14" VS 17" Bandsaw

[SHADOWFOX]

Folks,

I have been carefully researching my next tool purchase which would be a band saw. I am torn whether to buy a 14" band saw now or hold out for a 17" band saw. I have about a hundred board foot of maple and cherry that I have bought from a guy moving out of the area most of the boards are about 2" thick by 8 to 10" wide and 6 to 7ft in length. I have my eye on the Grizzly 17" G0513 band saw but it might not be until next year before I can have enough money to buy one. I could purchase a 14" Delta or Grizzly right now.. My question is would a 14" band saw be sufficient enough for me to work on the lumber I have or should I hold out for the 17" band saw? Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you!

[Howard]

You could always get the GO555, which I have, and get the 6 inch riser adapter. That should give you the clearance you need. I would definitely recommend the Timberwolf blades. They made a big difference.

[LCHIEN]

If you plan to do a lot of resawing big boards then you should get the 17", it has a bigger motor!

If you only ocacassionally plan to resaw, then you can probably get by with slower sawing and the 14" + riser.

[SARGE..g-47]

Assuming you are going to re-saw those 7"-10" wide, 2" thick maple and cherry boards down to 1" and not just rip them, I going to throw a few questions at you and then add a few of my personal thoughts.

Have you ever re-sawed 7"-10" cherry or maple? Pretty tough stuff and requires a delicate combination of perfect BS set-up, the proper 3 tpi wider blade and a good dose of HP to eliminate bogging. And even this hinges on can you get the proper tension on the blade. Somewhere around 25,000 psi on carbide, 20,000 on bi-metal (which isn't the correct blade for this job but would suffice slowly, very slowly).

So.. we go ahead and purchase the 14" 1 HP. Add a riser block at $80 or so to get the height under the blade (and weaken the main-frame in the process). Now a better blade at $40-$100. We'll need new Iturri springs to even get close to that 20,000 psi, but we will probably never reach 25,000 psi required for a carbide blade without breaking the spring or main-frame. And how bout those Carter quides that came with the bigger one? Now we got $640-$800 invested and still have 1 HP. Do we purchase at least a 2 HP motor to get us "up to snuff" at $200 + for a total investment of $900-$1000 +... ??

Or do we sit patiently and save our money to get more saw that has the "right stuff" without all the hassle? Our enthusiam says purchase now. Common sense says wait and get the biggest BS you can as no matter how large you purchase, there will come a time if you stick with WW that it won't be big enough. There's always that project that was just a little bit bigger!

I have been doing this for 34 years. I have a 12" BS and just sold a 14". With the help of a neighbor that has a 20", I always have found a way to "get er done". Always... But... now I'm close to retirement. The kid is grown. The house is paid off along with the cars, etc...

I will get delivery on my new Mini Max 16" shortly. 4.8 HP and 16" re-saw. Looooong wait, but worth it IMO! Will I ever need a bigger BS?

"There's always that project that requires a little bit bigger". You're always short one clamp. There is always that comment of "I wish I had ...... "

Good luck with your decision. You have to live with whatever it is until... :>)

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Excellent points made by Sarge. In your case the 17" would definately be a great move. If you have time watch for used ones on craigslist, ebay, woodnet, sawmillcreek and that thing that old people call "Newspaper".