Band Saw Recommendation / What size would you buy???

As many others have mentioned a portaband with a table is adequate for small scale knife making. That’s what I use.

The OP’s profile says they’re from Louisville, KY. In that case I’d strongly recommend looking for local second hand machine dealers. Sometimes you can get a lot more machine for the money if you can move it and have room enough for it.
 
loobie said:
If you're ever going to cut any ferrous metals (e.g. blade blanks) on this bandsaw, then be sure it runs slow enough. Most general-purpose "wood" oriented bandsaws (like the Grizzly G0555 above) run way too fast for cutting steel, even with a metal cutting blade installed. It'll destroy the blade in very quick order. Bandsaws that cut steel/iron run several times slower - which is why a portaband is good because they typically are variable speed and can be run at slow speeds. If you've ever seen a dedicated horizontal metal cutting bandsaw, it's very obvious how slow that blade moves - you can practically read the writing on the blade as it runs. Of course, there are floor standing bandsaws that will cut metal well, but they have a speed control, which makes them typically much more expensive. (Grizzly's metal/wood combo saw retails for close to $2k).

I think this is why the portaband is a popular option - it can run slow enough to cut steel, is relatively less expensive, but can still cut wood, composites, etc... No problem cutting wood with a slower blade - it just takes more time, but generally doesn't hurt anything.

I'm lucky enough to have a floor-standing bandsaw that has a gearbox to run steel cutting blades slowly, and then switch to run fast to cut wood. I don't mind changing blades as I'm not in a production environment.
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My new Grizzly variable speed metal/wood cutting saw cost less than $700 with extra blade and delivery.
 
Fixedwing said:
Thank you sir, have you had a chance to use this yet with micarta and hard woods?
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I have cut a little ebony with it. I'm sure it will work just fine. Most of my cutting is actually 1/4" or 3/8" material- but I'm sure it will do well with thicker material.
I cut a bunch of 1/8" acrylic with it tonight prototyping an inexpensive HEPA filter. I could slow it down so the blade wouldn't heat up and melt the acrylic.
 
All I'll add is that having a blade/band for cutting wood, and another for steel makes a huge difference, for me. I tried one with a TPI that could do both, I didn't really care for it. Too slow in wood and too gnarly in steel.
 
So I've pretty much settled on the size of saw that I want to purchase; it will operate at 2 speeds. (1800/3100)

The available blade combinations are immense, making it difficult to choose one or more.

What TPI and blade width would you recommend for all around scale prep? (micarta/hardwoods)

Sort of a do it all blade if that exisits... :cool:
 
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A Lenox Diemaster2 bi-metal blade is a good general use blade. It has 14TPI. Another good and reasonable price blade is a Lenox Noe-Type blade in 3/4". 8TPI is a good one for our purposes.

If your saw takes a 1" blade, it is hard to beat the Wood-Master and Tri-Master carbide tipped blades. Because they are so sharp, the 3TPI skip tooth and similar pitches will cut quite smooth. They are expensive!
 
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Thank you for the recommendations; I will be limited to 1/8" - 3/4".

So would your recommendation be on the wider side of my available range? :cool:
 
For straighter cuts, wider is best. Since we don't need to cut out shapes, a 1/8" blade is of no use. Go with 1/2" to 3/4".
 
I got a Dark Stone 5/8" 2tpi carbide tipped blade for the 14" Grizzly. Crazy expensive but it hasn't dulled much in four years. Since it only has about two hundred teeth, I think it wouldn't be too hard to resharpen with a diamond bit on a dremel.
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A little late to the party, but I think a good 14 inch bandsaw from a reputable maker is the right amount of saw for 99% of people.

IMO, Grizzly, shop fox and the like are perfectly fine to buy new, not super expensive and workable.

Jet, delta, Rikon and Laguna are a tier above, but for most things you do the improvements arent HUGE, in my opinion these are saws you wait till a good one pops up lightly used, it takes time and the ability to judge a machines usage and wear but i think its worth it.

I do not recommend getting a saw with riser blocks or installing them, while it does increase the resaw height, the limiting factor there is most often the power of the saw, not the physical height, and you can reduce the ridgity of the saw and IMO the performance more than you can boost it with a bigger resaw capacity.

I prefer timberwolf blades over carbide for most operations, its easy and very depressing to ruin a carbide blade. For most knife making type work I think 3-4 tpi is good, if you plan to do some resawing or general wood work 2-3 may be good. And when picking a blade, just know the wider the blade the easier straight cuts will be, the narrower the tighter a curve you can cut.
 
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