# Final Band Saw Choice



## gpg311 (Mar 20, 2010)

Down to the final two (I think!). The Delta 14 in and the new Porter Cable 14 in. Both pretty much the same saw (same company). The Delta has the quick tension release and the PC doesn't, but the PC is 'rated' at 1.5 hp instead of 3/4 for the Delta The Delta is going to be discontinued - at Lowes at least - so parts could be an issue. It sells for $349 at Lowes and the new PC is $399 at the blue box too. But neither has a fence so I'd add a Kreg to either one I bought.
I HATE 'which tool to buy' discussions - _except when I'm buying!!!_


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

You'll find more upgrades for the delta. Riser blocks and blade guides. Motor can be upgraded. Have you looked at the rigid?


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## gpg311 (Mar 20, 2010)

Seemed like alot of people had 'out of the box' vibration issues (which they fixed) but the lifetime warranty is a definite plus.


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## WinM70 (Mar 6, 2010)

Also a lot of us gave 150 for the clearenced Delta bandsaw and drill press at Lowe's. I personally liked the Delta units over the new PC units when compaired side by side.


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## Ghidrah (Mar 2, 2010)

I thought Delta switched over to the 1 hp yrs ago?


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

The one at my local Lowes is 1 HP


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## cuttingedgewood (Mar 22, 2010)

I would go with the Delta. Since Stanley bought Black and Decker who owns Dewalt who bought Pentair Industries, who is the parent company of Porter Cable, Delta, Oldham............. To make a long post short China wins again. The only advantage The new PC bandsaw has over the Delta is a cleaning brush on the lower wheel. The PC seems to have some kinda nylon tires on the wheels vs the foolproof rubber ones on the Delta. The PC looks to be a mini version of the Delta. I personally don't like the castings on the Delta but the tension arm is a plus. I would'nt worry about horsepower. My Delta 14" 28-245 has 1/2 HP and I resaw 4" white oak with no problem. It does'nt look like a riser block is possible with the PC either. Hope this helps


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## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

Just to muddy the waters some more, I recently ordered this unit: http://www.woodstockint.com/Products/W1706/

I need to upgrade my ancient 12" Craftsman and was looking for a nice 14" saw that had the guts to do some re-sawing. The local Re-Tool store is a Shop Fox dealer and had one of these. I really hadn't considered SF but kept looking at their floor model and was impressed with the fit, finish and features.

I especially liked the geared upper blade guide, cast iron wheels, quick release blade tension, full ball bearing guides, enclosed storage in the base, nice fence and miter gauge, etc. It also uses a flat belt instead of a 'V' so between that and the CI wheels, it should run smooth. It's also a 2-speed saw, for whatever that's worth.

I looked at the Delta (on clearance) at the local Lowe's and it seemed to be pretty basic and IIRC, the motor was not 1 hp (I may be wrong). The P/C had nice features but I wasn't too impressed with the fit and finish. The sheet metal seemed kind of flimsy, etc.

A saw I really found to be lacking was the Harbor Freight unit. I went to swing the upper wheel door open and it fell on the floor. It turns out the door isn't even hinged.

The Shop Fox isn't as cheap as the other units but isn't as costly as some others, either, especially considering that it has CI wheels. I'm paying $560 plus about $80 for the riser kit. The delay in getting it has been caused by the dealer waiting to put a bigger order in to SF so he can avoid shipping charges.

Bill


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## Ghidrah (Mar 2, 2010)

Dodgeboy77,
I have the SF 1707. I was pretty upset with it when I got it, I'm pretty sure it had been a floor model put together by blind chimps. It was a mess, scratches all over, the shipping crate wouldn't hold oranges let alone a 400+ pound BS that the delivery truck left out at the edge of the street.

A weekend of trial and error adjustments, a mobile base and I got the saw I was looking for. I'm pretty sure Shopfox is related to Grizzly via Woodstock Int. the tools look too close to be otherwise. I was debating hard between the Jet model and the SF1707, SF at the time it was less expensive and had a few plusses.

I'd suggest Suffolk Mach. for your blades, I've been happy with their blades, not happy with Lenox.


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## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

Ghidrah said,

<<_I have the SF 1707. I was pretty upset with it when I got it, I'm pretty sure it had been a floor model put together by blind chimps. It was a mess, scratches all over,_>>

I would have been upset, too. The floor model of the 1706 I examined looked really nice. I hope the one I finally end up with is as good.

Grizzly and Shop Fox are owned by the same guy (or something like that). Not all the tools are the same, though. This 14" Shop Fox bandsaw isn't the same as the equivalent Grizzly, the G0555/G0555X. In fact, nothing seems to be the same and they don't even use the same riser kit.

Bill


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## Ghidrah (Mar 2, 2010)

I'm pretty sure the scratches came from the lousy packing and the shipping Co.

I'm pretty sure floor models don't have to run, (at least at the stores I've been to) so even though they're set up they don't have to perform.

Even though the SF 14" is smaller its specs sound real good. In any case I'd go through the manual and double check all the important parts to ensure blade to miter slot, and blade to bed.

Remember you don't want flat spots on your tires so release blade tension when the blade comes to a stop.


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## mchuray (Mar 25, 2010)

*I got the SF1706*

I was originally going to get a Delta 28-276 at Lowes, but decided to do a little investigation into what is available and how much the total cost would be. While the Delta was $350 the 6" riser block was in the $165+ class. I might have found it a little cheaper, but not much. Then a fence would have been around $120 delivered. While not a deal breaker a miter gage would add another $40-$50. That totals around $720 w/tax & shipping. All the reviews rated the Grizzly very high and I was leaning toward it, until I factored in shipping and riser block. Also I have had my troubles with truck shipping before (quite a bit actually). And now to the Shop Fox. $579 at a local tool store. W/tax now we have $620. Riser block add $63 delivered. Total $683. First you get a Grizzly saw with cast iron wheels (actually it looks closer to a Jet in many ways). A really nice fence and miter gage. Ball bearing guides, a really good heavy enclosed base /cabinet and a 1hp motor. I also got an HTC universal mobile base. Before you start any assembly or setup put away all your SAE tools and get out the metric stuff. Forget what the instruction says. Everything on the HTC base and the Shop Fox are metric. Putting the HTC base on the band saw base took a little fitting as I didn't want any play in it and I also bolted it to the Shop Fox Base. The first road block came when I needed a pair of 23mm boxed end wrenches to get the two sections of the saw apart. Next you need a 27mm wrench and a 23mm wrench to put the saw together with the riser block. Went to Sears and got both. $33. Also got a 23mm socket. Once I had the tools the saw assembly started to move quicker. With the wife's help got the two sections assembled and were ready to add the new longer blade guide post. Well now comes road block #2. I had to use a drift punch to get the handle off the pinion gear so I could add the longer blade guide rod. Once that was done setup while fiddly went fairly fast with the miter gage slot to blade line up the only really hard item. Getting the wheels coplanar took very little time although it helps to have a 48" ss straight edge already. 
I setup the saw with a Timberwolf 1/2 " blade. Once I turned on the saw I was able to balance I penny on the table with no trouble. This is a very smooth running saw. l ripped an 18" piece of plywood 2" wide and as far as I can tell the piece had much less than 1/64th of an inch difference from one end to the other. The cut was square all along its length. Did some resawing on a 4 1/2" wide piece of 3/4" pine. The cut was very easy and I found no difference in the thickness at each corner over the 14” and even thickness over the entire length. Would I make any changes. Yes, but only small ones. I would put two thumb screws in both the top and bottom blade guides and thrust bearings instead of Allen set screws. I also would like to have a positive catch on the wheel doors. That’s it! Would I add Carter bearings? Not to a new saw. Maybe when the OEM bearings go bad I'll get some. I haven't spent much time trying the saw out yet, but once I get comfortable with it maybe I'll post and update. 
Mark :thumbsup:


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## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

Mark,

Thanks for the fine report! Now I know what to expect when my Shop Fox finally shows up! Does your new saw seem to have adequate power?

I do a fair amount of car work so I already have all the metric tools and I don't plan to add a base.

Speaking of metric vs. English fasteners: I don't mind working with either. What makes me nuts (ha-ha) is having both on one machine/vehicle. I have an '85 Dodge convertible like that and it drives me crazy. Fortunately I can tell what I'm dealing with (usually) by looking at the head of the bolt. But that's not always visible and there is no way to tell with nuts other than trial and error. (Sorry for the mini-rant)

Bill


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

I have been looking at the Grizzly 17" saw, but I recently saw a Rikon Deluxe 14" at Woodcraft. For 799$, this looks like a really nice saw. Even the Sears 14" saw looks very nice for 550$.


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## Ghidrah (Mar 2, 2010)

Colt,
The thing about the 17" is you don't need any riser blocks, because of it the beam is firmer and the flex is near -0-.

You can use 1" blades and you can resaw 1X12 stock.

You may or may not do that but there's nothing to stop you if and when you want to.

mchuray,
Did you follow Suffolk's recommendations for proper blade tensioning?


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## mchuray (Mar 25, 2010)

*SF W1706 power & Rikon, Craftsman Bandsaws*

On the power of the of the SF W1706 I would say it is more than adquate for my uses. It is really hard for me to reply as I just let the saw cut at a feed rate it likes. I guess all those times that my Dad and my shop instructors beating into my head to "let the saw do the cutting" has been transfered to power tools. I did make a couple of resaw cuts on a 2x8 and did not have any trouble. As the board was warped the cut was warped and I got an uneven cut. I'll have to square the board up this weekend and give it another try. I looked into the Rikon and Craftsman saws before I bought the SF. First the Rikon was much higher in total cost and it ranked 3d in the Fineworking review. I went looking for negative reviews to see what people really didn't like before I checked to see what they liked. Also when you consider shipping total cost goes way up. Now we are in the $900 range. Also I think most OEM blades aren't worth the trouble to setup your saw on. This add to your cost. I bought several Timberwolf blades and they really cut nice. BTW the Laguna ranked tops in the Fine Woodworking Review, but at $1500 it was out of my price class. The Craftsman looks like the Rikon, but is much cheaper. Those that have them seem to like them. I personally like the heft of cast iron frames and am a very traditional person. My best advice is to spent time looking at all of them you can in person and figure in "total" cost in compairing price. Include tax or shipping or in some cases both. Truck freight is OK, but if you are not there they will just dunp rour saw on the driveway and will not care if it is damaged. Can you pick it up? You will need a pickup if you do. Delivered to you house on a lift gate truck really ups the cost of shipping if you can't be there when it is delivered. Compare all the rip fences. All are not equal. Does it come with one. What does the miter guage look like? How are you going to use the saw?. Does it have block guides or ball bearings. Does that matter to you? Are you planning to get a set of Carter BB guides? These will add $170 delivered. 
HTH,
Mark


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Ghidrah, my current band saw is nothing special. A Central machinery 14" bandsaw. But I must say it performs very well. I can cut 2" hardwoods, and resaw hardwoods up to 5 3/4". However, for my guitar work, I would like to be able to resaw at least 7.5 inches. 

The Rikon, Craftsman, and Grizzly resaw 14" all have 10 inches of resaw capacity. I think they are all cabinets models with a beam like the 17" saw, and not the cast iron deals that need riser blocks. Do you have any experience with these types of band saws? I intend to upgrade as soon as i get a few guitars sold to finance the purchase.


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## Ghidrah (Mar 2, 2010)

Colt,
I don't ever recall hearing a bad thing about CM products.

I've used a couple Delta 14" 1 with and 1 without the riser block but never owned anything but the SF 1707.

I never got to use anything other than the Delta so I can't speculate as to the quality of other saws or the quality of the products made from them.

When I began searching for a BS my resaw reqs were 10"H minimum, the SF1707 ended up winning. So far the only drawback I can see for the 1707 is that 1/8" blades aren't recommended. I keep a 1/2" blade in it for most cutting and resaw up to 5-1/2" walnut, mahogany, maple, oak and purple heart. The fence is kind of like an in between 4" high fence, too low for tall resaw and too high for small things, sometimes I have to add a strip of padding to the fence to make room for the roller guides.

I have read many posts from members of other forums that are "VERY" happy with each of the 14" saws you mention. Many of the members also have the bench top versions of the Rikon and Craftsman. I may end up with one of the bench top BS to take up the lack of the 1707, I don't do much in the knick knack area, what I have done with the intricate work has been with the scroll saw. I think a bench top would bridge the lack of the scroll and big saw.


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## WinM70 (Mar 6, 2010)

Well I own both the floor model and the bench top model Delta BS, in my book they are a very good saws and good values, I on the other hand have gotten them at outstanding values. Both were new and closeouts from Lowe's 150 for the floor model and 40 for the bench model at those prices I can afford a few upgrades to make them outstanding saws that the better saws cant then compete against.


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## haugerm (Nov 19, 2009)

I know I'm a little late to this discussion, but this might help. Talk to a manager at Lowes, they may be open to a little price negotiation on a clearance item like the Delta 14 BS. I just picked one up today, and they gave it to me for 300 bucks! I'm pretty pleased. It was an impulse buy, and I have a very understanding wife.


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## sherf (Apr 19, 2010)

*Delta 14"*

I bought the Delta 28-276 3/4 hp and couldn't be happier with it. Aside from the fact that it came with a 1/4" blade that lasted about 1 day and a totally junk drive belt it is a great buy for the money. I replaced the blade with a 1/2" 4 tooth and put a new belt on and it works like a charm. I got mine from Lowe's on clearance for $399 plus tax.


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