New band saw. What's it for.

[Sawyer Rob]

Older American make Powermatic tools are much better made than the newer china made saws...

Bandsaws are also good for re-sawing too... You do need a "proper" band and a good "tune up" to get nice quality re-saws though...

SR

 

[HCJtractor]

I would get a book on Bandsaws. They’re several good ones available. To me, bandsaws require more care in setting them up, maintaining them and using them. They are a little finicky, as far as blade tension, the position of the guide blocks, the tracking of the blade, etc. When cutting important curves, I like using the bandsaw on thin pattern material, then using a router with a pattern bit for the real thing. It saves lots of sanding curves. But that’s another topic. Remember the tighter the radius, the narrower the blade. And yes, the stock blades are general purpose, but probably won’t cut a tight curve. The fence on a bandsaw isn’t as critical as on a table saw. In fact, band saw blades have a mind of their own and will “track” a certain line. This is why they require some practice and feel to use. And if you buy other blades, have fun learning how to fold them!

 

[dstig1]

They are versatile. If you like working with hand tools like planes and chisels, then a BS is often the only power tool you may own.

They are pretty much the safest of all power tools. There are only 2 main safety rules: 1 - never push with your hand in line (into) the blade. If you have to do this, use a push stick. The blade don't differentiate between oak and bone... 2 - All work must be in contact with the table at the point the blade hits it. If it isn't, it will be in about 1 microsecond after you make contact with the blade! There is a third one when doing thin resaw as the blade can wander out of the face of the board in certain circumstances so one does not want your hand there either, but that is a less common use unless you are cutting a lot of thin veneer. Push sticks or blocks again...

You can use them for cutting curves and even some scroll work (though extensive or really tight scroll work really requires a scroll saw), as well as general ripping and cross cutting. The downside to some of that is that a BS is not as "tight" as something like a table saw, so you may need to do a little prep work if you want really clean rips or cross cuts. There is a factor with a BS called "lead" in which the blade doesn't always cut quite in line with the fence, for example. A lot of fences are adjustable for this so you can tweak them a couple degrees or so so that they are in alignment and your cuts will be smooth and even, but this takes some time to work on and also can change with each blade you use. if this is critical, you need to use some decent scrap to dial it in prior to cutting the real pieces.

Resawing is the one thing that is really hard to do well on any other saw. 2 reasons for that include the height of the throat opening you can get on a BS for wider boards and also the much thinner kerf the BS blade takes than most other saws. A TS blade is often around 1/8" whereas a BS blade is almost never more than 1/16" and often closer to 1/32". That thinner kerf can be critical in certain circumstances where you really need to get the most out of a board for some reason - even when not resawing. When resawing, the thin kerf is the difference between getting 2 useful boards out of one vs only one, for example.

All that said, I have 2 bandsaws in my wood shop (and a horiz/vert metal cutting one too). One is a bigger 17" Grizzly that is set up for resaw all the time with a nice 1" Timberwolf blade. That one gets the most use by far. The other one is an ancient 14" Delta that I keep a very narrow ~1/4" blade on for curves and other detail work. Rarely used, but a godsend when needed. The resaw is used mainly for resawing (duh), but there are occasionally other needs where it is very handy like dealing with odd shaped things. With only one BS, you can swap a blade and have a totally different tool in just a few minutes. That is where easy blade changes are important.

So a few things to consider...

Enjoy!
-Dave

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Possible, you could cut metals using the proper tooth count metal cutting blade. I would wonder the why wood cutting only. Principles are the same, just another learning cuve.

Ron

 

[dstig1]

Principles the same but the speed isn't. Metal cutting bandsaws run MUCH slower blade speeds than wood cutting ones. Now you could re-gear (or re-pulley) it to slow it down to metal speeds, for sure, but most wood cutting bandsaws are not really set up like you would want for much serious metal cutting. It can work, but not the best fit. Delta used to make a wood/metal bandsaw in their classic 14" frame that had a gear box with a lever you could use to swap between the 2 preset speeds...for example.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I have cut a fair amount of aluminum on my 14" Delta BS, I do have it geared down a bit and a bigger motor on it though... Also, I do keep bi-metal bands on it...

I have a metal cutting BS, so I would never cut steel on my Delta...

SR

 

[EddieWalker]

I don't have one. I thought about getting one many years ago, but could never really justify the cost of buying it, finding a place to put it, and actually having a need for it. My original reasoning for wanting one was because Norm had one on The New Yankee Workshop, and he used it for all sorts of things. But in reality, I've never actually needed one. I use a router to cut big round circles the few times I've needed to do that. I've been able to use my table saw or even a circular saw to rip a board down in size, so the actual need really isn't there for me.

Since it was free, I would set it up in your shop, and see if you actually use it in the next year or so. If not, give it to your son and free up the floor space for something else. In my world, shelves are more important then a tool that will never get used.

 

[bunyip]

I replaced the steel guide blocks with some red gum soaked in linseed oil, any hardwood would do, saves the kerf if/when you get a little over zealous pushing work through, there are synthetic blocks available but these are free and work, I think maple would work well.

 

[LD1]

Lots of good things mentioned, only one to add unless I missed it...

A bandsaw allows precise cutting of inside corners WITHOUT over-cutting with a circular blade.

 

[mcfarmall]

Nice score! Take the tension off the blade completely when not using the saw. Build a nice circle cutting jig for your bandsaw...you will find many uses for it.