Rikon 10” Bs

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  • durango dude
    Senior Member
    • Mar 2011
    • 934
    • a thousand or so feet above insanity
    • 50s vintage Craftsman Contractor Saw

    Rikon 10” Bs

    Highland woodworking is offering rikon’s 10 inch bandsaw for a reasonable $299.

    Note: stand and miter see extra.
  • cwsmith
    Veteran Member
    • Dec 2005
    • 2737
    • NY Southern Tier, USA.
    • BT3100-1

    #2
    I don't know, is that really "reasonable"? Seems for what you're getting, it's a bit over priced. At Rockler that saw with stand and fence sells for the same price:
    http://www.rockler.com/rikon-10-305-...saw-with-fence


    I only own a 9-inch, so I'm wondering what advantage there would be for a 10"... seems like the small gain in cut width wouldn't be worth the difference. My BIL has a Craftsman all-steel 12-inch, similar design to the Rikon bodies, but frankly I don't see a lot of advantage in cut capacity between his BS and my little Ryobi 9".... actually the depth of cut is about the same.

    When you look at the difference in price, it just makes me wonder. But then again, I don't have a 10-inch or better, so I know I must be missing something. I think when I feel the need, I'll probably just jump to a 14- or 15-inch.


    A 9" Grizzly sells for $200 http://www.grizzly.com/products/9-Be...8aAmfFEALw_wcB

    The Ryobi 9" sells for $129, though I know the build quality is probably a lot cheaper than the Grizz or anything else with a full steel body. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-2-...oaAt9rEALw_wcB

    The Craftsman 9" sells for $149 through Ace Hardware http://www.acehardware.com/product/i...QaAsoEEALw_wcB

    We no longer have a Sears here in our area, so I can't tell you what the local price might be and I wasn't successful on the Sears website. But then there's this Craftsman 10" on EBay which sells for a bargain price of just $1,284.46 https://www.ebay.com/i/222114570396?chn=ps But who, with any knowledge would pay that?

    However, and I certainly apologize if so, Highland may well offer other advantages for those more familiar than I, as I have not had the opportunity to purchase from them. I realize we all have our own favorites and that is usually from our very good experiences there.

    CWS
    Last edited by cwsmith; 02-03-2018, 07:57 PM. Reason: Correct links which were not working properly
    Think it Through Before You Do!

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    • capncarl
      Veteran Member
      • Jan 2007
      • 3564
      • Leesburg Georgia USA
      • SawStop CTS

      #3
      I recently purchased a Rikon 10-326 14” bandsaw (at Woodcraft). This is a somewhat larger saw than the 10” being discussed here though. The Rikon seem to be a well made saw and I didn’t find any real design problems,with the saw. No comment about the price because regardless what deal you find there will always be a better price somewhere else.
      I’ll throw it n my two bits...... you always need a bigger saw that you have, so why buy a small one because it is a good deal? You never hear anybody say they wish they had a smaller bandsaw. The Rikon 10-324 14” with open stand, 13” resaw capacity, 1 1/2 hp motor and bearing guides for $799. Yep it’s 2x the 10” saw, but you won’t have to buy another saw a few years down the road when you get fed up with an underpowered saw or need more resaw capacity. I didn’t think that I would ever say this as I was pleased with my 14” Delta Band saw. Until I got tired of working around it’s inadequaticies. It had a dinky rip fence that was practically useless for re-sawing, it’s 1/2 hp motor was barely up to cutting the 5 1/2 thickness it would open up to. When I decided to upgrade it to 12” re-saw capacity by adding a riser block I did some math ( $200 riser block kit, $250 1 3/5 motor, $300 blades) and figured it was time to give the Delta to my son and buy a band saw big enough to suit my needs.
      capncarl

      Comment

      • durango dude
        Senior Member
        • Mar 2011
        • 934
        • a thousand or so feet above insanity
        • 50s vintage Craftsman Contractor Saw

        #4
        I have an older 2 wheel craftsman. As much as I like it, will eventually replace it. The blade length is not standard, and the better accessories do not fit. Rikon and grizzly are on my list.

        Comment

        • JoeyGee
          Veteran Member
          • Nov 2005
          • 1509
          • Sylvania, OH, USA.
          • BT3100-1

          #5
          I had the Craftsman 10" that's close to, if not the same, as the Rikon. It was OK, but under powered and under sized. I'm not one to believe you have to have the biggest and best, either. I ran into issues making medium to larger band saw boxes and definitely could not cut anything but very small bowl blanks.
          ​​​​​​
          Joe

          Comment

          • LCHIEN
            Internet Fact Checker
            • Dec 2002
            • 20913
            • Katy, TX, USA.
            • BT3000 vintage 1999

            #6
            Unless you are going to be working on small stuff, a 10" bandsaw is probably not the best investment. If you are a serious woodworker one day you will be wanting a bigger saw. I have a 12" Delta and its been too small many times.
            I think a 14" Rikon with 13" resaw capability would be a longer term investment. than a 10".
            Loring in Katy, TX USA
            If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
            BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

            Comment

            • mpc
              Senior Member
              • Feb 2005
              • 979
              • Cypress, CA, USA.
              • BT3000 orig 13amp model

              #7
              Once you have a bandsaw you'll find yourself rapidly expanding the types of work you consider because a bandsaw opens up a lot of possibilities... things you never thought about before but want/need to do now. 14 inch bandsaws are a "sweet spot" in terms of price versus capability. I have the Craftsman 10" cousin of the Rikon 10" bandsaw which served me okay for a few years. I made a few mods to it to increase the resaw capacity to just over 6 inches which also enabled 6 inch thick bandsaw boxes... Now I have the Rikon 14" model with the 13" resaw and I've used nearly its full capacity more than once on jobs/projects I never would have considered doing before - they were possible since I had the larger Rikon.

              mpc

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