaw which would require a larger blade. 

[ron barnes]

I am not a sawyer so I probably shouldn't respond to this thread but---I have the Grizzly G0514X2B, 19", 3HP band saw.  I use it to cut relatively large green bowl blanks.  Will resaw up to 12" so plenty of height.   It also has the lever for tightening the blade which I seem to leave tensioned most of the time.  It has a brake but not a footbrake.  Brake is built into the off switch.  Much more accessible and convenient.

[firefighter ontheside]

As a rule, you want to have at least 3 teeth in the wood at any time, so if you're cutting thin material you need a blade with high tooth count per inch, but if cutting thick material you can have fewer tpi.  You can tell when you don't have enough teeth.  The cut starts to get loud and you can feel the bumpiness of the piece as each tooth is taking too big of a bite.  This kind of goes hand in hand with the width of the blade.  A 1/4 blade is gonna have something like 6 tpi, but a 1/2 blade will be more like 3 tpi.  Blade tension will need to be different for different width blades.

This is a great video to watch about bandsaws and how to set them up.
Band Saw Clinic with Alex Snodgrass - YouTube

[Brad_bb]

FYI, Tonight I bought a used Rockwell/Delta 14" bandsaw that was a barn find.  They guy put a new motor, new tires, carter guides, and he made a fence system for it.  I figured this might be a good first saw and once I get comfortable with this one, and find I need more capacity, I can get the Grizzly 17" or whichever is appropriate.

Great Alex Snodgrass video.  I also came across and updated version of the video with a few slightly different things.
The Best Way to Set Up a Bandsaw! - YouTube

[Dan_Shade]

Nice find!

[btulloh]

Excellent.  Nice find.  Sounds like it's got some desirable upgrades like the Carter guides.  If it doesn't already have the riser kit you can easily add that to get the 12" vertical capacity.  Having a 14" is a good thing whether you add the bigger one later or not.  Pictures?

[Brad_bb]

And here's another one where he adds the lever tensioning device while doing a full saw rehab.

30-Minute Bandsaw Rehab with Alex Snodgrass - YouTube

[21incher]

That is a great saw to start with.  Blades are available everywhere and not very expensive so it doesn't  cost a fortune to buy a good assortment.  It also is easy to align and change  tires. I have one of the old ones from the 50s that was my first saw and it never gave me problems.  I recently changed  out pulleys and put a metal blade on it for my metal working shop. Have fun with it. 

[Texas Ranger]

My only advise is:  Biggest with the most whistles you can afford.  As to brand?  Don't know, last couple of items I bought were from Grizzly.