Bandsaw or Chainsaw ?

Mike Turner

Member
Messages
361
Location
Laurinburg NC
I have been thinking on buying a bandsaw for trimming bowlblanks and resawing lumber to size and because I am leery of the tablesaw even though I have used one a long time....I have an Makita electric chainsaw which is a great saw but I naturally cant resaw lumber with it....What do I do? Buy the bandsaw? Any of you guys feel this way? I dont really have much resawing but there are times I have to...
 
I have used my bandsaw on every project I have done since I bought it two years ago. Mine is only a 10" but it has a 6" depth of cut, so I can do quite a lot with it. It is often much less hassle for me to do a small cut or two on the bandsaw, and you have more flexibility in the shape of the cut. If you want to make a round cut, it's easy to do.
 
I have been led to believe that a BS is much safer to use than a CS. It sounds logical, especially since I have had several friends who have had Chain Saw injuries and none who have had Band Saw injuries.

Enjoy and please keep all of your parts attached to you,

JimB
 
Just thinking about using a table saw for rounding a bowl blank gives me the willies.
For larger ones, if properly secured (and that could be problematic) the chain saw would work.
Whick reminds me, I need to install my band saw riser. It has been sitting there, in the box, for more than two years. :eek:
 
Just wondering if you are asking about a bandsaw-mill or a chainsaw-mill. If so, then if I could ever swing the cost of the band mill, no comparison on the quality of cut as well as amount of wood you can mill.
 
Mike, for your needs, the bandsaw will get a lot more use. The bowl blanks I cut with a chainsaw are generally in the 18"+ range. I don;t think you're set up to turn large pieces like that. Anything smaller than that is typically done on my bandsaw. Plus, you already have the electric chainsaw for cutting them to rough size from logs.

And I'm with Frank...I wouldn't even consider rounding a bowl blank on the table saw.
 
Oh no I wasnt even thinking about rounding blanks with chainsaw...I was thinking of the resawing on the bandsaw that I couldnt do with a chainsaw either....Ive got to check out a Delta 28-280 that is an older one that came from a school where there were 4 of them....Anybody used one of them?? Supposed to be in great shape and the guy is wanting $345...Does that sound like a good price?
 
The Delta 28-280 is pretty much the standard of the industry when it comes to 14" bandsaws. Virtually all of the 14" cast iron models on the market are clones (or variations) of that model. The price seems a little high, but if it's in excellent shape, it might be worth it. I'll let some of the other guys chime in with their opinions.
 
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