WTB: 16" - 18" Bandsaw

[WoodWrangler]

I've got my eyes out for a 16" - 18" bandsaw. I'd like to land another Laguna with ceramic guides, but am open for other things. At the IWF I was impressed with some of the Grizzly 17" offerings. I've also heard great things about the MiniMax -- though never used one.

So ... I'm just putting this out there ... if you happen to see anything, please share.

As always, it'll be a balance of quality, price and location ...

 

[Travis Porter]

And where are you going to put this bandsaw? Don't you have two already?

Are you planning on using it for resawing, curved cuts, anything special?

 

[WoodWrangler]

Well, a while ago I sold my 14" Grizzly G0555 when I got the Laguna LT24. Dumb move, as I really wanted a bandsaw with a small blade (for curves) and one with a large blade for resawing. So I bought a 14" Grizzly again -- this time used from a NCWW member. It's a great little bandsaw, but lacks good dust collection (of course, the Laguna does too) and doesn't have roller bearings (though I upgraded it to the Carter Stabilizer). ... Now I've decided to part with it because I really want something as nice as the Laguna, but a little smaller, that I can use to maintain a smaller blade. I think I want bigger than 14" though ... and closer to 18" is desired. This will be a secondary saw, but used a lot.

As for room ... well, if I sell the 14", and I sold my larger lathe (someone will gloat soon), and I sold my large air compressor ... and soon the Dewalt DW735 probably ... so I have so much room now it's sick (yeah right)

 

[Travis Porter]

I know where you are coming from. I upgraded my Delta 14" a lot before I got the Minimax, and now only use it for curve cutting. Since the upgrades it is a very good saw, but it wasn't cheap to get there.

My only suggestion is to keep an eye out for one where the table tilts left some as well as right. It isn't common, but it is a plus in certain situations.

 

[WoodWrangler]

Well, I figured I'd put this out here just in case someone is sitting on a bandsaw they want to sell soon and hadn't listed. I'll have a lot of questions and research to do...

 

[PeteQuad]

I think Grizzly sell great value products; their consumer level stuff is at an excellent price point for what you get. If you are looking at Laguna (or Minimax - drool...), I think they are mostly in a different league, unless you are looking at the Grizzly products especially designed to compete with those guys (like the G0636x) which are priced similarly anyway.

I was dreaming about a small additional bandsaw at the show also, and one that caught my eye was the 15" General. Not the General International one, but the one made in Canada. It seems very well made (it has a one piece cast iron frame), and not too big, since I wasn't looking for a huge bandsaw. The only thing is that I think it only had a 2.5" dust port.

 

[WoodWrangler]

Grizzly did have some nice offerings ... got me a thinkin'

As for the General, I've never really looked into them. Heard good things, but everytime I see one all I can think is "high school shop" and "expensive". I'll have to reconsider them ...

Ideally, I'd land another Laguna -- but as with everything price is a consideration and "new" is not an option in that league.

 

[WoodWrangler]

Unfortunately General only sells a 15" and 20" bandsaw that is made in Canada (from what I could tell). The 15" is probably smaller than I want .... and ching ching. The 20 would be great, but even more ching ching.

Powermatic has a new 18" that I saw at IWF ... but just found out it's not available yet and when it is, it will be $4k -- don't think so.

Back to Grizzly to look around ... impressive offering. I wish I could get my hand on some of the new models -- all I can go on is what I saw at IWF. The most interesting offerings for my needs/wants is the 17" and 19" models.

The main problem is the Grizzly website lacks ... no side-by-side detailed comparison and some of the saws have only a picture or two.

http://grizzly.com/products/17-Bandsaw-2-HP/G0513
http://grizzly.com/products/17-Bandsaw-2HP-w-Cast-Iron-Trunnion/G0513X2

http://grizzly.com/products/19-3-HP-Extreme-Series-Bandsaw/G0514X
http://grizzly.com/products/19-Extreme-Bandsaw-3HP-Single-Phase/G0514X2

Any opinions on these?

 

[PeteQuad]

Here's a comparison chart that Shiraz (pres. of Grizzly) posted a link to earlier in the year:

http://www.grizzly.com/images/pdf/Grizzly_BandsawComparisonChart.pdfhttp://www.sawmillcreek.org/showpost.php?p=780692&postcount=45

I have the G0513X2 and think it is excellent. I went with it over the G0513 because I knew I would want to upgrade to the better fence and guides anyway, and if I put in the extra $200 upfront I got with it the heavier duty trunion and wheels (cast iron instead of aluminum), which I've heard no complaints on anyway, but it's nice to have the stronger stuff of course.

I almost went for the G0514X2 because it has the brake and even nicer table tilt mechanism, along with a bigger table, but ultimately I decided it was more than I needed, not to mention $300 more. The G0514X had the steel trunion and I didn't feel right paying more and getting a small downgrade in one area - the only other difference being the table size (it didn't have the other upgrades that the X2 had).