Band Saws?

[Poggins]

I have a 14" Ridged bandsaw that I use , one of the back roller bearings seazed up on me and a freind was going to use it to cut out two bows , one osage and a pecan.
My brother said we could use his so I took a new blade and we went to his shop , my brother's saw is a 14" but an off brand , built light , and has different sized pulleys to adjust the seed .
Both saws have 3/4 hp motors but his had some trouble cutting the osage and it had a harder time with the pecan , we had to keep working the pecan down a little at a time .
With a new blade my saw will walk through most woods with little problems , took over an hour with my brothers , motor would stall out on us and his saw hadn't been used much .

Investing in a good saw is worth the extra money , do some resurch and look around a little , maybe you can find a good used one , be sure and look it over good before you buy it , check all the bearings and adjusters .

[paulsemp]

sorry to say but I've never bought anything of quality that lasts a long time from Harbor Freight. Random tools that you use once in a blue moon are OK but I don't think I'd buy a bandsaw from them. I highly recommend not buying a rigid bandsaw, I just threw a 14 inch in the garbage. All the casting on it is cheap and I broke many parts. Got sick of ordering new parts for that thing. wish I would have bought a good one from begin with. The last dozen bows I've made have been rough out with a hatchet

[Jodocus]

Once you have a bandsaw, you'll need lots of wood 

[Arrowind]

Jodocus - your hilarious.


I used a small bench top saw I borrowed from a friend to make several bows.  Worked great!..but I wanted a better saw and I knew I'd be using it a lot so I got a large 14" floor model.  I think it's 1.5 HP.   I think I paid around $400 at Lowes (It's a Porter Cable).  I love it.  It wasn't too expensive, it works awesome and does everything I need it to do.   Sure I'd love to have a larger more powerful saw but don't really need it. 

What ever you use make sure you get a nice sharp blade.  3-4TPI.  That will go a long way in helping you cut through most any hardwood.     

[BrokenArrow]

In Canada we have a brand called "General". Apparently the highest quality you can buy. Their tools are all a pale green and made in Quebec. These are quite expensive but worth the money. Like anything be careful of the line called "General Star" an overseas version of the general saw but not the quality.
I had a cheap $100 saw and went through 3 blades so I am not sure about whether I will get another if it is not a General but pricey as they start at $700.
Kind of a must for board bows but not for self bows.

[missilemaster]

I have a delta 14" 1/3 hp motor. Always works well for me.

[Eric Krewson]

Rigid saws %$#*&^!. I bought one off a friend in bad financial shape. Having a good bit of experience with bandsaws, the first thing I noticed was the blade wouldn't track correctly on the tires, center one and the other would be almost off the other. The way the saw frame was cast there was no way to correct this problem. I took the saw to a warranty repair place that lied to me and said they added a shim to correct the problem. I still had the problem so I pulled the wheel to find they hadn't done a thing to my saw. I took it back and told them if they couldn't fix it I wanted another saw.

Well, I go another saw sent to me, being upset with Rigid I shipped it to my brother without opening the box, 25% of the parts were missing. It took him a year to get the parts from Rigid but often when he called for one part they would send a completely unrelated part that he didn't need.

He finally scrounged and made enough stuff to get the saw running.

Did I mention I didn't like Rigid saws?

[Aaron H]

A few years back I built my own vertical metal cutting bandsaw.  It runs off of a Dayton 1/2 hp motor.  It has 3 speeds; 850, 1700, & 3400 ft per minute. It has a 24" throat, and cut up to 12" thick material.  I have about $700 in parts and materials, probably 40 hours of construction, and countless hours engineering it. I couldn't even begin to tell you how much I use this thing on so many different projects including bow building. 

[Aaron H]

Why do my pictures always seem to post sideways?

[ajbruggink]

A few years back I built my own vertical metal cutting bandsaw.  It runs off of a Dayton 1/2 hp motor.  It has 3 speeds; 850, 1700, & 3400 ft per minute. It has a 24" throat, and cut up to 12" thick material.  I have about $700 in parts and materials, probably 40 hours of construction, and countless hours engineering it. I couldn't even begin to tell you how much I use this thing on so many different projects including bow building.

Now that is awesome! I feel like doing that now

[duke3192]

Harbor Frieght sells Jet brand, not top line, but good, and parts are available.

[koan]

For a few yrs Jet has been buyin up other companies... You might own a jet and not know it, lol. Everything at our harbor frieght is chicago machine... Brian

[Jim Davis]

If I were not already bald, I'd tear my hair out. DON'T BUY ANYTHING MADE IN EAST ASIA!

If the machine has even ONE PLASTIC PART DON'T BUY IT!

Unless you have more money than you know what to do with, DON'T BUY ANYTHING NEW!

Go here http://www.owwm.org/ and get an education in what great old American-made (and Canadian) band saws can be had used for much less money. Many of these machines have ALREADY lasted several generations and will just keep on working without breaking or wearing  out anything other than easily replaced bearings.

Here are some of mine. I have three (had another one and traded it) and have less than $100 in the ones that cost the most and I got two of them for free.

You might have to do some cleanup and tune-up, but your grandchildren can used the same saws when they inherit them.

Jim Davis

[Jim Davis]

Harbor Frieght sells Jet brand, not top line, but good, and parts are available.

[/u]

And you will need them.

[Adam]

For what it's worth, I think the blade is a bigger part of the equation than I originally thought.  I bought a 1970's Rockwell 14" saw that had been sitting idle for probably the last 10-15 years at an auction.  I fired it up...and was a little disappointed how it bogged down on even relatively thin wood.  My dad bought me some new blades for Christmas, and the difference is night and day. Now, I don't think a good blade will make a poor saw great, but it can make a mediocre saw pretty darn good for not a whole lot more money.