Band saw

[Robert Feingold]

Is there a significant difference between a 1-3/4 HP and 3 HP motor on a band saw.
I'll be cutting green logs after I half them with a chain saw and the usual assortment of blanks.
Also I'm considering buying a 15" Jet or Rikon. should i consider a Laguna as well?
Any comments would be appreciated.
Rob

 

[Bill Boehme]

Depends on how honest the specs are. Look at the Amps and efficiency and calculate the horsepower. I would put Jet at the top because of truthful specs, customer support, and parts availability. An honest 1¾ HP is better than a fictitious 3 HP.

 

[Don C Davis]

I went with the Rikon 326 and couldn't be happier. It will handle cutting logs as you describe easily--I would recommend a 1/2" (or maybe 3/4") blade with a low TPI count for that purpose!

 

[Paul Grenier]

I've found the best blade on my Laguna for cutting GREEN wood bowl blanks out of hunks of tree is either a 3/8" X 3tpi or 1/2" X 3tpi if you are mainly cutting larger diameter bowl blanks.

 

[hockenbery]

I have a Laguna 16Hd with a 12” resaw.
It is about 17-18 years old. Works great.

Laguna keeps changing the models.
I think the 16” now has and 18” resaw a feature I would like to have.
I know quite a few woodturners with Laguna.
They are worth a look.

I have replaced the rear thrust bearing a couple of times.
They take a beating with 1/2 logs. Takes 10 seconds to replace with the blade off.

 

[john lucas]

I had a 14" saw with 1 3/4 horse motor and it did cut the wood. It was sometimes work but I used it for years. I bought a 16" minimax a few years ago and it has 5 hp. Man what a difference. I have cut 12" thick hollow for blanks with ease. Used to struggle doing those with the 14" saw.

 

[Zach LaPerriere]

I have the Rikon 14", 2HP. Good saw, but cheap on the guides bearings, table, and light that will not stay up! 3 years old and holding up well.

For a tad more money the Laguna looks a fair bit more substantial from the one I've seen. That's probably where I'd go if I bought again, though I have no regrets with the Rikon. A shipwright friend has used the same Rikon in the shipyard for somewhere around 10 years and abused it hard. It's held up surprisingly well.

 

[Leland Frayseth]

I use a Harbor Freight 14" band saw with new tires, spring, 1-1/2 hp motor, Grizzly riser block kit, Highland wood slicer blades. To clean pitch I bring the blades to a boil on the barbecue with a 50/50 Simply Green and water mix in a galvanized bucket. I tried Timberwolf blades but like Highland better something to Highland's randomized teeth spacing makes cutting green wood easier.

 

[Larry Copas]

Laguna sells saws from both Italy and China. Big difference in quality along with price.

I much prefer my old 20" Delta with 1 HP over any of the smaller saws, even if they have boo-coo horsepower.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I think that motor size shouldn't be the primary factor for choosing a bandsaw. There are a lot of other things that are more important. Rigidity of the frame, resaw capacity, throat depth, quality of the guides, solidness of the table, ease of adjustments, and then maybe motor size. I have a Minimax MM16 that I've had for about 12 years and think it is about the best thing out there. It is also very large and heavy and it was a major job getting it into my shop.

 

[Jerry Maske]

Bill,
I tend to agree with you. I have a 14" Delta with the 9" riser. Didn't have much luck with it until I sorted out how to "Tune" it. The blade needs to be set up on the upper tire so that the gullets are centered. If they are, the blade will run as true as the day is long. The table has to be lined up to the blade. And the guides need to be properly adjusted. I spend 15 minutes setting up a blade focused on those three points and can resaw a 12 x 12" block into 1/4" pieces without a fence. And Delta is NOT known for it's big horsepower. I think we put too much emphasis on HP rather than effectively setting things up.

To be sure, the other band saws mentioned have more power and "Should" do a better job. But if you don't set them up properly, you won't like your results.

 

[John Turpin]

I sure like my new Grizzly 220v 14-incher. A 1/2" 3tpi blade on this saw does wonders when cutting blanks.

 

[robo hippy]

I generally opt for a stronger motor, even if I don't need it. My Laguna 16HD has a 4.5 hp Baldor motor on it. Can't stall that one. I know Baldor is one of the best motors available. Funny thing about motors, my old blue no name grinder from Woodcraft, many years ago had a 3/4 hp motor that drew more amps than the 3/4 hp Baldor grinder I had, and both were rated 3/4 hp. Baldor was way more powerful. As for blades, on my Laguna, I have a 1 1/4 Lennox Diemaster bimetal blade with teeth at 3/4 inch apart. It is for ripping bowl blanks. I have a smaller saw with a 1/2 inch 3tpi blade, again a Diemaster, which cuts circles down to 6 inch easily.

robo hippy

 

[Bob Sheppard]

I use a Harbor Freight 14" band saw with new tires, spring, 1-1/2 hp motor, Grizzly riser block kit, Highland wood slicer blades. To clean pitch I bring the blades to a boil on the barbecue with a 50/50 Simply Green and water mix in a galvanized bucket. I tried Timberwolf blades but like Highland better something to Highland's randomized teeth spacing makes cutting green wood easier.

Leland-
a second on the Highland Woodslicer blades. I only have a 1 HP motor on my old, old Delta bandsaw. But with that blade, I can cut thick stock pretty easily.

 

[Damon McLaughlin]

I've been very happy with my Rikon 326 as well. I cut logs first with the chainsaw then further into bowl blanks with a home made circle cutting jig. I have maximized the resaw capacity many times and have never had a problem. My favorite blade is a 3/8" 3tp skip tooth blade.