7 reasons for stepping up from a 14" bandsaw
1. Tension gauge. No more hard-to-read, back-of-the-saw indicators: View the blade tension easily through a window in the upper wheel cover. (Note: Jet's window is on the back.)
2. Welded steel construction. This design is said to be more rigid than cast-iron saws; we like that little assembly is required before putting the saw to work.
3. Cutting power. Larger, heavier wheels and more powerful motors help these saws cut through the hardest woods with ease.
4. Blade tracking window. Safely make final adjustments to center the blade on the wheel with the saw under power. This window allows eyeballing it with the wheel covers closed. (Jet lacks this window.)
5. Handwheels. Large handwheels make tension adjustments faster and with less effort than the small knobs on 14" bandsaws. Many of these saws also sport a geared guide post with a thickness scale.
6. Resawing capacity. Unless you add an optional riser block, most 14" bandsaws max out at a 6" resaw; these saws can handle 10-12" stock.
7. Geared table. Tilt the table by turning a knob, lock it, and it stays put better than tables with trunnions only. Plus, gears make even tiny tilt adjustments easier.
Pure power: The true measure of resaw capacity
To compare cutting power, we put these machines to work resawing 10"-wide red oak using identical 1"-wide, 2-tpi Olson AllPro hook-tooth resawing blades. Before cutting, though, we set the blade tension using the flutter test and adjusted the blade guides. Next, we clamped our testing rig--a tall fence with a carrier mounted on precision drawer slides--to the saw table. After several test cuts to position the rig to eliminate blade drift, we started our power test.
First, we used 5 lbs of weight--a comfortable feed force--to pull the oak through the blade, timing an 18"-long cut. All of the saws completed this task without bogging down, although the length of time it took varied. To really challenge these machines, we increased the feed force to a brutal 15 lbs, and repeated the test. Four saws handled this task easily, one bogged slightly, and one couldn't complete the test.
Find out which Step-up Bandsaws earned Top Tool and Top Value honors when you pick up the November 2005 issue of WOOD magazine and turn to page 46. Or you can download the review for only $4.95.
WOOD Magazine Top Tool: Rikon 10-340
WOOD Magazine Top Value: Grizzly G0513
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