grizzly g0555 comments and blade question

[darrellcraig]

Just bought a grizzly g0555 bandsaw along with a decent 93" 6tpi 3/8" blade for general purpose use. Am really impressed by the quality of of the saw, amazing that you can buy a tool like this for $395 (just as I was impressed with BT3100 @ $250). My wife said she'd guess $1000 bucks (should have bought the G0513x I guess).

Anyway, don't foresee any resawing in my list of projects over next 6-12 months (don't have much time for WW), but wondering if I should buy the riser block just in case before buying a few timberwolf blades. Any thoughts on this decision?

[LCHIEN]

Congrats on your purchase.

the saw top is very heavy so you won't be wanting to install the riser block and removing it more than once.

So that leaves you with the chance of making worthless a set of blades if you buy them and upgrade with a riser later.

The riser being about $60, and blade being 20-30 each
I'd say if you were reasonably (like 50% or more) sure that you were going to go with a riser later you should just do it now and save the cost of the two blades.

I suppose there are more reasons for 12" saw capacity other than just resawing. You can cut on larger pieces or partial assemblies that would not fit under 6" clearance.

[drumpriest]

Band saw boxes, there's a reason for a riser that isn't strickly resawing. If you think you'll make some boxes, the height can limit how large of a box you can create. Also for turning blanks, if you are into turning.

As to the blades, replace the factory one ASAP. I like timberwolf, but the woodslicer from highland hardware is better if you do decide to get a resaw blade.

[Pappy]

Loring gave the best reasons. If you are thinking you may want the riser down the road, do it now, before you invest in better blades.

[LarryG]

... but on the other hand, blades are consumables; they wear out. True, you don't want to sink a HUGE amount of money into the standard size blades, but you might well wear out one or two and then get the riser block and not lose a dime because you'll have gotten your money's worth out of the shorter blades.

(A lot of this will depend on how much you use your band saw.)

[scorrpio]

I bought a G0555 last year, along with a riser block. Best get it installed from the get-go, I think. Blades might be consumables, but at least for me, they do not 'consume' quickly. I am yet to wear out a single Timberwolf, and I already made use of the larger capacity a few times.

And yeah, I love the saw.

[Alex Franke]

It's a great saw, and I've been thinking about upgrading to the riser block, too. Now that my original blades are showing a bit of wear, it's probably a good time to do it and just scrap the old blades. Anyway, I'm following this thread with great interest! Thanks!

[bthere]

I agree that if you have any idea that you may want to saw something with a height greater than 6" anytime in the future, go ahead and bite the bullet and install the riser now.

Although blades do wear out, you will probably find that there are 3 or 4 blades that you use regularly. It isn't likely that they all wear out at the same time. So when one wears out, you can either
a) wait to get a new one of that type until you put on a riser
b) you can use another short blade that you already have that isn't the ideal one for the current job
c) buy a new blade with plans to scrap it when you install a riser
d) keep using the dull blade until your other blades get dull also then buy a riser and get all new blades

[scorrpio]

Don't also forget that a 105" blade of same TPI has about 10% more teeth than a 93", which should translate into about 10% longer blade life.

[darrellcraig]

Thx for the input... given I don't have much time for woodworking, my blades are likely to last quite a while... so better to get the riser block now and buy 105" blades from the get go.

[LCHIEN]

Thx for the input... given I don't have much time for woodworking, my blades are likely to last quite a while... so better to get the riser block now and buy 105" blades from the get go.

That's my technique. If I don't have time for woodworking I buy more tools to compensate, with the expectation that they'll last longer so I can think about using them for many more years.

[ragswl4]

I have had that saw for two years, with zero complaints. It is well built, good fit/finish and adequate power for what I do. Don't have the riser block but resaw all the time.

Got a 1/2", 3-4 TPI Iturra blade and performs excellently. The blade was recommended by Ken Massingale (Thanks Ken) and outperformed the Timberwolf I was using. The Timberwolf was 3/4", 3 TPI and too big for the saw so maybe its not a fair comparison.