Help buying a bandsaw?

[Del the cat]

What you need to remember is that ANY bandsaw will requier a good deal of maintenance and adjustment (usually whan you just want to get on with the job). It will also need ocasional spare parts (drive belts etc)
So better to buy a second hand one that you will need to copletely overhaul and get to know inside out than a new one that lures you into thinking it will run forever with no attention.
More for your money.
I bought a second hand one. The lower blade guide casting was cracked... a few minutes on the internet found a new one for a few pounds.
If I'd bough new, I could only have afforded an underpowered one... mind I still wouldn't mind a bigger one
Del
(I mean bandsaw....)

[Stick Bender]

A friend of mine bought this 14 in saw about 2 years ago he has been running it commercially for making molding says he loves it  , it has a 12 in. Throat for wider material he got it at Rockler. It has 1 1/2 hp & 220v or 110v  he said it was around the same price as the other 14 in. & said they have floor models for a real discounted price at times.

[Stick Bender]

For a machine just used for bow making you could easely get buy with a 14 in. Machine most of the time I keep my 3/16 blade on unless Im resawing but the roller guides are huge to me because it turns your machine into a carving machine , for cutting off bark & sap wood you can change angles while cutting around uneven surfaces & the blade will stay put & easy to control or if you need to free hand shape a handle area , I saved for a long time for mine too & once I got my kids out of the house I bought it.....lol

[PEARL DRUMS]

Cheap saws are cheap. I've seen many collecting dust in the corner with burned out bearings, broken shafts and the sort. When I say cheap, I don't mean a  Delta for $10, I mean a Chinese Powermatic2000 from Home Depot for $129 made from plastic. I have a 16" Grizzly I abuse the hell out of, and it loves it. Keep it tuned and keep a decent blade on it helps all saws perform and stay performing.

[Stick Bender]

I agree Pearl but every body has a budget and you have to work with in it I used a cheap ridgid bandsaw for years to get by and made a lot of stuff with it , and if I had young kids I would still be using it , so sometimes you have to make a choice and some of those 14 in. Saws are pretty good , better then no saw & replacement parts are cheap I under stand 100% what your saying buy right buy once , but you can always up grade latter as life progresses    Just my 2 cents !

[Philipp A]

Hi,

I have not been able to post for a while since I have been super busy at work, so I am happy I have a weekend where I can browse through the posts on here 

I have bought a Rikon 14" 10-326 bandsaw last year and I am very happy with it. It is a bit pricey but when cutting hardwood staves the cheaper models tend to not properly track.

Knowing that you like to use Eastern Hophornbeam for your bows, I can tell you that the quality of the saw makes a huge difference on whether you can cut the staves accurately or not.

Even with this saw I had my challenges. I am still using a chainsaw to half the log and then use the bandsaw to quarter or in a larger log to cut it into sixth.

I had to set the speed to slower speed on this saw as well in order to not stall the saw! Iron wood is tough stuff as you know 

All I am trying to say with this is that you are better off to wait getting a band saw and save up money until you can buy a high quality one than to settle for less and have something that would be useless for your intended purpose.

Cheers,

Phil

[Jim Davis]

I strongly urge anybody thinking of buying woodworking machines to visit and join the Old Woodworking Machines.org forum. There is a complete education there about old woodworking machines and lots examples of machines bought used and put to use as is or refurbished. Also, the membership includes hundreds of people (thousands?) who own and have worked on old woodworking machines and all are eager to help.

There is the danger of taking on a whole new hobby, but once you get your eyes opened, you'll never consider a machine that has plastic parts and comes  from Lowes or Home Depot.

Old woodworking machines .org http://owwm.org/index.php

There is a sister site that has information about hundreds of different examples of old American made woodworking machines it's called Vintage Machinery.org http://www.vintagemachinery.org/

[bubby]

Another thing you need to remember is to STAY AWAY FROM THE LINES!!!! Heck i can cut a sweet straight line, but cutting too close is a mistake cause you can't put wood back on without glue😲, sometimes mine look like Frankenstein ran it through the saw but a few swipes with a farriers rasp fix it right up.

[bjrogg]

Thanks for posting this Upstate and thanks guys for all the replies. I've been trying to save up for a bandsaw to. I went to a neighbor's and tried his once on some HHB. Wasn't the saw I needed for sure. I just kinda quit thinking about them after that. It would be very nice to have a good one that worked for what I needed for. I would definitely use it for more than just bows to.
Bjrogg

[BowEd]

Yes bjrogg with a fence the resawing option is handy at least for me with different projects.Example..For making arrow shaft squares of 3/8".

[upstatenybowyer]

Gentleman, as always, your insight is priceless. BJ, glad to know I'm not alone in pondering this conundrum. Del, what you say makes a ton of sense. Either way, I'll eventually have to learn the insides and outs of these things. Even if I buy new, I'll eventually have to replace parts and such. So why not look for an old quality machine and do all the learning up front? Hard to argue with that. Of course, part of me likes the idea of buying a new quality machine like a Grizzly and learning as I go. Man, this is a tough decision!

[BowEd]

Well bud you seem to be a serious bowmaker soooooo we don't want ya to make a bad decision.I built my first 18 bows I think in a year with a hatchet/draw knife/old used farriers rasp/and a pocket knife.Things will go faster making and possibly wrecking too with a band saw.
I'm told Tim Baker could get a string on a board bow from scratch in 15 minutes just using a band saw.Not your overall purpose I'm sure but you get what I mean.

[Stick Bender]

Yep BJ they are usefull for a lot of things and Really you can make just about any thing with one I told my wife if I ever had to sell off the shop it would be the last power tool to go there by far my favorite power tool ,Upstate its a tuff choice but time is on your side I cant crank. bows out like you even with one 

[Del the cat]

If you need to justify it to "her indoors" I've found mine invaluable for DIY projects around the ouse too. Heeck I've even used it to slice bread that I forgot to take out of the freezer!
Del

[stuckinthemud]

I wore mine out, but then when I realised I couldn't fix it, I found I had to relearn how to use a hand-saw, band saws can de-skill you and make you lazy. Just a thought. Still wish I had mine though