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I am thinking of getting a small bandsaw for the shop, won't be doing any resawing but I need to be able to cut some fairly tight curves (not scroll saw tight but about 2" radius), which means I'll be using fairly small blades. I don't feel like buying a 14" because they all cost at least 1000 dollars in Taiwan, but I did find a 10" bandsaw made by Rexon with a 1/2 hp motor for around 300 dollars which looks like it might fit the bill.

Can someone tell me what to look for in a bandsaw?

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I have a 10 inch bandsaw that comes in handy fairly often. I bought it to tide me over until I could find a good deal on a 14". Be warned that a 10" saws shallow throat will be a source of frustration if it is your only bandsaw.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I was given a Ryobi BS903 9" as a gift. It's the only band saw I have (for now) but it is certainly better than nothing. I can resaw bridge blanks and bridge plates, and it's handy for cutting out neck profiles, top and back plates, mold templates, etc.

Yep, my 10" is better than no bandsaw! I even designed some small instruments around its maximum resaw capacity of 4 5/8". Resawing to full capacity on a small saw takes careful set-up and a lot of patience, but it can be done.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Thanks

I have seen 10" bandsaws for around 150 dollars, but they came with smaller motors and have a maximum depth of cut of around 3" which is a little small, but the 300 dollar saw I have seen has a 1/2 hp motor and has a maximum depth of around 170mm (which I think is around 6"). I won't be resawing any back/sides because that requires something much bigger, and besides there's no point for me to resaw an entire back/side set because any wood I am likely to find in planks are going to be too low quality for guitar use... I think I'll stick to ordering good quality wood from LMI or espen.de (they have better prices on things like German spruce and European maple, will see if its quality is as good as LMI) and buying the ok quality wood from the supplier in Taiwan.

I am only going to establish a small shop, so spaces and (for now) budget is limited... will only tool up enough to be able to build a guitar with reasonable work, anything more will wait until I start getting commissions from musicians in Taiwan. Good news is that no big machines are required to do any repair work...

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Would that work if you made a 4 piece top or back?

On the off chance that I run into a luthier quality wood in Taiwan, and it's too narrow for a complete back...

but seriously though it seems like resawing is something that I am going to do rarely, I think I'll farm that out to another company (probably even have the supplier do it, they have a giant bandsaw that is perfect for this task).

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Tai fu when I was staring out in cabinetmaking in vancouver bc abt 25 yrs ago . I bought a rexon 16in planer , drill press, don/t know abt their bandsaw . If their quality control was as good as the machines I have . I/d definitely go rexon

thanks, I plan on buying the whole rexon line anyways because their quality is very good. Had a cheap drill press for a while and really want something better and more stable and isn't rusting (which is the problem with used tools). Also since they're made in Taiwan they're cheap...

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com