Extremely Average #183: Which is Better?

It completely depends upon what you need to accomplish with whichever tool.

-- Troy Bouffard || Master Sergeant, US Army (Retired) || http://www.birchhillwoodcrafts.com

so which is better? purple? or brown?

a bandsaw is great tool, but doesn’t do what a TS does – they both have different purposes. saying that one is better than the other doesn’t really make any sense without the context of a certain operation.

-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

Evenyually you will have both a band saw and a table saw. They compliment each other. Purplev is right, it depends on the project you are doing. I have both a Jet band saw and a table saw. a saw stop by the way which is really a great tool, aside from the safety issues.

-- Bill, Michigan "People don't come preassebled, but are glued together by life"

MY first purchase was a craftsman table saw,1 hp. belt drive,cast iron table. I am STILL using it these days. Over time I added a LH table with a router underneath, the RH extension is 42 inches wide.(This saw is celebrating its 33 birthday this year) I didn’t get my bandsaw till 5 years later than table daw. It is a smaller DELTA,I bought it to cut profile in my cabinet doors. Most cuts were through 3/4” material. I wish I would have bought a larger one. TODAY I use it to resaw smaller logs. (Not large enough)
SO: My suggestion is look for a good used table saw. (Large and stationary,) Purchase a NEW band saw, if they have not been looked after well a used one might cause a lot of grief ! Also blade for older bandsaw are becoming harder to find.
Whatever YOU decide, GOOD LUCK !

-- "My mission in life - make everyone smile !"

Thanks everyone. I don’t know why I made the grammar error “Which…not What”.

I think you are all right. It mostly depends upon how one is going to use the tool. I guess a better question would be Which one should I get first, as I will probably eventually get all three. I devote most of my disposable income to buying tools and part of the fun is deciding which is next.

I would also comment to Purplev ...Purple is better than every other color! It is my favorite.

I think I am going to make my decision tomorrow. I will let you all know. :-)

-- Brian Meeks, http://extremelyaverage.com

of course purple is better! ;)

As for the newly emerged question “which to get first”. This one should also be personal to you. Find out which operations you do most in your woodworking, and based on that 1 of the 3 options will match up.

Bandsaw = resawing (logs/veneer/thick slabs), curved cuts, joinery
TS = repetitive cuts (rips,cross cuts – although for cross cuts in most cases a miter saw would do better) and work on smaller parts (ply/solids) than full sheets.
Plunge saw = sheet goods work (easier to work on a subfloor/raised block while moving the saw then having to handle a full sheet on a TS.

-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

I find the table saw with sheet goods to be unwieldy, and usually requires at least one helper. (Okay – I am usually the helper.) But with a circular saw and a track, I can do it easily by myself… and have less worry of things flying around in bad ways.

I admire the balance skills of those who regularly cut sheet goods on a TS.

-- Lis - Michigan - http://www.missmooseart.com - https://www.etsy.com/people/lisbokt

Brian
it all depends on what way you think you will work in the coming future
and what you will work with and make
if and when you figur that out you will be able to say witch of the three
saws you shuold have but don´t forget the 4th possipbillity HANDSAWS :—))

Dennis

Dennis,

Japanese hand saws were and will always be my first love!

Brian

-- Brian Meeks, http://extremelyaverage.com

OOOOH UPS
forgot to tell you when I was up at my mothers place delivering my
daughter to have some vacations there I bought a cheap set of japanese handsaws
mostly to my daughter she is strugling with the pushsaws so I thought
she maybee would have it esayer with the japanese but I most admit I´m
a little excited too about trying them when she return
and my little comment on handsaws was only to tease you hadn´t forget
that you made the blog about sawing, by the way have you finished pratishing
on those blocks….LOL

Dennis