18" band saw

[jimmykx250]

So if the band saw is labeled 18" I assume that means max depth between the blade and the rear arm is 18" min. Correct. What about the height of the piece? Thanks,

[PaulMarcel]

That's correct; it's the throat clearance. Doesn't imply anything about resaw (height) capacity.

[BuilderBill]

Actually, it seems to vary with the manufacturer. Powermatic lists the 18" as having an 18" cutting capacity, the Grizzly 17" has an actual distance of 16-1/4 to the column, my Laguna 1414 SUV measures 13-3/8" to the column, their 18 advertises 17-1/2" throat clearance. So if you need a dead-on 18" capacity you'll want to check around before you buy.

As P-M said, all this has nothing to do with resaw height. More checking around, I'm afraid....

HTH,

Bill

[wilburpan]

I always thought that the bandsaw size, in this case, 18", referred to the diameter of the wheels of the bandsaw. If designed well, you should be able to get the column-to-blade capacity to be equal to the wheel diameter. Sometimes that doesn't happen.

To beat the resaw capacity thing to death, note that your standard 14" Delta-style bandsaw can have a resaw capacity of 6" or 12", depending if you have the riser block installed, and these days some manufacturers now make a 14" bandsaw with a 12" resaw capacity out of the box.

[UglySteve]

The powermatic 14" bandsaw rates its resaw capacity at 6".

[Vic]

Rikon has 12" capacity.

[PurpLev]

It's actually the size of the wheels. a 18" bandsaw is supposed to have 18" diameter wheels.

FWIW - that also explains why the Grizz 17" has 16"and change clearance, and the Laguna 14" has 13 and change clearance

the Rikon deluxe actually has a resaw capacity of 13"

for each model the max resaw capacity is also mentioned in the specs.