14in band saw

[M. Yingling]

Can any one recomond a good brand band saw 14in ? looking to mostly resaw rough 2 by 6  thats the most comin size wood mill by me sells when i make pots i get lots waste .

Thanks

[jcz]

Ive got my eye on one on craigslist. Its a delta with somekinda extension. It is $750 but I dont really have the cash for it and not sure how good a buy it is.  It sure does look like it would tear up some wood. Not trying to high jack but if anyone knows how good this one is Id appreciate the help. I may be able to come up with the money for it if it is a good deal. Here is the link to it.
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/tls/2081666770.html

[spitfire]

I had this one before I downgraded my shop and it did any job I threw at it.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/The-Ultimate-14-Bandsaw/G0555

[Bob from Eames Custom Calls]

The Grizzly ultimate is the cat's meow, but I'm really happy with my Jet as well. Delta makes a decent machine, but you can pick them up in stock from from Lowe's for about $399.

 Bob

[M. Yingling]

grizzly looks good .. checked lowes they got porter cable 14in 1.5 hp only takes 1/2 blade ,,, i notice most other brands will go up to 3/4 blade ,,,, I dont have much time with band saw is their big differeance for blade width ?

[Aaron at Wingerts Woodworks]

Check specs on just about every 14" bandsaw on the market and the only one that beats the Grizzly that Spitfire linked to is the $900 Powermatic.  I used to own that Grizzly and can tell you it is one heck of a good bandsaw.  Tons of power and a very easy machine to tune.  I only sold it to upgrade to a monster 19" Grizzly 3hp saw for working with big timbers and slabbing down logs for turning.  A real bonus of the Griz is that it comes with roller guide bearings.  They're not Carters, but they're decent and are a $100+ aftermarket upgrade on most other saws.  I always found my Griz to be very easy to tune as well.  There's a Griz showroom somewhere in PA, can't recall where though.

That being said, I wouldn't give much credibility to any manufacturer that says that their 14" bandsaw can properly tension a 3/4" blade.  Not likely.  But there's really not much reason to use such a wide blade in my opinion.  I don't even use a 3/4" on my big saw and it'll easily tension wide blades.  With a good quality blade with a tooth/gullet combination matched to the task you're doing, a much narrower blade will easily get the job done.  A 1/2" 3tpi raker blade will do most tasks pretty well.  For cutting curves (turkey pots blanks, etc) and general use get yourself a 1/4" 3tpi or 4tpi.  

Whatever saw you get, the very best thing you can do for yourself is to get a good blade.  I like the Timberwolf blades from Suffolk Machinery.  You can also get them through Grizzly.  Don't be tempted by the $15 blades....Spend $30+ and it'll make the saw seem like it works even better.  

I'd order that 14" Grizzly over any other saw on the market unless I had the surplus cash to buy the Powermatic.  The bandsaws you see at the home centers are not great machines for the money (the Deltas are bottom of the Delta line and the Porter Cable didn't impress me one bit).  

[Brian Watts Custom Calls]

I had this one before I downgraded my shop and it did any job I threw at it.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/The-Ultimate-14-Bandsaw/G0555

 i have this with the riser on it . i cut pretty much everything. love it

[M. Yingling]

Well went lowes for some bits and ended coming home with the porter cable it was calling my name (LOL) read some good reveiws on it hopefuly it will work out ,, only bad thing ill half to come up with a fence for it . and a good blade ..

[Braz]

Can you add an extenstion to the saw to get a bigger depth of cut? A fence should be pretty easy to do.

[JThomas]

I have 2 a Ridgid for all tight cuts and a Rikon with 1.5 hp for resaw I make all of my cuts on it for box calls and such ..I like them both.. But a good blade to me can make the difference to...I use Wolf blades only and it is a big difference..

jt

[M. Yingling]

Got to messing with this saw today seems like pretty good saw ,,resawed few logs seemed to power thought them pretty good ,,  ,, all the close finger cuts with the chop saw and  table saw,,,, Wish i would of picked one up awhile ago