Reply by lumberjoe

I debated getting that saw a few times, but like you said, the reviews are really mixed – leaning more bad than good. I also didn’t want to plunk down a huge chunk of change on a bandsaw. I ended up getting the new craftsman 14” for under 400$ brand new (watch the sales online). It is a great saw so far and it has an 8” resaw height without installing riser blocks and changing the saw’s geometry.

Once I get a chance to really use it, I will post a review here. So far I can say the following:

It can properly tension a 5/8” blade easily
Tracking adjustment is simple and accurate
The upper and lower guides are awesome
It has plenty of power. I was able to resaw some 7” wide 22” long hard maple scraps into 1/8” strips fairly easily and cleanly without any bogging down or other complaints from the saw (with a 5/8” olson all pro resaw blade)
My wife has cut several cutting boards into different shapes with a good degree of accuracy and no complaining from the saw
Dust collection is decent, but not great.

that’s a few hundred less than comparable saws. This is essentially the Rikon 10-320 with an open stand and no fence. I did install the Rikon fence and it bolted right up without any issues.

-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/KandJWoodCrafts