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This article is from the Woodworking FAQ Collection 2, by multiple authors.

12 Have you used one of these bandsaws?

From: Stuart Friedberg <stuart>
Date: Wed, 31-Aug-88 12:52:18 EDT

I am shopping around for a bandsaw with 8 inch resaw capacity, and
found these four (eight, if you count minor differences) import
models. If you have any experiences with them, I'd like to know.
Please, e-mail stuart@cs.wisc.edu unless your comments are of general
interest.

  Throat            Model(s)                  HP  Price
* 14"  Grizzly G1019  Bridgewood BW-14BS      3/4 335-380
  16"  Grizzly G1538  Lobo BS-0163 (-0161)  1 1/2 495-459
  18"  Grizzly G1012  Lobo BS-0183          2     625-599
  18"  Jet JBS-18     Bridgewood BS-18BS    2 (?) 799-795

* On the 14" machines, I am especially interested in performance WITH
the extension blocks that extend the cutting height above 6 inches.




From: schultz@mmm.UUCP (John C Schultz)
Date: 5 Sep 88 01:44:59 GMT

While I have not had experience with the brands you mentioned, I have
just sold an 18" YLH bandsaw (simlar to the Grizzly) after finding it
very unsatisfactory. Perhaps if I knew more about setting up bandsaws
I could have improved its performance, however, bandsaws are
apparently very touchy and need a good deal of tuning to work well.
If I buy a bandsaw in the future I will pay for someone else to set it
up (Delta or Inca).

The problems that I saw (no pun intended) were:

1. the supplied drive belt between the motor and the drive pulley had
such a huge bump that the saw vibrated wildly. I bought a new belt.
2. The original rubber "tires" which grip the saw blade fell off in
use. The dealer supplied new ones.
3. The fence would not work, i.e. it would not mechanically lock in
place. The dealer supplied a new fence.
3. The blade cut at an angle of about 15 degrees from the fence making
the fence useless. I tryed clamping wod down but the blade wander
was so severe that I was never able to resaw successfully.
4. It did have lots of power (2 HP) but using 110 VAC, the lights in
our house dimmed when I turned it on.

In summary be sure you know what a band saw is good for and how to set
it up. If you think (as I did) that a bandsaw is as easy to use as a
table taw (and has the same precision), forget it. Hope these
opinions are of some help.

 

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