Technical, Techniques, Hints, and Tips > Engineering Techniques and Materials.

Bandsaw advice 8"or 9"

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tigertiger:
I am looking at buying a band-saw for general cabinet making, as well as for models.


Basically I am looking at 8"and 9"machines.


8" is smaller and lighter and at about 20kg can be moved around a small shop and would not need a stand, but it can't handle as big pieces of wood. I am looking at one with a larger motor to handle hardwoods. There may be other limitations in comparison with the 9"models. Cheap.


9" a bit bigger, and more powerful but a lot heavier, and would need a stand or trolley (made for it). Not so cheap.


Bigger, heavier and twice the price of the 8 would be a 10"but I am not sure I can go that big, unless there are mega advantages.


If anyone has owned or used either size, I would be interested to hear your experiences.

SailorGreg:
Well, the bigger (and heavier) the better.  You can do small, fine work on a large saw, but you can't do big, heavy work on a small one.  But that ignores all the practicalities such as price, space available and what your intended use is.  You mention cabinetmaking but do you mean small items or dining tables?  A small saw will need to be bolted down if you need to cut large pieces of timber or you run the risk of the saw tipping over as you push the wood through.  And you might not think there is much difference between 8" and 9" but it is surprising how often you need to use the full capacity and if you buy the 8" you will soon wish you had the 9" (or the 10"!).


But most of all - buy quality.  A decent bandsaw properly set up (and they do take a little setting up each time you change a blade) will cut dead straight lines without any trouble, and saw thin veneers off the face of a plank consistently.  If you end up with a saw you can't trust you will waste a lot of time and material getting a decent cut, or not use it at all, which is just a waste of money.  Most reputable models will have reviews on the www and you can learn a lot from them.


Good luck and enjoy your new saw!


Greg

tigertiger:
As for cabinet making, I would really only be using for cutting curves, mostly on legs and frame pieces. For straight cuts on larger pieces I use the table saw.
I would like to do some re-sawing to make some panels, but the reality is that unless you go up to 12-14" you can only really cut timbers of about 10mm thick And so re-sawing is not really on the list of jobs I can do.

tigertiger:
For those who didn't see the other thread on bandsaws. I opted for the 10" in the end. It should be mounted on a floor stand but I replaced it with a rolling cabinet on locking wheels, to still give me the mobility I want.
The cabinet is 490mm with 75mm wheels, the saw is 960mm tall, total 1450mm height overall.

CGAux26:
Nice.  Would you build me a cabinet like that?   :-))

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