Official Luthiers Forum!

This weekend I'll be purchasing a bandsaw. It will be used for resawing 90% of the time. I wasn't sure if I should also buy another blade for cutting out tops, or shaping heals, cutting scarf joints on necks, tapering necks...

What blades do you use for these tasks?

I'm looking at a JET JWBS-18QT-3

Readthe reviews on jet first. IMHO soso bandsw

For resawing, Lenox Woodmaster CT 1" x 1.3tpi..

Kevin Looker

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

2nd. I'd get the comparable Rikon over the Jet any day of the week though. I had one for years and it was a very good saw.

I'm also looking at the Rikon 10-350 and the Laguna LT14 SUV.

If you have the $$ check out the reviews on laguna 16 hd and the larger lagunas as well.Some luthier did a youtube vid on how useful it is , he loved his laguna outfitted with a resaw king blade .I forgot which luthier it was an the size of the machine 18in 5 hp??

Yeah, the 16hd is about a grand out of my range. But from a Resaw point of view, The 16" laguna offers a higher resaw height than both the 18" Rikon and the 18" jet.

You will definitely want another blade for doing everything else. I use a 3/4in blade to resaw and a 1/4in blade for almost everything else. BTW if you are not opposed to used check out Craigs list. I saw a killer saw there last month for dirt cheap.

The 18" and 20" General International are definitely worth a look as well although they are somewhat pricier than the Rikon or Grizzly. I believe the 18" weighs in around 700 lbs.

Thanks for your impression of the griz BS.I was in springfield mo. on Monday and debating on visiting their store. Now I wished that I had a look. Will check it out.

I now have the Laguna 18" non-Italian made version and would not recommend it. It gets the job done but it took a lot of tweaking and frustration to get there.

Thanks for all the input everyone.

Unfortunately Grizzly is out due to a customer service issue between my dad and Grizzly. Since he is paying for half the saw I really can't veto. (without going into details and losing my inheritance; I'd say the blame is 75% his and 25% grizzly's).

The saw will primarily used for resawing, but not just for the purpose of luthier work. Mainly it would be used for bookmatching panels or veneer for furniture.

Though I'm starting to wonder if it would be better to buy a smaller saw for my luthier work instead of trying to dual purpose our resaw saw.

I'm really good at over thinking decisions that involve lost of money. To the point where the allotted just sits there.

I own the Jet wouldn't buy it again I want to sell it and buy a Laguna.

I've owned the Jet for several years, and overall I like it. The saw does a fine job. My biggest gripe with it though is the blade guides. They're a royal pain to adjust--especially the lower ones. Very bad design there. But, the saw is sturdy and stable once you go through the pain of adjusting the guides.

At the time I bought the saw, had the Rikon or Grizzly been available, I'd have probably bought one of them instead. The Rikon came out about a year after I bought my saw. The Griz especially looks nice. The Laguna was and is out strictly on price, though it sure looks nice. At any rate, I'm plenty happy with the Jet and for me anyway swapping it for a different saw of the same size wouldn't be worth it. Might go for a bigger saw sometime though....

Dave

+1 to the Grizz 19" HP Extreme. Mine has a Woodmaster CT on it, +1 to that as well. Cuts like butta. Can be wired to 220 or 440 3-phase. 1600 bucks and worth every penny.

I have a 12" craftsman beater. It's most redeeming feature is it cost me 50 bucks on Craigslist. For the record, I cannot advise buying 30 used craftsman saws instead of the models youre shopping.

I also have the crapsman 12in drudge outfitted with a 1/2hp baldor runs forever , cheap to maintain. $55 on craigslost

I decided to hold off on the purchase. Between what I've read on several sites I decided that Jet wasn't for me.

Thanks everyone.

Whelp. I'm now the proud owner of 30 12" craftsman saws. I figure it's easier to just move to a different saw instead of replacing the blades.

Do either of you use the craftsman for resawing? Or shaping the neck blank? If so, how does it preform there.

For just cutting out the profile on a soundboad / back I can't imange it's too much of a difference between the top saw and a good running entry level saw, as long as the blades were the same quality.

I've saved up the enough money to fund the whole saw purchase. So I may go for the grizzly. I'll have to wait until after Christmas though, wife would kill me...

I've used a Crafstman 12in saw to resaw and it works but not very well. There is a lot of drift in it so you have to set the saw up to what ever drift it is at the moment. Forget about using the fence that it comes with. You will need to make your own fence in accordance with the drift. A nice flat block of wood clamped to the table works fine. You may want to upgrade the blade guides too. The default ones are not that great.

I've used one for years. They work great for almost anything in guitar making but are limited when it comes to resawing.

I have only used it to resaw two things: 4" cuts of black walnut and a 5 1/2 redwood stair tread. The capacity is something like 6 1/2 but the saw is not really up to it. Comments above about drift are right on. Next I'm going to try a resaw post instead of a fence. I'm pretty new to all of this so take with salt!

I have an extreme series band saw from a few years ago ,works fine. I also use a shop fox 19 inch band saw. In both cases I upgraded to the ceramic guides on the grizzly and have European guides on the shop fox. They are very similar in design and both worked well for me.
If you plan to resaw get the best you can afford. Lagun and Powermatic would also be a good choice. Put me down for the lennox 1.3 tooth woodmaster. I resaw a few 100 sets a year and find the blade one of the best out there.
Things you need to look at and be aware of , is metal used on the yoke on the top wheel, White metal, let it sit. Be sure the saw is solid cast and machined top. Also look at the dust collection on it.
Have fun and keep the pinkies out of the sharp stuff.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Blades:
I use two blades on my 16" saw (its a jet, not a bad saw at all). A 1" carbide for resaw and a 1/4" for most everything else. I have a 1/2 blade that just sits on the wall. The 1/4" is much more versatile. On my next blade purchase I think I will make the 1/4" carbide also.

_________________
Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I have an older MiniMax 16" bandsaw that has been great, it can do just about anything. Not sure how a used saw like mine would compare to the newer Grizzly saw.

_________________
Gwaltney Guitars

I had read Agazzani was sold to Hokubema/Panhans.... http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread. ... to-Germany!
Was it sold again to China?
We have a B20 at work. It's a very nice saw, though a few minor details needed some work when we got it. Overall it seems better built than our other Grizzly machines, but not by a lot, and I haven't seen a recent Grizzly bandsaw.

_________________
David Malicky