Ryobi 10" band saw

[cobob]

I've anguished over band saws for years and had resolved to wait for a bigger one. Recently, lowes closed out the delta bench top for $75. Uncaracteristiclly, I didn't buy on impulse but it got me relooking on the internet. This time I found a review of the Ryobi 10" bandsaw which got rave reviews & seemed like a great deal...only it went out of production?!&%?! It seemed to be the perfect compromise and there are obviously hoardes of people stuck between a benchtop & standalone band saw.

I'm a newbie & part scottish so most of my projects are from pine 2x4 & ripping 2x4s to 1x4s with the TS is < optimal.

This on top of the beloved BT going out of production...what's is Ryobi doing? Have they been bought out by a middle east cartel??

More ranting to follow

[Joe DeFazio]

Though you may find that many folks on this forum prefer the Hitachi or even the Harbor Freight 14" (close to as cheap when on sale), I used to have the Ryobi BS1001SV, and I really loved it. Though it has lots of plastic parts instead of cast iron, it cut extremely accurately, had outstanding dust collection, a good fence, big table, good safety features, and innovative engineering throughout.

When I first got it, I resawed some veneer-thin slices of 3 1/2" stock. I was impressed with the quality of the cut, but when I showed my brother who has a 21" Grizzly, he couldn't believe it! And that was with the stock blade….

The only downsides I found were the limited resaw capacity and throat (clearance to the left of the blade). I eventually moved up to a 14" Ridgid with the riser block, only because I had a lot of bigger wood to resaw (riser block gives 12" resaw capacity). Though I gave the Ryobi to a relative, I still miss it, and often wish it were still around for smaller jobs.

Good luck, and whatever you decide to do, you'll find that having a bandsaw around is incredibly handy. How do non-woodworkers get along without one?

Joe

[mschrank]

This on top of the beloved BT going out of production...what's is Ryobi doing? Have they been bought out by a middle east cartel??

Not a middle east cartel...just Home Depot.

You can obviously see the downside to their exclusive deal.


EDIT: I realize HD doesn't actually own Ryobi, but for the time being they might as well.

[pcombs]

I was in the exact same dilemna as you. You may have some recourse. If you can look for a display unit with few or none missing parts like I did you could get a steal. I got mine for $100. Hardly used only missing the dust bag that I could do without !!!

Great mid-level band saw with tonnes of good features.

[dramey]

I got mine for $75.00 and it was missing the stand (I built my own stand) and had $35.00 worth of missing or broken parts which I bought from Ryobi. great little Band Saw.

[mpphoto]

I was in a similar situation recently; because of space limitations I could only consider a benchtop bandsaw. I looked at the Ryobi, Delta etc and did lots of research on the web. One more contender you might want to consider is Craftsman. They have a 9" and a 10" model, both priced nicely and both got good reviews when I researched them on the web.

At the time I had a $100 Home Depot gift card so my choice was made for me. I got the Ryobi and am very pleased with it. If it's true that it's been discontinued you'll likely still find it in stock at some HD store. If your local HD doesn't have it they can probably track one down for you.

If I didn't have the HD gift card I would have gone with the Craftsman model because it seemed just a little more substantial.

Michael