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I have been watching Craigslist looking for a deal on a bandsaw for resawing guitar backs, sides, fretboards, etc (rosewoods, ebonys, etc.). I found one that is not a good deal, but just so-so. So I'm comparing it to a new Grizzly to see if one is clearly a better decision The key to that is how much importance to put on certain differences and I would appreciate your input/experience to help weigh the differences in light of the rewawing goal.

The used machine is a 2006 18" JET JWBS-18X, 1.75HP, 18.6" dia, cast iron wheels, with 12" resaw in good condition. The new maching is Grizzly's 17" G0513X2F, 2HP, 16.5" dia cast iron wheels, with 12" resaw. Here are the differences side by side:

JET Grizzly
Price - JET $1000, Grizzly $1189
Blade width capacity (can the JET REALLY tension a 1.5" blade?) - JET 1.5", Grizzly 1"
Throat capacity - JET 18.4", Grizzly 16.3"
Motor - JET 1.75HP, Grizzly 2HP
Blade speed - JET 3,000fpm, Grizzly 3,500fpm
Table size sq in. - JET 361 in2, Grizzly 407 in2
Fence material - JET Alum., Grizzly Cast iron
Machine net weight - JET 418#, Grizzly 335#
Number 4" dust ports - JET 1, Grizzly 2
Brake - JET none, Grizzly Foot (can also get motor brake on Griz for extra $130 yielding 2 brakes!)
Resaw fence - JET none, Grizzly 6" alum.
Quick Blade Release - JET none, Grizzly Yes
Warranty - JET none, Grizzly 1 yr parts
Age/wear - JET 6 yrs old, Grizzly new

As stated, some of these things are more important than others. What do you see as key items?

I like the brake on the Griz and consider this a safety and convenience item. I also like the convenience of a quick blade release although this is not a deal breaker.

I assume machine weight is extra steel (strength) and like the extra weight of the JET, but I do not know if this really translates to heavier duty better craftsmanship.

I doubt I'd use the extra throat capacity very much.

The extra dust port is needed and I would have to cut a hole in the JET and add one (more cost and effort here).

The extra blade speed and HP of the Griz would aid resawing, but the extra blade width of the JET would counter that (more than counter that?)

I took a stab at assigning a $$ value to the differences which seemed to put the Griz slight on top. But what do you think?

Ed

Both saws look too small and too powerless to me for serious resawing guitarbacks, especially when you are talking about rosewoods and ebony.

best regrads, Alex

You are talking the difference of $189. The grizzly has a larger motor, larger table space, and comes with a resaw fence. you said you wanted this to do some resawing. Plus, you will get a warranty. If you go with the jet, you may end of spending that much money just on getting a decent resaw fence (assuming you don't make your own. My 2cents: get the new machine with the larger motor and the fence you want. (By the way, I own both jet and grizzly tools. Both are great companies to work with in my experience and both make good tools.)

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I just want to do sawing for myself without screwing up a bunch of expensive exotic wood. So accuracy is more important to me than speed. I know that HP improves accuracy somewhat, but it appears to mainly improve speed after a certain point of power. Many people seem to think that 1 3/4 or 2HP is enought HP to serve an individual luthier. Is there a general consensus on this?

I learned that my Delta 14" will not actually get 3/4" blades up to the recommended tension. So even though the Delta is rated at 3/4" blade width, it is only fully suitable for 1/2" blades. I hope someone will speak to the ability of the JET to actually get 1.5" blades up to manufactures recommended tensions. My "wild guess" is that the JET would not get there. I read a poster on another forum that had to add to the tension adjustment wheel of the JET to get enough leverage to properly tension a 1" blade to manufacture's recommendation. The mfg wanted 20,000# while the JET's scale was 10,000# at the 1" mark. He had to go well beyond the 1" mark to get to 20,000#. I understand that this is typical of many band saws. Does anyone have any experience with tensioning blades on the JET, or for that matter, the Grizzly?

Ed

17" is an odd size. Make sure you can get replacement tires for the 17" wheels. Grizzly is the only place offering them that I know about. If a 17" is what you want, have you looked at the Shopfox 17" Bandsaw? http://www.woodstockint.com/SHOP-FOX-2-HP-17-Bandsaw/W1707/ When I bought my Shopfox jointer their warranty was 2 years vs 1 year w/Grizzly and the machine was nicer than the similar price Grizzly.

I'd get the 14 inch deluxe industrial resaw bandsaw that's on sale for $850. It has a 10 inch height resaw capacity, which should be plenty for what you are describing you would like to do, plus a buncha other features..

http://www.grizzly.com/products/14-2-HP ... dsaw/G0457

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If you read other forums . Some folks have problems with Grizz machinery . I would look at jet, rikon , and shop fox. Have owned a minimax s-45. 1.8 hp for 14 years. For cutting hard tough serious thick hardwoods like locust, osage orange it is hard to beat a SCMI or laguna 20in bandsaw with minimum 4 hp.

Lots of good points in addition to the quote, Todd. Thanks. But please point me to the source of the $75 carbide tipped blades. I had previously bought Lenox at the higher price you mentioned. $75 for blades of this lenght are a DEAL!

Seems like my favoring the Griz over the JET is a general consensus herein. The Rikon is really nice but a little too big for my small shop, plus I would have to give up the brake(s) if I could make extra room for it. The Laguna 14" SUV is tempting with the 3HP Leeson, but the table is low, the price is high, the throat capacity is borderline, and the salesmen are a little overly aggressive - wow! they will save me $16 on a $216 Resaw King blade!)

Thanks to all for the help

Ed

Take your time , before plunking down $$ on a gud bandsaw. You might want to get a local referral from the co , you buy from, and road test the machine before you buy it .. Don/t forget after sale parts and servcice . Some are better than others

Filippo
Thanks for your thoughtful reply.

My shop is 8x20 (I'd kill for 12x20 ) and I have very useful and reachable shelving above my "wall" of floor standing machines. A 73" high machine will fit under my 74" high shelf. A 76" machine will not. If I raised the shelf another 3" ( a Pain, and the next runner slot is actually more than 3") then reaching the many benchtop machines I store there becomes more difficult, but admittedly not impossible. I have seen pictures of your nice shop and I think you made a good choice. If I had the extra space I would go your route in a heart beat.

Ed

I have a Grizzly G0513X2 and I've cut some pretty hard wood with it without hesitation, that includes EIR, Brazilian RW, Movingui, Honduran RW... I use the 1" Woodmaster CT blade for resawing. The blade is the best. If I had to do it all over again, I would but the same saw. Just my 2 cents.

Vince

My Dads's new (that i'll use 99% of the time ) Grizzly 19" just came off the truck (Still don't know how to get it down to the shop). obviously I haven't used this machine yet, but the same one is in the grizzly show room and the sales man showed us how easily it worked by accurately cutting veneers from an 8" walnut log. The saw had no problem cutting through the walnut and was incredibly accurate and fast. BTW, we went with the 19" because it's easier to find blades for it.

I have the 19" Grizzly with the 3HP motor and a 1.3 tpi Woodmaster CT. Goes through 8"-10" Rosewood and ebony like butter. If you are going to do a lot of re-sawing you might want to consider upgrading to the larger machine. That's what I did and I have no regrets. Also typically once a year Grizzly's go on sale. I think right around the holidays, but I don't recall for sure. Just something to consider.

No doubt, this is an excellent deal. If I could make this fit I would have already bought one. Thanks for the post, Filippo.

Ed