Tattooed and Dusty wrote:
Hi All,
So starting to plan another large cast iron purchase, and thought I
would pole the group for thoughts.

I am thinking of replacing my Grizzly G0555 14" Bandsaw. There are a
couple reasons for this. I have been less than satisfied with the
purchase since uncrating and setting the guy up. It works well, but
for a decent amount of my needs it feels somewhat wimpy. I have a
bunch of 8/4 african hardwoods that I attempt to book match in
virtually every project. I have found this saw to be less than ideal
for this use. I realize I am asking alot of the saw, and it might not
be fair to judge it harshly for this failing, but I would like
something better. It doesn't seem like I can get the blade tension
tight enough using even 1/2" blades, let alone 3/4" which the saw is
rated for. This seems to cause some great degree of wander in the
blade tracking when using the wider blades, something I haven't
noticed when using thinner blades. It seems to me that even without
the riser kit installed there is more flex in the body of the saw
than I would expect. The table is small, and the included fence is
downright hard to lock in place without feeling like I am torking the
table beyond ideal.

Alright, so I would like to recoup some of the expense of the saw, and
invest in a better one. I primarily use the band saw for resawing,
trimming odd little things where I don't want to setup another saw,
and to cut curves with a jig.

I would like a decent size motor, as large as a table as possible, and
a really solid frame.

So far looking to spend maybe an additonal 1000, after selling the
Grizzly that moves me into about 1300 range. Looking online and some
in person the Jet 16" jumps out at me, the Laguna 14LTSE and the 16"
are both appealing, and the Delta 18" seems worth looking at. Are
there other models I am overlooking? Does anyone have experience with
these saws? Also it seems like while the laguna 14LTSE is smaller
than the other models I am looking at it, it has all the same
features and might have higher quality despite the smaller size. I
have found that the blade depth on my Grizzly has never been a
problem for me, or at least not one i couldn't work around by using a
different tool.

Thanks in advance, as any help will be well appreciated

Andrew

Try looking at the Rikon 18". It got pretty good reviews recently and was
rated best buy on machines up to around $2000. Here's one place to look
at
it.http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/ak/Tools/Power_Tools/Rikon/Band_Saws/Band_Saws_2654/RIK_10_340_Bandsaw_18_2_HP_12_5_Amos_2_Speed_1510_ prod/index.html
or http://tinyurl.com/bel5t.

here's another http://cwd-web.net/rikon/10-340-18BS.htm

Woodcraft carries them, too. Drawback is the 220V setup.

I haven't read any negatives about the saw yet.

Gary