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I'm in the market for a bandsaw (10" or under). My current housing situation does not have room for a full size saw. The primary uses will be bracing, jig building (two layers - 3/4" baltic birch and under) and making tail and neck blocks. Any opinions on best bang for the buck when it comes to the 'baby' bandsaws?

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Jim buddy I have the Ryobi 9" table top and the Jet 12" floor standing saws.

The Ryobi once tuned is a nice little saw but 1" of spruce is about it's limit IMHO. The Jet 12" will do 3" spruce billets fine but that is about it. If I was to purchase again I would have bought a 14" saw instead of the Jet saw but the Jet 12" is a great saw for what it is.

It sounds like you need something in between these two.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

I have a Craftsman 10" band saw, late model, and it is pretty good. I looked hard at the options. The closest to it was the Rikon, basically the same saw with a few differences. Until a week ago I was very happy. Then I tried to adjust the bottom wheel for tracking and stripped out the bottom bolt on the bushing shaft. Chinese saw, cheap steel, not surprised. They did replace the saw, so the warranty was good. The advantages of the Craftsman over the Rikon, IMO, were, cast iron table - nicely ground (Rikon table is aluminum and has grooves), a bit longer blade length and more cutting height (4 1/2"+), potential warranty issues. Disadvantages were, non-standard blade length (can't walk into Woodcraft and buy one), Otherwise they are exactly the same.

Compared to other marketplace saws, I couldn't find anything else close for the price. I looked at the Hitachi, and it had great features, but it is a 3 wheel saw, and someone told me to stay away from them for blade life issues due to the sharp angle of the blade turns on the wheel. Nothing else I could find even came close. I heard some good things about the Ryobi 10", but I couldn't find one anywhere, with most retailers opting to carry the 9" saw at the $99 price point vs the 199 price for the 10". It got good reviews, and had what seemed to be very good features for a 10" saw. It does have a short blade length, and a little shorter cutting height. It is about the only other one I really considered seriously. My reason for doing what I did was primarily, price, cutting height, availability, and price. In any 30 to 60 day period, you can probably find the Craftsman on sale in the $100 -120 range, with a normal retail price of 149.99 or something like that.

Others surely have other opinions.

I noticed that Hesh posted before I did. I did resaw a 4" piece of Poplar for a side bending test run (it came out fine), and have sawed through a number of pieces of Mahogany in the 3 1/2 to 4" thickness many times on the Craftsman saw. It seems to handle them well, depending on which blade is on there. I have had the best luck with Lennox blades, and I have a local source for them, but they are readily available on the internet at custom lengths.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I was given by a family friend an old (but great shape) Craftsman 12" Bandsaw that doesnt take up too much space. It only has a 1/2 HP motor, but so far it does what I need it to do. Ebay sometimes has these (although usually pick-up only, so needs to be local). Uses 80" blades, which are easy to find.

Glenn

Thanks guys! I have a lack of space that precludes a floor model at this point. Now I have some options and I'll start looking.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

I picked up the Sears 10" on sale for $100 last year, as I was tired of constantly changing blades on my 16" Laguna. The Sears has sawn 3" mahogany and walnut frequently, though slowly, with no problem. For guitarmaking, it makes 90% of the bandsaw cuts in my shop. For the money, it is pretty impressive.

Brook

I can recommend the Sears one, just seems to be a no-brainer in the small/cheap saw market.

A couple things to consider:
If space is the primary issue, a benchtop bandsaw doesn't really save that much space, unless you're really setting it up on a benchtop with storage underneath. The footprint is about the same as a 14" saw will be by the time you put it on a stand. That said, I use it because I can't put a heavy saw in my upstairs bedroom/shop, and I'm pretty sure that room is not wired for high horsepower saws.

Don't be too concerned about irregular blade size. Timberwolf can make you any size blade you want and it doesn't cost all that much. Buy a few and order again before you use your last one. The quality will be miles ahead of what you would buy in the store anyway.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

I have the Delta 9" that works quite well is very handy. I use good Lenox blades on it and
it cuts anything I need .I've even cut 3x4 neck stock with this little thing. It's
slow going but it did the job. I would like to have a larger one though for bigger projects
and to make things a little easier. I am thinking about getting A 14" Rikon .

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755