Which type/brand bandsaw say ye' good folks?

[manny767]

It's about an hour drive to go get it and he says he isn't sure if it works in the vertical position. All he has ever used was horizontal cutting for bar stock. I'm assuming these model buffalos do work in vertical too? Wouldn't want to drive that far to find out it only cuts horizontally and can't be positioned upright.
Said it works well but he hasn't used it in 5 years.

[SBuzek]

Should be able to stand it up vertically,you may have to fab a table for it.

[manny767]

The buffalo bandsaw Fell through today, the drive gear was stripped which I decided best not to take a chance on. However I found this one and he's willing to go down on price with me.

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/tls/3278665181.html

The enco linked above looks to be in great shape, are the older model encos just as good as the buffalos, better, worse? Guy said it was in good shape, would this be a good saw? If I can make out the first little photo in the ad, lower right corner it says "made in taiwan".
I know it's been said these are all the same saws just different paint jobs but I personally have noticed a difference between brands in both tolerances and some are heftier than others. It seems the taiwanese saws are the good ones to get.

Thanks

[polish avenger]

The Enco, Jet, and Buffalo should, for all intent and purpose, be basically the same machines. That Enco, as long as it checks out, should be a good performer, but for the market that I'm used to it's $50-$100 overpriced.
-Mark

[NickWheeler]

FWIW- I totally agree with Javan on this. Now I have to preface this by saying that it REALLY seems industrial equipment is more readily available out east... I mean, holy crap, look up machine tool availability and pricing in Detroit! Most of the west coast folks seem more proud of whatever they're selling.

So, even with that in mind, the higher initial cash outlay for an older, SOLID machine will end up being much less $$$ over the course of you owning it compared to the frustrations/issues/time spent tweaking a cheap-O machine. Of course I'm talking about all machine tools, not just a bandsaw.

[Fishinbo]

Try to look at various band saw machines from www.utilitybandsaw.com .

[butcher_block]

i broke a clark and a HF 4x6 and i ll never use one of them again
i have a roll in saw 14 inch and its great 600lb of saw i got used for 2k and worth every penny (new they are close to 5k ) tere is a Jet nock off thats new around 2700 but yes its a chunk of change