New bandsaw

Bill DeShivs · Sep 30, 2019

For years I have been using my 4 X 6 bandsaw with 24 TPI blade to cut everything. It has worked very well, but wood is slow-going. There have been times I have wished for a dedicated wood bandsaw.
I have to rehandle 6 or 7 bayonets. I have the walnut, but the thought of cutting 7 blocks and splitting them, made me buy a new bandsaw.
Bench space is at a premium, so I bought a 9" Skil bandsaw. It's a light duty consumer tool, but for the things I need it for, it should do just fine.
We'll see!

Drew Riley · Sep 30, 2019

I’ve been happy with the Skil tools I’ve owned and used, though I haven’t used their bandsaw. Let us know what you think.

DanF · Sep 30, 2019

I hope it serves you well. I tried the Ryobi version, it had too much drift to be useful.

tmerkl · Sep 30, 2019

I have that skil saw. I have not spent any time tuning it or tried a different blade, but I too experienced significant drift. I was going to try to see if a wider blade would fit it. I does make short work of rough profiling scales though. I will be interested to see your results and hopefully learn something.

i4Marc · Sep 30, 2019

I have a HF vertical bandsaw which is a turd but has served me fairly well for the last 8 years or so. Then I got a Kobalt portable table saw. It makes MUCH faster, straighter and cleaner cuts. Great for splitting blocks for scales and of course many other things. Use a thin kerf blade to minimize wood loss. Interested to see how the 9" Skil bandsaw works for you.

Scott Hanson · Sep 30, 2019

I think the Skil band saw is probably a pretty good saw and will work out nicely for you. But I just replaced may 4 x 6 Jet vertical horizontal saw with a Milwaukee Portaband and a swag off road table, and with a 14 tpi blade it will make real short work metal, wood or antler. I just cut a set of elk antler scales the other day in less than a minute on it, a couple more minutes on the disc sander to flatten them and they were done. I have a 14" Delta wood cutting band saw I doubt I'll doubt I'll ever use again for knife scales.

Horsewright · Sep 30, 2019

Scott Hanson said:
I think the Skil band saw is probably a pretty good saw and will work out nicely for you. But I just replaced may 4 x 6 Jet vertical horizontal saw with a Milwaukee Portaband and a swag off road table, and with a 14 tpi blade it will make real short work metal, wood or antler. I just cut a set of elk antler scales the other day in less than a minute on it, a couple more minutes on the disc sander to flatten them and they were done. I have a 14" Delta wood cutting band saw I doubt I'll doubt I'll ever use again for knife scales.

Yeah I'm with Scott I have Dewalt portaband on a Swag table. I gave away my 14" bandsaw. I just didn't use it anymore. I cut everything on that little saw. Ironwood to knife blanks, from walnut to elk. Handle materials I use a 10 tpi blade and 14 for steel and other materials like bolster stock.

Bill DeShivs · Sep 30, 2019

I didn't consider the portaband option.
I guess I consider them more metal-cutting saws.

Scott Hanson · Sep 30, 2019

Horsewright said:
Yeah I'm with Scott I have Dewalt portaband on a Swag table. I gave away my 14" bandsaw. I just didn't use it anymore. I cut everything on that little saw. Ironwood to knife blanks, from walnut to elk. Handle materials I use a 10 tpi blade and 14 for steel and other materials like bolster stock.

Bill DeShivs said:
I didn't consider the portaband option.
I guess I consider them more metal-cutting saws.

I'm real happy with my portaband set-up, I bought a 3 pack of Morse 8/11 blade that I want to try on some handle scale when I get a chance. They're sharper and look like they're higher quality than the Lenox blades I already have. I'll post what I think of them when I try them out.

Bill DeShivs · Oct 4, 2019

Got the bandsaw set up.
It works adequately. Lots of drift when using the fence.
I'll tinker with adjustments soon.