Steele City Blue Line

Jeff Bower

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I would evaluate the spec of this BS against the specs of a Grizzly BS such as http://www.grizzly.com/products/14-Deluxe-Bandsaw/G0555LX to get a reasonable comparison. The Grizzly is highly recommended by many on this forum, including myself (G055LX).

For example while the Grizzly may cost $45 more, it has a Cast Iron table/body/wheels; bearing blade guides; and what appears to be a more substantial base. My first impressions of the SC Blue Line referenced above is that it looks to compare to the Porter Cable BS, but without a first hand look, it's hard to compare objectively. The "resaw" capability is stated to be both 6.5" & also 12", although it looks to be 6.5" (???) as gauged by comparing to the table size.
 
I think 1HP induction motor would be way undersized for a 12" cut. Probably be sweating pretty hard with a 6" cut.

Based on what little I've seen, this Blue Line looks like more low-end, marginally usable Asian homeowner tools, like a lot of other Craftsman stuff of the past decade or so. It seems to me that Sears has pretty much given up on the professional/serious hobbyist market, and is aiming squarely at the lower end of the price/performance curve.
 
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