I just sold my 14" Jet bandsaw today in favor of making a little more room in my small shop. Now I'm thinking that one of these two would be good for me. I just got done looking at the Rikon and the Craftsman and I favor the Craftsman (I can't beleive I just said that!) They look almost identical execpt the Craftsman has a cast iron bed the Rikon has cast aluminum. The Craftsman has a fence and the Rikon did not (I don't know if my local Woodcraft left it off or is it not incuded. The miter gauge on both is cheesy but I make my own for bandsaws anyway. The Craftsman had knobs that can be turned to open the wheel covers the Rikon must be unscrewed (what were they thinking?) I am going back tomorrow to pick up the Craftsman.
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Scott
"The Laminate Flooring Benchtop Guy"
Edmonds WA
No coffee, no worky! -
I picked up the Craftsman 10" on Christmas Eve. This is my first bandsaw. So far the only thing I would like for it to have is a lever for quick detensioning. Turning the knob to detension after use, then retensioning isn't as easy as I would like. Other than that, I've been really happy with it. Once I get some good blades, it should be even better.Joe SacherComment
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I went with the TradesMan, (rexxon). I am happy with it. I would recomend a blade change though, chucking the stock blade for a Vermont 59 1/2". It only bogs down when i get stupid with it, ie, push too hard on 3 1/2" stock rounding corners. Lowes has them on sale for about 79.00.
However, looking back, I should've went with a larger bandsaw.No matter where you go,
there you are.....Comment
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Scotty, let me know what you think of that saw. I have the sears 14", and it's pretty good overall. There is a little bit of wheel "wobble", I might need to balance it. The wheels on the craftsman are cast iron also I think.
Keith Z. Leonard
Go Steelers!Comment
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Is this the saw in question?
(I'm not sure if this picture came out. If it didn't then I'll try again later.
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I have the 14" Craftsman and love it. Yes the weels are iron. I have put on a 1" Timberwolf blade and resawed some 8/4 Poplar 8" wide and 8' long and it never missed a beat. I also got a 3/8" blade for curved cuts and it does a great job. Dust colection is vary good with my shopvack and 2HP Delta on the 4" port. Mine was balanced out of the box
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I forgot to mention that I got it on sale before Christmas and they had an extra 10% off sale one Saturday so I was out the door for around $408 with tax... if I remember right it goes on sale for around $429 and if you hit a member week you could get the 10% off that also if it is on sale..........Comment
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Carmmond, I pulled the trigger on the 14" craftsman on a morning where they had 2 sales overlapping. I got it for 395$ I think. Just under 400$ anyway. So far so good, but the top wheel has a little play, not sure what to do about it.
Keith Z. Leonard
Go Steelers!Comment
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drumpriest
That must be the same sale I got. They had it on sale for $429 the last two weeks before Christmas and on those Saturdays they took another 10% off making it $386 but add tax and it was around $408 for me
"but the top wheel has a little play, not sure what to do about it"
I can go down to the shop and look at mine today but I don't remember any play in it... give me a better idea of what the play is so I know what to look for.
enutees go look at the Craftsman 10" or mabe even the 12" or 14" on a moble base??? The 10" is the same as the Ricon but has a steel table. It is one of the best 10" bandsaws I have ever seen but I will admit I have never had the chance to use one. You could always get it and try it out Sears has a good return program.Comment
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drumpriest
I looked at my top wheel and there is no play, I also went to Sears today and got one of the Industrial rip blades (from $69.95 now $18.95) and looked at the display 14" and it had no play at all in it???Comment
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Thanks Carmmond, basically if you spin the wheel, while looking through the tracking window, it moves left to right ever so slightly. That's what I mean by play.
Keith Z. Leonard
Go Steelers!Comment
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Either you're playin with it too much or its bent.quote:Originally posted by drumpriest
Thanks Carmmond, basically if you spin the wheel, while looking through the tracking window, it moves left to right ever so slightly. That's what I mean by play.
It should not have any wobble from just spinning freely on its bearing. I would certainly claim warranty on that one. Not sure how Sears goes about handling this kind of thing. Keep us posted with this, Keith.
I did buy the little Craftsman myself. It won't be seeing any wood duty though. Strickly aluminum and plastic. That thing is certainly sweet. Much nicer than the Ryobi. I though the Ryobi was as good as those little saws get. Wrong!
Oh, the smaller CRMan has cast aluminum wheels. For $139, I still feel like I owe them some money for this one.
LeeComment
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The wheels are cast iron so it could be a bad cast. Are you sure your seeing the wheel move and not the tires? I used a flashlight when adjusting my tracking because I couldn’t see the tires[:I]
If you open the top up with no tension on the blade can you move the wheel at all (up/down/ect)? That would be making sure the bearings are in good shape. Also the tracking adjustment can be a bear and if your just seeing the blade move you could be close to the right setting but your still a hair off. You could also spin the wheel and feel the tire for bumps to see if anything got between the tire and wheel.
I’m just throwing ideas at you because I would hope the odds of getting a bad cast are extremely low. I would think a bad tire; bearing or tracking adjustment would have higher odds…
Stytooner your so right. I was looking at scroll saws but that one has me thinking twice
David Marks has some good info for new/old bandsaw setup at DIY.
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/wk_too...278285,00.htmlComment
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