Never had much need for a decent wood bandsaw, till lately <guess WHY>



Went and took a good long hard inpection look at what's what in the bandsaws...



ALL the 9" saws are TOYS.. worthless for walnut or harder...





ALL the 14" saws are $300+ except the single speed asian import...



but ryobi has a new saw, a 10" that's meant to actually be USED....



the unfortunate thing is the model number... BS 1001!!



for 199, at home depot, the little beast come home and I decide to make the meant baddest cut I think i'll ever need to use.. some 12 year old garage "tempered" east texas walnut... dry, hard, old.. for gunstocks, that is....



I must tell you, i was VERY pleasently surprised that it went through that 3.5" HUNK like a scrow saw through dry pine....



for my money, it's all the tool I'll need for awhile, and it has an extendable table .. 18" off side, tilt on the table, built in dust handler (they call it a vac) and two lights, a work and a guide light... and, well, i am very impressed...



SWMBO actually argued FOR spending the 355 that HD wanted for the Rigid 14", with less "features"...



neato feature on the ryobi... a blade change lever... tighten the blade down... cut away... require a blade change? flip a <hard> lever, and swap the blades out....



good enough for my level of work, at least

jeffe

If you like the looks of it go for it. Ryobi isn't the best name in tools and like everything else you get what you pay for.

Here's a tip on blades for your band saw. Get a bi-metal blade(cobolt teeth, high speed back). They cost about 3 or 4 times more but will last 8-10 times longer. I have a cabinet shop but also do alot of millwork- fireplace mantels, stair railings, etc. For all around cutting a 1/4in. wide bi-metal blade does just fine but switch to a 3/4in. blade for resawing. Pedro

Pete,
thanks... that's why i called it a "cheap tool" report...

especially since the 9" saws are JUNK...

my old man used to tell me "you get what you pay for, IF you are lucky"... and I had had every expectation of taking this back and getting the rigid 14", if it didn't work to least bit like i expected.

and I still have a 30 day money back on it, to do so...

cabinet making on this? nope.. trimming a hard walnut blank? seems to be...

i will tell you though, the 9" is a total piece of JUNK..

kind of like the difference (for a broad example) of the difference in a 12" belt driven lathe and a 13" gear head... light years apart...

jeffe

jeffeosso,

Sound like a better machine than my 14" (IIRC that is the size) Delta band saw (made in the USA too). It no like cutting 3.5" thick walnut slabs, least not in anywhere near a straight line!

The home made, 3 wheel, 10" (again if IIRC) is a far better band saw, but it is slower (of course it has a throat depth of something like 27" though).

If it makes you feel better take a picture of yourself "flipping me off" and post it.

ASS_CLOWN

ASS_CLOWN

jeffeosso,
Your old man sounds like my kind of guy. It's hard to say about that saw, with the right blade and the tenion and guides set up right it may handle anything you want to cut.
Most of a bandsaw's cutting ability is the blade and guides.

Clown, my saw that cuts 6-8in. hickory, eastern maple, and oak like so much butter happens to be an old 6in. Delta I've boosted up to 12in., guides I made myself, and a 2hp motor. Don't know about the newer Delta's but I bet they could be made to run right. Pedro