What's the advantage of a bigger bandsaw over the beefy 14"ers?


Nick2cd

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What makes the big 18" and 24" bandsaws better than say a Laguna 14 SUV?  The laguna has a 3HP motor and something like 12 or 13" of resaw capacity.  i know the extra weight, blade tension, and table size is there for the big boys, but what else?  it seems a 14" Laguna would be much easier to get into my basement workshop and give me the same capacity/capability as a larger saw for half the cost.  I'm sure the bigger saws are better, I'm just not sure why.  Could someone school me on this?

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Once you hit that 24" mark they are two completely different animals. Don't get hung up on resaw capacity, there is a reason much larger saws don't have huge resaw capacities. These stretched out little saws don't really have the capacity its mostly marketing. 

 

ok, then let's take the 24" saws out of the equation, as i don't see myself getting one of those monsters in the next decade.  however, i do feel there is a good possibility that i could end up buying a 17 or 18" saw sometime in the not so distant future.  so is there an advantage to go with an 18" saw over a 14" that has a large motor?  im assuming you can get more blade tension on the big saws.  is this considered to be a game changer?

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so is there an advantage to go with an 18" saw over a 14" that has a large motor?  im assuming you can get more blade tension on the big saws.  is this considered to be a game changer?

more power, more rigidity, the ability to run wider blades, & usually few functionality vs cost compromises.

take a look at these to Laguna's

http://www.lagunatools.com/bandsaws/bandsaw-lt14suv#

http://www.lagunatools.com/bandsaws/bandsaw-resawmaster#

the 18 has 4 different motor options the max being 7.5hp. also look at the blades they can run the 14 says 1/8" to 1" the 18 says 3/4" to 2".

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I think you have to be somewhat realistic and look beyond hype. Like the one posted above. 2" blade with a 7.5 hp manually fed saw is ridiculous then put it in a light weight 561 pound package.

 

All the smaller wheeled saws are going to be finicky and have the same adjustment issues. The lighter ones are going to be just fine for most folks working at home doing hobby work. Really how much are you going to be using a band saw. The real heavy ones are made to run for hours at a time, day in and day out. The lighter ones not so much but your not asking them to anyways. 

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I think you have to be somewhat realistic and look beyond hype. Like the one posted above. 2" blade with a 7.5 hp manually fed saw is ridiculous then put it in a light weight 561 pound package.

Come on now, you can't look at just the weight. Depending on how it was designed it could be more than rigid enough.

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==> I want a 24" bandsaw. I don't really know why. I just want one.

You may want to look at the PM1800 - for an 18" incher, it's got a lot under the hood...

 

 

==> 2" blade with a 7.5 hp manually fed saw is ridiculous then put it in a light weight 561 pound package

I'm with PB on this one -- you need a very robust frame to drive a 2" blade with 7.5HP, we're talking 1300lbs min... Unless it's Carbon Fiber, but then it'd be $40K... :)

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I'm with PB on this one -- you need a very robust frame to drive a 2" blade with 7.5HP, we're talking 1300lbs min... Unless it's Carbon Fiber, but then it'd be $40K... :)

I have to disagree with the two of you, because like i said above without knowing how it was designed judging a machine by it's weight alone is a poor way of doing it. By weight alone a Knew Concepts fret saw must be complete crap. The other thing to consider is that most new saws are made with steel tubing instead of cast iron so they will be lighter.

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I have to disagree with the two of you, because like i said above without knowing how it was designed judging a machine by it's weight alone is a poor way of doing it. By weight alone a Knew Concepts fret saw must be complete crap. The other thing to consider is that most new saws are made with steel tubing instead of cast iron so they will be lighter.

 

A 2" blade with a 7.5 hp motor, those are specs for a power fed resaw. The saw is to light weight for a power feeder. Even if it wasn't powered and you fed it by hand feeding to the feed rates it should be capable of you would be pushing it all around your shop. Take away the table, motor and wheels the heaviest parts of the saw and you left with next to nothing. A machine with this sort of advertised power should be well in excess of 1000lbs. 

 

No most saws are not made with steel tubing they formed sheet metal and most of the imports are very thin. This is where many don't see the difference between the name brands and the other imports like grizzly. For example Powermatic tool bases are thick welded bases where you may find a thin sheet metal base on a grizzly. This holds true to the band saws. The steel is much thicker and they don't skimp on areas that count like bearing plates and motor mounts. The PM is many times the saw without the hyped up claims and oversized motor. I think once you see some of these saws in person you will agree.

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OK, let’s parse this another way…
 
We’ll just do a bit of reverse engineering:
 
Decent 7.5HP Motor: 225lbs
Cast Iron Wheels: 140lbs (at least). Probably closer to 200lbs.
Wheel Trunion: 40lbs
Table: 60lbs
Upper Guides, Guide Bar: 8lbs
Lower Guides: 5lbs
Table Trunion: 10lbs
 
So that leaves about 73lbs for the frame, doors, electrics, controls wheels, motor mount, foot break and anything else I've forgotten...  :)
 
Point is not to break anyone's balls -- it's just that in the world of stationary tools, there's no such this as a free lunch and you generally get what you pay for...
 
Not having seen the saw:
Obviously the motor is probably a very light-duty 7.5 (say 4.7kw @ 1.15 Service Factor)
The wheels are probably aluminium
Trunion and bearing sets are probably light duty
 
 
==> most new saws are made with steel tubing instead of cast iron so they will be lighter
The only cast iron in my saws are the wheels, trunions and tables.... I think my 5HP/18" is over 1,000lbs -- at least it feels that way every time I move it :)
 
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A 2" blade with a 7.5 hp motor, those are specs for a power fed resaw. The saw is to light weight for a power feeder. Even if it wasn't powered and you fed it by hand feeding to the feed rates it should be capable of you would be pushing it all around your shop. Take away the table, motor and wheels the heaviest parts of the saw and you left with next to nothing. A machine with this sort of advertised power should be well in excess of 1000lbs.

come on now, just like with all the other manufactures 95% of the time the specs are sales gimmicks.

We will have do agree to disagree on the name brands vs non-name brands.As far as I'm concerned every brand is crap until I can thoroughly review detailed specs or inspect a machine in person.

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 I'm sure the bigger saws are better, I'm just not sure why.  Could someone school me on this?

 

Nick,  Depends on what kind of work you do. On this 20" Woodtec I often wish there was more room between the blade and the throat. I got this saw in '92 and made a bigger table for it right away. The large table is plywood covered with formica so parts slide easily. Now I can cut large pieces of wood while the table supports the load. This saw only has a 2hp motor and can not imagine why a larger one would be needed.

post-14694-0-02113900-1386822575_thumb.j

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Does anyone run 2" wide blades? I would think that the only purpose of a blade that wide is to be able to have huge gullets (low tpi). The tension would have to be incredible to control the inertia of the band coming off the wheel and going into a straight line. I would speculate that the purpose of 2-4" wide saw bands are for saw milling (large mills, not wood mizer types). I run a 30 hp re-saw that is well built and has enormous tension and blade speed and the 1 1/4" blade couldn't do a better job.

My other experience is a delta 14" 1 hp and a minimax 17" 4.8 hp. The 17" is much more saw and worth it if you need it, but neither can re-saw for a living so to speak. Band saws have lots of use other than re- sawing.

One thing I'd say is I've never regretted having too much machine. I've never mourned spending too much on a tool. I have though on too little and too cheap. I've lost more money on wasted time, material, and depreciation buying the minimum for my needs.

Steve

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  • 2 weeks later...

I spent some time looking at bandsaws and decided to get a Laguna LT 14x14 SUV. I only plan to buy one of these and am not a production shop. The 3hp motor, 14" cut, saw brake and mobility kit were the ticket for me. You might consider one of their 110v units if you don't have/want 220v. They seem to have had great success with their larger commercial units and have received great reviews for this unit. If you plan to resaw, don't scrimp on the motor power or cutting height - unless you plan to have several bandsaws.

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  • 2 months later...

Bigger wheels if balanced will run smoother most larger band saws have two speeds, when I up graded I went with an 18 inch and think that I made the right choice a good balance for one machine, I may get a small 14 inch and keep larger saw for resaw with large blade.

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