farewwll 18" jet band saw......

[toolguy1000]

hello rikon 10-340 18" band saw.

i was contacted on another forum by a member there who was thinking of selling his 2005 rikon 10-340. the price was right and given the love affair (sarcasm sound, here) i have with all things jet/powermatic, i decided to sell the jet and buy the rikon.

within 2 weeks of the decision, a CL buyer emerged and friday saw the jet hauled away by a young, well intentioned newbie who obviously had drunk the jet/powermatic cool aid and thought he was stealing a band saw. he did gete a by now well functioning band saw that was practically spotless.

with cash in hand, sunday saw a 70 minute round trip and this new to me 10-340 (rated top tool in american woodworker's 2005 test of 18" band saws) safely in my driveway. 1/2hp more power, 2" more resaw, 2 speed operation, tension release lever, 5 years newer, it isn't a wmh tool group product and i have enough money left over after the switch to pay for a new mobile base if the saw turns out to be too heavy for the crappy htc base it's sitting on now. or get some good blades from iturra. and it slid into the space beetween the RAS and the DC vacated by the jet with no changes to the surrounding tools. all in all, a good tool weekend.

[gsmittle]

Just out of curiosity, what issues did you have with the Jet?

g.

[chopnhack]

Man that thing looks the beast that it is!! I hope you didn't fleece the newbie too badly.

[toolguy1000]

1) their tools are premium priced but mediocre in performance.

2) their dealer network is useless in terms of repairing the brand's products.

3) the dealer network does not have the necessary tolols to return teh products to factoiry specifications.

4) their technical support is just so terribly subpar. they are only good at sending warrantied owners replacement parts, which the customer is then required to install.

5) they are focused solely on moving new iron. if you require support, and you are out of waranty, you are totally on your own.

6) they don't respect their customers. e.g., when jet introduced the "vortex cone " for their 1.5hp single stage DC, they didn't issue a conversion kit for their older units. they would sell existing owners the few parts necessary for the conversion, but price those parts something like $10 less than a whole new collector. that is insulting.

that about sums it up. if i can help it, i will never again own another wmh tool group product.

[toolguy1000]

Man that thing looks the beast that it is!! I hope you didn't fleece the newbie too badly.

yea, looking forward to using it. gotta change the plug first to match my existing 220v outlets. as for the newbie, "if god had not wanted them shorn, he would not have made them sheep".

[chopnhack]

ewww.... just remember karma's a female dog

[LCHIEN]

OK, hand it over. You don't deserve that thing. You've got the miter gauge in backwards.

[cabinetman]

It's called moving up...so-to-speak. Enjoy your new addition.

.

[toolguy1000]

ewww.... just remember karma's a female dog

the differential on the switch, as noted in the opening post, would maybe pay for a new mobile base for the rikon. not exactly big money. and the newbie got what he wanted.....an 18" jet BS in great condition with four extra blades. maybe his wmh tool group experience will be better than mine was.

[jseklund]

I got a nice Jet band saw right before I moved into my new house. Not as nice as yours at 18"...but it is a nice saw in my eyes. Problem was, after I moved, life happened and I got away from woodworking and haven't spent as much time as I would have...

During the move, I had a bunch of stuff in my garage and I was on one side of a pile, and the band saw was on another. Something apparently fell and was leaning on the saw and I gave a little bump to the pile and all I could do was watch the saw tip over. It was maybe 5 months old. I bent the handle on the bottom door and the door itself....I've priced the parts to be about $60 to fix, but given that I've only been using it for small cuts here and there over the past 4 years, I haven't gotten around to picking up the parts.

All that said, I've had good luck with my Jet, what little it gets used. It's still not the BEAST that you have in those photos though. I think I have a little tool envy between the band saw and the dust collector

[toolguy1000]

the following comment is delivered solely in jest:

what, no tool envy over the (initially) free unisaw?

[jseklund]

Oh yeah, I got a lot of it

[dbhost]

Nice machine that Rikon for sure! Just wondering, why you don't tell us how you really feel about Jet? (Okay I am being a bit sarcastic today, sorry...)

[toolguy1000]

Nice machine that Rikon for sure! Just wondering, why you don't tell us how you really feel about Jet? (Okay I am being a bit sarcastic today, sorry...)

that would be no problem at all. however, i'll save that for another day. they are, after all, such an easy target.

[toolguy1000]

yesterday saw the first power up of the new band saw at home. i thought i'd have to change out it's plug but after looking at the plug and my single 220v outlet, the outlet is configured to accomodate two types of 220v plugs.

and that rikon is a beast! loads of power and smooth running. takes much longer than the replaced jet to coast to a stop, thanks to CI wheels that are much more significant than the CI wheels of the replaced 18" jet. i never looked forward to usung the jet because of the bad experiences i had with it and my intense dislike of the wmh tool group. of the contacts i've had with rikon so far, they appear to be, far and away, a much more customer focused company than the jet/wilton/powermatic folks are. i'm looking forward to getting into the rikon and making sure it's set up properly, probably in the fall. i'm really glad i made the change.