Official Luthiers Forum!

I was wondering about the difference that the aluminum wheels would make, but I figured that the 2HP would adequately handle the job. Others had said that the Rikon 2.5 hp was overkill for my needs. Although I plan on re-sawing quite a bit of wood since I have access to plenty of land/wood. Maybe I should upgrade to the Extreme.....It is only a couple hundred bucks more. I think I would have rather had the extra half a horse for that price though. How is Grizzly with cancellations? I'm sure that they would be happy to make the upgrade in sale, but I may consider going back to the Rikon. Choices choices.

I would stay away from aluminum wheels in the 17-19" class of bandsaw. Iron is denser and like Todd says, is awsome for improving smoothness if cut. I also heard that the Grizz does not have domed tires. I think 3 Hp is minimum for real resaw capability. There are very good saws in yur price range that have iron wheels, domed tires.

I want those Carter guides!!! Love my Laguna Resaw King blades!! Carbide all the way. (not just tipped).

Mike

BTW, Resawing wood is an art unto itself. You don't just by a big bandsaw and go to it. You have a lot of research to do, more than this thread can provide. When you do decide to tackle this process, ask a LOT of questions and experiment with cheap wood. Seriously! Resawing takes a lot of effort to master.

I love this guy's website, he is kind of the John Wayne of resawing... a bit excentric, but knows his stuff http://www.borsonresaw.com/

He's got a nice bandsaw, and I bet his setup alone (minus the bandsaw) costs more than the bandsaw.

Mike

thanks,
I have no plans of re-sawing exotics as of now. My family has plenty of acres with plenty of nice ash, walnut, cherry etc. I will learn on that. Besides I can't afford exotics right now with all the tools I've bought!

I canceled the order and I am waiting for the Rikon to go on sale. I think I'm going to go with the extra half a horse over the Grizzly extreme. Unless someone can talk me out of that!!! Really the only advantage I saw with the Grizz over the Rikon is that the blade is slightly smaller, which is only good for price of blades, not necessarily resaw. So the Rikon it is, if and when it goes on sale again.

thanks to everyone for all of the advice and input. Any additional info is welcome.

Joey

http://www.lagunatools.com/bandsaws/ban ... 8Ta38Mchz0

these are sweet. but how am I supposed to afford dust collection after buying something like this??? Hahaha. Maybe I'll just wait until tax time and buy one of these. By the way whoever posted that link to Borson precision re-saw, that was spot on. Never thought about misting the blade. He has quite the setup. I don't need anything quite so complex, but he sure has the shining example of a re-saw setup.

Well for $1,000 I think I can deal with the Asian Rikon. Plenty of power, plenty of weight. Does anyone have problems with the wood burning up? It does have 2 speeds so I should be able to slow the blade down for harder woods correct?

Again, as of now I am not planning on going into the tonewood business. I would just like to be able to saw my own wood and sell the occasional set to offset tool costs. Of course then I can buy more! After all I am never going to be able to use everything I cut up.

I have an Italian made Laguna LT16 HD. Best investment I have in the shop. Only complaint was the value of the Canadian dollar when I bought it. Cost me an extra grand.

Bob

Folks, here is the deal on blades:
http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=140179

If I hadn't just bought a Lenox Aluminum Master, I'd be going for these. Very narrow kerf, too.

_________________
Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

I think the reason some bandsaws have two speeds is so you can cut some metals. Blade needs to slow down for metal.

If by smaller, you mean shorter, kind of hard imagining that saving you a bunch. I buy most of my blades from Laguna since sawmillcreek members are offered great deals on them. I have two Resaw King blades that are absolutely stunning in their performance. Narrow kerf, 1" wide (or more) and variable pitch.

Got a few other Laguna blades for small stuff.

Mike

"In the land of the blind a one eyed man is king"

Right. For guitar building, 14" saws, all cast iron are prolly the best. Most of the frame based saws are a great starting point. Then, add Carter guides, a good fence....

Joey, check this out. You could probably get it for less.

http://maine.craigslist.org/tls/1802538672.html

_________________
Tim

thanks,
Excellent find, email sent. Only problem is that I am in Iraq for a few more weeks. I asked him to hold it for me. It would be great if I could get that saw at that price.

thanks again,
Joey

Just ask him if he accepts paypal and send him a deposit. Explain your situation. Oh, I take it you live in Maine. Have someone go up there and look at it.

Mike

No Mike, I like in Baltimore, MD/ Washington DC area.Not sure where I will live when I go back. I was in Chinatown, DC for a couple years. Now I am looking for somewhere not in the middle of a Metro area with a garage or better yet a basement. Unless I am mistaken, the poster was referring to Rockville, MD, which is right outside of Baltimore on 495/695 or whatever version of 95 it is. My stepdad is also looking in upstate NY.

Hahaha. My bad. Yeah I am not driving to Maine to save $200 bucks on the saw. I'll spend that on gas.

I am dying to buy a saw, mainly because I have a large 4" x 3" chunk of Mahogany that I can't get through with the piece of garbage saw that I have right now (3/4 hp Asian P.O.S.). It also won't cut straight, even with a new blade, new guides and proper tension. Not even through a piece of 1/8" cheap panel plywood. It's got to go!!!! Also my stepdad just got a couple hundred BF of cherry that has been seasoned for 25 years. Gorgeous stuff. So my excitement stems from three things:

1. Being able to finish up builds # 1 & 2.
2. The end of my bandsaw troubles
3. Adding re-saw capability

I don't what you mean, exactly, by 'won't cut straight' .
However, you will probably find that even a more expensive saw will show 'drift' if it has domed tires, and you will have to adjust to that.
Bandsaws and belt sanders are in a category of tools that seem to need frequent 'adjustment' to work properly. (I'm pretty thankful that I don't have to do a range of adjustments when I swap tablesaw blades!).
Try to arrange some 'hands-on' advice for tuning up your new bandsaw.

Cheers
John

By "won't cut straight" I mean that you have to compensate by about 30 degrees, even with an 1/8" piece of cheap balsa ply. And that is with a brand new blade and the blade tension as tight as it gets. I actually think that one of the hand-held portable bandsaws is capable of doing a better job than this piece of crap that I have right now. I've had a few people look at it, we've changed blades etc, and all I can come up with is that it's a piece of garbage. I'll definitely have some help setting the new saw up.

This Friday looks like some good deals to be had for anyone close by or willing to drive:

http://boston.craigslist.org/nwb/tls/1807206111.html

_________________
Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

Last year I bought a few Laguna Resaw blades (1 1/4 x 3tpi) for my bandsaw and I finally got around to putting one on the saw today.
(Sawing the African Olivewood into sets was 'on the list'.)
That's a great saw blade! Thin kerf and very smooth cutting - a couple of passes through the thickness sander and all the saw marks are gone.
So, if you are thinking about one of those Laguna blades, I can recommend it.

Cheers
John

If u r going to buy a laguna blade, consider going to the deals forum at sawmillcreek.org. Tito from laguna is running a sale on them. Most times I get them at half price

Speaking of Laguna, do their bandsaws ever go on sale? I'd spring for one of those 3HP 14"'s if the price ever dropped. Anything more than that is just too cost prohibitive, although their 16"'s are nice as well.

But the more I look at those high end saws, the better that $999.00 Rikon sounds. then I can still get a new dust collector.

I've had good luck just getting in touch with Laguna and asking if there is a deal on the blades. (I think the resaw blades were a flat $75 each?)
Try
Tim_Lory@lagunatools.com

Cheers
John

Laguna has tool sales all the time, though the best 'bargains' seem to be on some of the more expensive tools. (Wanna buy a $12000 tablesaw for only $9999?). From time to time, they also have deals like 'free' blades and Driftmaster fences with bandsaw purchases.

I get regular emails from them; you could probably subscribe to email notifications via their website.

Cheers
John

I'm on their list. I even emailed an agent to politely ask for a discount. After looking at the shipping cost (over $380) he mentioned free shipping and I thought about it. But for $1500 I can buy a Rikon, dust collection and some accessories for the saw. Outside of getting one used, I don't think it's gonna happen for me. I still have yet to read anything really negative about the Rikon. Unlike Jet, which costs more and I almost bought, because I was so impressed with my Jet 16/32. Glad I didn't make that mistake.