Bandsaw...will it work?

[SDSmlf]

That saw came over on the Mayflower?

Actually, it runs like a champ. Never investigated the born on date, but likely the 1950s, maybe the 1960s.

 

[Col. Batguano]

They’re lonely up on the shelf and in need of a date with a bandsaw lol.

Thanks for all the advice fellas.

Best Regards,

Josh Sawyer

I'm jealous of all that lovely wood! If they sit for a long time, (or might) do you wax or coat the end grain to keep them from checking?

 

[1853enfield]

few years ago my sons and i went to the Grizzly tent sale. i bought one of their new models that has variable speed and will cut metal and wood. So far i have not cut any wood as i have been doing machine work. i am not a machinist mostly a hack but have a lot of fun. Dont know where you live but Grizzly has tent sales once a year in Washington state somewhere in the mid west and east coast. we have gone to the tent sale 5 or 6 times and always found a bargain. My sons and i have purchased a metal lathe bandsaw table saw plainer dust collector etc. sons work with wood i make chips they make sawdust.

 

[cvco]

I appreciate this thread since im looking for a bandsaw too. Good info in here. I only have basic knowledge but that Craftsman, and electronic to boot , I wouldnt have wasted the time to go look if it were above $150. In fact, id look at this as paying around $100-150 as a one-way ticket, like to do 20 jobs right now in its AS-IS condition and then throwing it away. I wouldnt spend a cent on any fixup of that one. Maybe im wrong but seems that $350 puts you in the category of some solid Delta model or certainly a new JET?

 

[John May]

I bought a old bowsaw and sharpened the blade on it. It’s slow, but less aggravating than keeping a junk bandsaw running. Cheap bandsaws are ok when new, but get out of adjustment quickly.

I totally agree about cheap bandsaws. I bought one a couple of years ago to cut a cherry blank for a Japanese Matchlock, it cut fine but needed so much work to get the blade a true 90 degrees to the table, add to that all the faffing about with the blade guides and the old saying "You get what you pay for" comes to mind...

 

[Josh Sawyer]

I'm jealous of all that lovely wood! If they sit for a long time, (or might) do you wax or coat the end grain to keep them from checking?

They will most likely sit for awhile. Hopefully not forever. I’m waiting for a piece to come back from Mark Wheland. He is seating the barrel which is a Rice 44” .36 caliber ultra light squirrel barrel that will be matched up with a Chambers small siler lock. He is also drilling the ramrod channel/hole for me. Allen Martin has graciously allowed me to use one of his Lehigh patterns and it will become a Lehigh schimmel for squirrel hunting. Work will commence once I hear from Allen letting me know that Mark is finished doing his deal. The other stocks will be used on various future projects. They are all mated up with barrels already but it will be awhile before they get used so I will most likely wax the ends to prevent checking.

Best Regards,

Josh Sawyer

 

[Josh Sawyer]

few years ago my sons and i went to the Grizzly tent sale. i bought one of their new models that has variable speed and will cut metal and wood. So far i have not cut any wood as i have been doing machine work. i am not a machinist mostly a hack but have a lot of fun. Dont know where you live but Grizzly has tent sales once a year in Washington state somewhere in the mid west and east coast. we have gone to the tent sale 5 or 6 times and always found a bargain. My sons and i have purchased a metal lathe bandsaw table saw plainer dust collector etc. sons work with wood i make chips they make sawdust.

A huge Grizzly operation that included a massive retail store and distribution center use to reside in Muncy, PA which is about 20 minutes north of my parents house. In 2015 Grizzly shut that location down and moved all operations to a newly expanded site in Springfield, Missouri. Unfortunately the only way I can buy Grizzly products is online/mail-order now. It kinda sucks. That retail store was amazing. I remember dad taking me there when I was a kid and making a day of it. Kinda like going to Cabelas. I also remember the heated conversations he’d have with mom when we would get home and she saw the store receipt

Best Regards,

Josh Sawyer

 

[Two Feathers]

Howdy:
For what it's worth. Stay away from those Electronic Sears 3 wheel band saws. The Father in law had one TOTAL JUNK!!! Also, stay away from any blades less than 1/2" wide. They tend to "wander" no matter how perfect you have them tuned and tracked. Again, just my $0.02.
God bless:
Two Feathers

 

[GANGGREEN]

Nope, $350 won't get you anywhere near a decent and new Jet. Maybe a benchtop model, but I would even doubt that. I have no problem with your thoughts about grabbing something cheap, using the hell out of it and then tossing it or giving it away, but with a bandsaw, if it's not set up right and doesn't have a decent blade on it, it just doesn't work. It's not a matter of working OK or working a little bit, it just doesn't work.

I'm not sure where the OP is, but since his parents are down around Muncy/Lewisburg or somewhere in that neck of the woods and he's 1.5 hours from them, I'd be more than willing to bet that there's a member closer to him than his folks who would allow the use of their bandsaw occasionally (not that there's ever anything wrong with driving to visit the parents. I think too many people do it too infrequently). I live in northcentral PA and I'd definitely make that offer for Josh or anyone else who has a job to do and who finds themselves without a good saw.

I appreciate this thread since im looking for a bandsaw too. Good info in here. I only have basic knowledge but that Craftsman, and electronic to boot , I wouldnt have wasted the time to go look if it were above $150. In fact, id look at this as paying around $100-150 as a one-way ticket, like to do 20 jobs right now in its AS-IS condition and then throwing it away. I wouldnt spend a cent on any fixup of that one. Maybe im wrong but seems that $350 puts you in the category of some solid Delta model or certainly a new JET?

 

[Josh Sawyer]

Nope, $350 won't get you anywhere near a decent and new Jet. Maybe a benchtop model, but I would even doubt that. I have no problem with your thoughts about grabbing something cheap, using the hell out of it and then tossing it or giving it away, but with a bandsaw, if it's not set up right and doesn't have a decent blade on it, it just doesn't work. It's not a matter of working OK or working a little bit, it just doesn't work.

I'm not sure where the OP is, but since his parents are down around Muncy/Lewisburg or somewhere in that neck of the woods and he's 1.5 hours from them, I'd be more than willing to bet that there's a member closer to him than his folks who would allow the use of their bandsaw occasionally (not that there's ever anything wrong with driving to visit the parents. I think too many people do it too infrequently). I live in northcentral PA and I'd definitely make that offer for Josh or anyone else who has a job to do and who finds themselves without a good saw.

Ganggreen,

I live in Lititz, PA in Lancaster County. My parents live in Mifflinburg.

 

[GANGGREEN]

I know both places well, having previously lived in Chester County (and working in Lancaster County) and growing up in central PA. Wouldn't surprise me at all that you'd meet someone from the board who would gladly allow you to use their saw and as I said previously, if any board member is lacking in something and needs to use a tool that they don't have, I'm pretty well set up and happy to have like-minded guys stop for a visit or a shop day, just as simple as a request via private message.

Ganggreen,

I live in Lititz, PA in Lancaster County. My parents live in Mifflinburg.

 

[Josh Sawyer]

I know both places well, having previously lived in Chester County (and working in Lancaster County) and growing up in central PA. Wouldn't surprise me at all that you'd meet someone from the board who would gladly allow you to use their saw and as I said previously, if any board member is lacking in something and needs to use a tool that they don't have, I'm pretty well set up and happy to have like-minded guys stop for a visit or a shop day, just as simple as a request via private message.

Ganggreen,

Where in north central PA are you located? I have family in Bellefonte and State College. Not too far north I guess.

 

[GANGGREEN]

Small, small world. I grew up in Bellefonte (and graduated from PSU), but I live in northern Potter County now, about 10 miles north of Coudersport.

 

[Josh Sawyer]

Small, small world. I grew up in Bellefonte (and graduated from PSU), but I live in northern Potter County now, about 10 miles north of Coudersport.

Smaller than you think. I grew up and went to school in Bellefonte at the elementary school on Allegheny street until the fourth grade and then moved to Mifflinburg. I’m also a 2004 Penn State graduate.

 

[GANGGREEN]

Ha! I'm a graduate of that elementary school as well, although I was in the PSU class of '87, so a few years older than you.

 

[SOLANCO]

Buy a good quality tool. Not that one. Nothing takes the fun out of it quicker than a poor tool.

And question your motives. How many stock blanks are you expecting to make? If it's one or two and you have no other use for the saw, job the blanks out to a good local woodworker. This said by someone with a bandsaw that hasn't been used in years.

 

[MSW]

i would pass on this one at $350. 50 maybe, but don't expect too much by way of performance.

when my dad was still alive, we went to the local big box (it was the Home Despot, i think) and he wanted a specific drill bit or somesuch ... the girls were doing girl stuff (i.e. 'it's girl stuff, you wouldn't understand...') so we went to do guy stuff, and my dad found his drill bit, and i noticed a 14" Ridgid bandsaw on the floor as an 'on sale - floor model, so i scrounged up the manager, did some dickering, and left the place with a $100 bandsaw which was, as a practical matter, brand new ... it needed a new blade, so i bullied the manager into letting me have one ... by this point my father (a staunch older MidWesterner) was completely shocked ... well, some years later, the motor conked out and for ten bucks less than the replacement 1/2 horse would have cost, i put a 1 1/2 on it, then i bought a lift kit from Grizzly, so i can cut logs up to 10 or 12 inches, then a quick tension release, and some nice guides.

long story short: you can get some really nice gear if you're willing to dicker and tinker. If not, get out your wallet.., it would cost me darn near 1200 bucks to replace my old 100 dollar saw with the features it now has ...

 

[WRussell]

My two cents, since nobody else brought it up - if you think you might get into making locks (or any metal work), get a bandsaw that will go really slow as well as fast. A sharp blade in a well set up bandsaw will make it easier to cut springs and such out of tool/spring steel. I started with a Sears bandsaw from the 1960s; added a speed reducer (pulleys etc.) and used it for everything from tool steel to firewood for about 50 years.
Setting up a bandsaw, aligning the guides etc. is not trivial, but something you need to know about if you want to get good service out of a bandsaw. Youtube probably has everything you need to know (and more, of course).
It's been said that with a bandsaw and a belt sander, you can make just about anything. Of course you need a drill press (or two - a floor model and a small tabletop version) a second belt sander (1 inch and 6 inch), and probably the most important tool, a big, well made, solidly mounted vise, along with all the other fun things (lathe, milling machine, many drawers full of hand tools...).

 

[JCKelly]

Get a nice, new Chinese saw?

Picture looks like a newer version of my old American saw.

 

[gustrolland]

Hello All,

Found a local guy selling this bandsaw at a decent price. I’m wondering if it would be sufficient enough to cut maple and walnut stocks all things considered? I’ve posted pictures for reference. Thanks for the help.

Best Regards,

Josh Sawyer

Years back,like 40plus. Got a sears band saw new, and after doing a lot of remodeling to it, it worked pretty good. But if you aren't good at doing some needed modifications you would be better off with some other make. But at the same time this saw has been in use since I got it in 1975 and and have been using it in my gunsmithing shop.