tauchen67 Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 ok so I know this is the classic question of what should I buy, but I am going to try and give my thoughts and maybe you guys can help me to make sure I am going in the right direction. I think a bandsaw is the next tool I am going to get for my shop. I am thinking 14", I think with a 6" riser on it because I want to be able to resaw larger rough stock. I am debating on if i should buy a new such as the grizzley g0555lx (if there are other brands recommended in this price range please let me know). part of me thinks that buys a used BS would save me cash and perform just as well for me, but like buying a used car I am concerned. Im thinking a planer is next, because i have a router table so i can joint edges and it is possible to joint the face of a board on a planer. My question is, is it worth spending the money on a planer with with a spiral cutter? I guess ultimatly it is up to me if it is worth it, but I wanted to know your thoughts? I am leaning towards it mostly because the maintenance on a standard planer seems like it would eat up a lot of my shop time Kinda ditto on the jointer, spiral head? again thanks for the input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STL Woodguy Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 When I put forth the question of a bandsaw with a riser block, someone suggested that if you're needing the extra space anyway, you might as well go for a true 14" (or whatever). I'm glad I listened to that advice. My suggestion is the Rikon 10-325. It was funny when I had a neophyte woodworker over a few days ago to buy my old planer, he saw the Rikon and said something to the effect of "Hey, those are top of the line!" I looked at him funny and shook my head. But I told him that "best bang for your buck" was an entirely fair statement. There are some quirks with the unit but nothing that slows me down. However, wait for WoodCraft to have a sale (they frequently do on Rikon), I got mine for around $700-800ish, not much more than some Grizzly's + riser block and much cheaper than even Amazon was selling it for at the time. There are other good bandsaws too and I'm sure people will be offering suggestions. I have a spiral on my jointer and love it, but honestly I got the spiral because of a big 'duck-for-cover' disaster that happened with a used jointer I bought thanks to a stripped bolt I didn't know about which ruined the cutterhead, and tracking down a replacement head on that old of a jointer would take time and probably not much cheaper than the spiral in the long run. Spirals are great for figured wood, noise and a whole hell of a lot easier to change out and align the knives (even with jigs), but those are luxuries, not necessities. I'd start with the standard knives, if they do what you need them to do, great. If you're wanting for more, it's not terribly difficult to swap out the cutterhead for an aftermarket spiral. Ditto on the planer. I would like a spiral on my planer simply for the noise reduction, but I'm sticking with the three knives for now as they cut fine and a replacement Byrd spiral for my planer is $1000. As far as buying used, see my story above. Now that's an isolated incident and I wouldn't hesitate to buy used again, all I'm saying is just check out everything on the unit, even what's not apparent to the eye. And keep in mind you may need to replace parts, turning a used unit into a false economy if it needs too many upgrades. One other thing if you don't already know, yeah, a planer can joint a face, but only if you have a good reference surface on the other side of the board to begin with. You usually do this with a jointer. That said, you don't 'need' a jointer and I would still start with the planer (if I had to pick one) because there's more than one way to get a decent reference surface (hand planing, sleds, etc), just pointing that out. But the jointer does make the whole milling process a hell of a lot easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knotscott Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 A planer doesn’t really flatten….it creates consistent thickness. It needs a flat reference face in order to make both sides parallel with each other (usually the bottom side of the board) ....otherwise the deviations in the bottom face get translated to the top side and the board simply comes out a smoother thinner version of what went in….not truly flat or straight. Twisted in, twisted out. A planer would require the use of planer sled to act as a flat reference in order to produce flat wood with two sides that are flat and parallel to each other. Then you’d need to do another step to get a reference edge at 90° to the face….often a router or TS if you choose the planer only route. . A jointer flattens a face and squares an adjacent edge to a true 90°….it’s step one and everything else references off that flat face and squared edge. . It can't hurt to check your local used market for a good BS deal....ya never know, but if "the one" doesn't come along, the Griz is a good choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikem Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 I think the order you presented is a good way to go. I have a the Grizzly G0555P, which is a similar saw to then one you are looking at, and I am very happy with it. I don't yet have the riser block, but at some point I will get it. I know a couple people who do have the riser block, and are happy with the performance of the saw. Knotscott, using a planer sled, he can face joint on the planer using a planer sled. Also, while not perfect, he can also skip plane, which helps get a flat board as well. I did this quite a bit until I got a good jointer with varying degrees of success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid-woodworker Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 Agree with most of the prior comments. I have a Jet 14" with the riser and very happy with it. I bought a 6" table top jointer used and it worked fine for shorter stock. The knives were dull but other than that it was and still is running good and for sale. ;-) I then bought a used cabinet jointer and again other than the knives,it has been flawless. It helps to know the people you are buying from but even then, check everything and power it on. I have skip planed and flattened with sleds, so it is possible but takes a lot more time. BRuce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosox Posted October 2, 2012 Report Share Posted October 2, 2012 A band saw is what you need. You can cut almost everything with a band saw! My favorite tool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagel Posted October 2, 2012 Report Share Posted October 2, 2012 I agree with Ends of the World regarding riser blocks. If you need that extra capacity for resawing and expect doing a fair amount of it, you'd be better off investing in a larger BS now rather than later. On the other hand, I think most people who anticipate doing a bunch of resawing before bumping up against that need actually find themselves doing far less of it than they thought. In other words, you'll probably find that a 14" will be more than enough capacity to adequately serve your needs for quite some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid-woodworker Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 The other thing to keep in mind, is that you may do a lot of resawing but not really wide boards. I have a riser, do a fair amount of resawing but seldom do I try and resaw more than a 6" - 8" board. BRuce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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