# Do most of you CNC guys own a bandsaw?



## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

I loved David’s sign that he made out of a section of tree , and David showed a video of him cutting it on a bandsaw . (Hope you guys don’t mind me posting your pics again )
It has me thinking,as it’s one of the few tools I do not have .

I think doing carvings with a log like David’s and ScottArt’s would be the best sellers in my neck of the woods .
After reading reviews here , I am interested in Laguna bandsaws , but not sure if this would be big enough . 
I don’t understand the specs of this one. It says 12” resaw,so I’m assuming the largest material is 12” that you can cut . 
Imo you’d want more like 18” cutting capacity ? 
https://www.elitetools.ca/en/product/14-12-bandsaw-laguna-tools-mband1412-175/

Another option I guess would to just use a chainsaw and then plane it on my planer ,or let the cnc plane it . There is also a small sawmill operation about a half hours drive from my house .

Do you guys find a bandsaw to be an invaluable tool in your shop ?


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

I couldn't do much without a bandsaw, Rick. My 12" King-Seeley from 1950 is probably used as much as my table saw. I have the Laguna 14SUV for resawing. Its resaw capability is stated as 14" but it will actually resaw almost 15". The throat is 14" and that's how they're rated. An 18" bandsaw has a throat capacity of 18" regardless of how high the upper blade guide rises for resaw capacity. Throat depth is from the blade to the frame.

In the 80's when I had a woodworking business we had a 1910 Crescent 32" bandsaw but it would only resaw 11". For most of what I do I need resaw capability over throat depth. And we also don't have the room for the footprint of an 18" bandsaw.

David


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## MikeMa (Jul 27, 2006)

One of these days I will get back to building my CNC. I have a complete shop, including a 14" band saw. The CNC will not replace any of my tools, as I still plan on doing traditional woodworking with the CNC there to enhance my work.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

As David said, don't confuse throat depth with cutting height. The older 14" Deltas came with a standard 6" cutting height but an optional 6" riser block was available to add in the middle of the column that would allow it a 12" cutting height. I have an 18" with 12" cutting height. If you plan on doing more scroll type sawing then a smaller saw is usually good as they are geared for narrower blades which cut tighter arcs. If you are mostly resawing then bigger is better so that you can use wider, more aggressive blades with deeper gullets and fewer teeth per inch.


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## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

Gotta have a band saw. My 14" Grizz has been good - but you can get a riser to expand it. Wish I would have got the 17 inch cause bigger is better, but the 14 inch was all I could afford at the time. Works great for cutting tabs when taking projects off the bed.


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## ger21 (Feb 10, 2019)

I've had my 14" Delta for 30 years. I turn it on once every 5 years or so.


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## Inor (Aug 15, 2019)

I have a 14" PowerMatic that I absolutely could not live without. I chose the PowerMatic over the Delta or Jet because it has a bigger motor and can take up to a 5/8" blade. Without the riser block, it has about 6" of resaw capability. That is fine most of the resawing I do. Mostly, my resawing is just for doing bentwood laminate. But I do like the 5/8" blade because it gives a much smoother finish than most 1/2" blades I have tried.


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## 4DThinker (Feb 16, 2014)

I've got two. A floor model 14" no-name brand that works fine in my main shop area, and a benchtop WEN that I keep in the room I have my CNC in. I don't resaw anything with either. I put the small bandsaw in the CNC room to use for cutting parts free that I've just cut leaving tabs connecting. I also have a router table with a flush trim bit dedicated to trimming off tab remnants/edges of parts the CNC has just cut out. I doubt anyone has just a CNC. Typical shop tools for work up front before the CNC starts, and work after it is done to finish the parts. 

4D


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Thanks guys . 

A bit of a jump up , but there’s this one that does an 18” cut . I found a dealer in Calgary, so it’s only a 4 hour drive to get there 

https://blackforestwood.com/collections/monthly-highlight-1/products/18-bandsaw-laguna-tools


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## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

You b itch about CNCRP prices for their parts and try to save $20 - and now want to drive 4 hours for a $2500 band saw. I'm confused.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

honesttjohn said:


> You ***** about CNCRP prices for their parts and now want to drive 4 hours for a $2500 band saw. I'm confused.


I’m a confusing type of person , could be a little bit of autism involved, were not sure :grin:

If I get this new job in September working for our contractors and all goes well , it will be providing me with some extra income to play with . 
So now I’m considering purchasing a few more tools , and may end up buying the plug and play electronics from Avid .
It all depends on how this new job goes , so I thought I’d do my homework now . Plus I love researching and buying tools


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Rick, we may need to start calling you Charlie Brown (he is wishy-washy, too). :wink:

David


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

difalkner said:


> Rick, we may need to start calling you Charlie Brown (he is wishy-washy, too). :wink:
> 
> David


You don’t think I chose RainMan out of the blue lol


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## ger21 (Feb 10, 2019)

You'll NEVER resaw something 18" tall. *NEVER*


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

I agree, though I did resaw a 14" wide board once. It was plenty wide and made a good video!

David


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

ger21 said:


> You'll NEVER resaw something 18" tall. *NEVER*


I don’t actually know what resaw is. Assuming your resawing it lol


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I've used mine to finish cutting 10" birch into thinner stock after I sliced 3" in from either side on the TS. That made it easy to cut the center with the BS. The Laguna is a nice machine and you'll probably be able to get parts longer than most other brands not that bandsaws tend to break much except blades.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

ger21 said:


> You'll NEVER resaw something 18" tall. *NEVER*


never say never...


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Here ya' go, Rick. Resawing a 14" wide board - 






David


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

@RainMan 2.0: Resawing anything much wider than a foot is going to leave you with slabs that want to warp. I think it's better to use narrower pieces and glue them up. Beside that, you still have to either hand plane or use a jointer and planer to have a usable chunk of wood for your CNC to work on.

I have the Laguna 14-12 and it does the job really well. I have a 3/4 inch Resaw King blade I use for wider stuff, but it does a good job with the half inch blade as well. 

Just FYI, resawing is splitting a thick piece of wood into two thinner pieces. On highly figured woods, this gives you a book match, that is, you glue the two pieces together on the edge so the grain pattern is the same on both pieces. Often used for guitars and other musical instruments, it can also be used for furniture or panels. If you start with a 5/4 piece that's flat, by the time you finish and plane it, you will have two half inch thick panels.

There are several types of resaw blades, most have about 3 teeth per inch with deep gullets to carry off all the sawdust. Some blades cut cleaner than others, but I can't imagine not planing/sanding the pieces perfectly smooth. For a musical instrument I'd probably use a scraper instead.


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

DesertRatTom said:


> Resawing anything much wider than a foot is going to leave you with slabs that want to warp.


Unless it's quarter sawn... that tends to stay very straight on wide pieces although I seldom resaw boards wider than 9". The widest I have resawn is that Sinker Mahogany board.

David


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

RainMan 2.0 said:


> A bit of a jump up , but there’s this one that does an 18” cut . I found a dealer in Calgary, so it’s only a 4 hour drive to get there


Nice price too. If I wanted something with an 18" cut, or even more, I would make either, a bandsaw mill, a bandsaw, or chainsaw mill. Then you could get pretty much any size cut you want - for a lot less money, and save on gas to boot.


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## Larry42 (Aug 11, 2014)

My first bandsaw was a 14" Rockwell/Delta. I used it for production cutting toys. It was not up to the task and had many failures due to poor design and going cheap. I had lots of different blades for it including a 3/4" resaw blade. Problem was the two piece cast iron frame ws not ridged enough and it would start to shutter when resawing near the 6" limit. I'm hard pressed to believe that putting a riser block on a 14" saw makes it into a resaw. I still have that old 14" but also have a 17" Minimax that has a steel frame and is capable of resawing 12". Ideally it should have a bigger motor but the 3/4" blade cuts fairly freely. There is an excellent video put on by Carter that shows most of what many people don't understand about using a band saw. Well worth the watch.


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## Larry42 (Aug 11, 2014)

I failed to answer the actual question! Yes, I think a bandsaw is a valuable piece of equipment for any shop. As long as I could look at one in person I'd have no problem buying used. They are simple to maintain. I have a production model CNC and it runs all day everyday. but the band saws still get some use.


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## gdonham1 (Oct 31, 2011)

I started out with a Ridgid 14" and added a 6" riser. I used Timberwolf blades and it was ok but it would dance around the shop and would wear me out trying to resaw a 12" piece of oak. I finally upgraded to an SCM 16" with a 1" carbide tipped blade. The difference is night and day. The SCM is solid and cuts through oak, maple and mahogany like butter. There is a considerable difference in price from a 14" to this 220v 4HP monster. But I really like it and would not go backwards. I ordered the saw directly from SCM. I did order some 1/4" blades and a couple 3/8" blades for cutting curves and misc bandsaw work.

Many folks have the Laguna and Jet came out with a new saw but they do not hold a candle to the SCM. The SCM is a 30 AMP 220V receptacle so not everyone has that available in their shop.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I went to look for SCM pricing because that would be a consideration for me. Couldn't get to a price, and the information on SCM's site was kind of lean. I assume the prices are premium. 

When I visited the Laguna facility, they had a large number of their premium, Italian made saws on display, up to 36 inches, and I would be hard pressed to find anything better built. And you can get all kinds of information from them. I already have a Laguna 14-12 and really love it, and for someone with a 110 v only shop, I would be less inclined to go with the 220v machine. Lots of things to consider before spending big bucks.


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## gdonham1 (Oct 31, 2011)

If you have not already bought you can contaxct Sam Blasco directly at SCM. Sam works out of Austin, TX but is a national rep.

[email protected]

Sam has a youtube channel and shows several SCM machines. My SCM was made in Italy and maybe by the same people that make the big Laguna. 

After using the SCM I will never go back to tinker toy bandsaws.


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## TimPa (Jan 4, 2011)

not arguing that the SCM is a wonderful saw. but, i will say that our 18" grizzly (used exclusively for re-sawing) went from night to day when we switched from timberwolf hss to lenox carbide blades. we use 1" wide 3 teeth/2".

yes, a bandsaw is very useful in the shop, but i suppose you could get by without it. you kind of need the other tools to make up for it... many different ways to do something in the shop.


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## TWheels (May 26, 2006)

There is an episode of The Woodsmith Shop in which one of the people said he thought the most important power tool is the bandsaw.
@RainMan 2.0, Rick, are you now clear on what resawing is?


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## 4DThinker (Feb 16, 2014)

I teach furniture design to college students and my classes are held in a huge fabrication lab shared by an entire Architectural college. We have several bandsaws, as well as one large industrial CNC and 4 small CNCs. The small CNCs are dedicated to making furniture parts and joinery cuts. The bandsaws are used every day, often with students standing by waiting their turn. Related to CNC work a bandsaw gets used to free CNC cut parts from their tab-connected boards. Students often use the bandsaw with small parts where the table saw or miter saw would be intimidating. The disk or belt sander or drum sander usually follows to clean up the bandsaw-rough edges. I'll often encourage a student to cut out a complex part using a bandsaw rather than using the CNC, as considerable time is saved over creating a drawing/creating toolpaths/clamping down and zeroing the bit to the board/changing the bit/etc. to CNC the part. 

4D


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## gdonham1 (Oct 31, 2011)

The blade choice is very important on any bandsaw. When I had the underpowered Ridgid I used the Timberwolf. The reason for the Timberwold on the cast iron saw was because I did not need to tighten the blade as tightly as other types of blades. When the cast iron saws with extensions are stressed they buck like a wild horse. There is a lot of flex in the cast iron saws. My replacement SCM has a triple box back frame that is much more ridgid then a cast iron saw. Since I have a more rigid saw I can increase the blade tension to get good cuts. 

So depending on what you are cutting with as far as a saw you have to make choices based on performance. Timberwolf blades are great for under powered saws that flex a lot. The Lenox 1" Carbide 3 TPI blade can be tightened to a higher level and gives great performance in the more modern box spine saws. Other than price I am not sure why the cast iron saws are still made. Jet and other bandsaw makers have the 14" saws with the square tube spine now at competitive prices with the cast iron older cousins.

Now if you already have an older saw I would not suggest you run out and buy a new saw. The performance of the older saws is acceptable but if you want to buy a new bandsaw buy the steel boxed spine versions of a bandsaw. You will be happier with the performance of the newer designed saws.


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