My dream table saw and bandsaw... opinions?

I just realized the picture isn’t showing as big on here as I’d like. You can see it on this page: http://www.facebook.com/SawDustKing?ref=hl#!/SawDustKing

It’s the G0555LX Bandsaw with riser kit and G0715P 10” Table Saw with riving knife, polar bear series and with shipping and everything is priced around $1500.

-- Woodworking for the hobbyist woodworker. http://sawdustking.com

From what ive read that table saw model has had a few issues with the blade not getting out of whack as you raise and lower it. There’s a lot of honest reviews on that saw around here. Im not trying to persuade yu one way or another but i have heard of some hiccups with that table saw.

-- "there aren’t many hand tools as awe-inspiring as the #8 jointer. I mean, it just reeks of cast iron heft and hubris" - Smitty

The 555 and the 715 are both fairly proven tools. Especially the 555. I don’t know about with the riser, my buddy has one without, and he loves it but regrets not being able to resaw above 5.5 inches.

On the Hybrid 715 saw, I looked at that, and to be honest, for what I do, could not justify the extra $400 between that and a Rigid R4512. But that’s just me.

On the other hand, I just jumped up to the Grizzly G0513X2BF, since I wanted to finally do big boy resawing, and it fills the bill wonderfully with the huge table, 2HP, and magnetic brake for $1200.
If you got off the 715 bandwagon, and went for a Rigid R4512, you save $400 that you could put towards a much larger bandsaw, and not have to think about the riser block. Just a thought, but what you have there is plenty good!

-- Paul, Tennessee, http://www.tsunamiguitars.com

By the way, if you can find one at your local HD, you get the 10% as all us ex and active military do, which pulls the Rigid R4512 down to $450. That’s a real deal…

-- Paul, Tennessee, http://www.tsunamiguitars.com

I would not trade my Delta Unisaw with a Bessemeyer fence for anything. I got it used for about what you are looking at. They come up on craigslist from time to time in our area too. I know NEW is nice, but older tools , well what can I say….....

-- A childs smile is payment enough.

Good machinery is nice to have…. but fine wood
to built things from is heavenly.

I don’t know what you want to make, but you
know some fine hardwoods and a vacuum press
can really open up your imagination in ways more
capable cabinet making machinery won’t.

Juts food for thought… I spend way too much time
fussing with nice machinery and too little doing
actual exquisite woodworking. That’s because
I’m in a kind of feedback loop of justifying electrical
tools on the basis of how much time they will
save on production-style cabinet work.

I hope that makes sense. A nice bandsaw is a
more pleasurable and inspiring tool to use than
a good cabinet saw, imo.

I have that tablesaw and have been very happy with it but others have had problems as posted above so you’re on your own with the TS. I would urge you to look at the 17” Grizz bandsaw (extreme series). It has a lot more features than the 14” saws and has 12” resaw capacity without need for a riser block. Compare prices between the 14 and 17” and there is little difference after you add the resaw fence, riser block, etc to the 14” model. I have run a lot of wood/logs through my 17” Extreme Grizz and it has performed well. The last suggestion would be to buy good blades for whichever BS you choose as that makes a BIG difference. Best wishes.

-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm

After reading the reviews for the Ridgid 4512 after Tennessee’s suggestion that might be the way to go.. A lot cheaper and sounds like it’s everything I need and more. That way I can spend a little extra on the bandsaw. Thanks for all the comments all. I am weighing all my options heavenily. Thanks again.

-- Woodworking for the hobbyist woodworker. http://sawdustking.com

I’m not sure about the bandsaw (my personal choice would be the G0555X) but I’d skip the 715 and go for something with cabinet mounted trunions. Steel city makes true cabinet saws with 110 volt motors. That’s the direction I’d be going.

-- He who dies with the most tools... dies with the emptiest wallet.

Spend a bit more and get a sliding panel saw. Anything less is only half a saw. After using them for 40 years in commercial shops you get spoiled.

-- Few folks really know how to maximize the potential of their tools!

The alignment issues that plagued the early G0715P models also plagued the early R4512 and Craftsman 21833’s….ironically, all came out at around the same time and have very similar guts. Those issues have supposedly all been dealt with….FWIW, Griz did seem to take action first, so I’d think those worries are over.

What you get for the extra $400 on the G0715P are two solid cast iron wings, a significantly better steel t-square fence, a full enclosure with better DC, and more mass. There’s little argument that those are all desirable features….whether or not they’re worth a $400 premium is for you to decide. I think they would be for more….adding a better fence and solid wings at a later time would likely cost at least that, and would be harder to do. Either way, once aligned and fitted with a good blade, either of those saws should serve you well.

I’d at least give some consideration to one of the Steel City hybrids that NiteWalker mentioned. The Craftsman 22116 is made by them, and goes on sale in the $850 range. It has a granite top, cabinet mounted trunnnions, full enclosure, steel t-square Biese clone fence, and is very heavy and stable.

If you’ve got 220v, I’d even give serious consideration to the Griz G1023RL 3hp cabinet saw….it’s far more substantial than any hybrid or contractor saw. The saw alone would blow most of your budget, but you’d have a heck of a saw that should last a lifetime or 3.

Let us know how you make out.

-- Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....

Rick L – a bit more? He’s looking at an 800$ table saw and you are recommending a 5 thousand dollar table saw. That’s not what I would call “a bit more”.

I think a panel saw is overkill and unnecessary for most hobbiests. Unless you spend all day breaking down sheet goods, I don’t see the value in a 500% price increase for the most basic sliding panel saw

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

I have a panel saw… I love it to bits… I would also never toss my table saw because of it. I would probably never have gotten it but it was a surplus find at $400, you can’t go wrong.

I came in here to say: I have that bandsaw and it is the greatest thing. You’ll love it.

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

http://www.grizzly.com/products/10-Sliding-Table-Saw-with-Scoring-Blade-Arbor/G0700
http://www.factorynew.com/detail.aspx?recnum=PS-300686
http://benchmark.20m.com/reviews/RyobiBt3100/RyobiBt3100Review.html
http://www.woodworkingtoolsetc.com/table-saw-reviews.html
http://benchmark.20m.com/articles/SurveyOfSlidingTables/surveyofslidingtables.html

You need to do more studying of what’s out there. You can get a slider for a lot less than $5000. I’ve seen lots of nice used sliders for as little as a $1000. Considering it replaces a radial arm saw and a miter saw it’s certainly affordable and the slider may take a bit more space than a table saw it certainly takes less space than a table saw, miter saw and radial arm saw. And many will take a dado blade so that argument falls flat. You can add a slider asa well and you can still use a mobile base if you choose wisely.

-- Few folks really know how to maximize the potential of their tools!

Is it just me, or has no one asked or has SawDustKing not said what he plans on doing with his new tools? I may have overlooked it and, excuse the rest of this post if I have, but I don’t see it.

I mean, it’s nice to throw around all these suggestions, but without a stated intent of use or project plans, it’s all just throwing ideas into the wind.

Do you need a big cabinet saw if you just want to build small keepsake boxes and picture frames? What about small tables or clocks? Is an 17-19” bandsaw needed to build intricate cuckoo clocks?

Sorry if I’m a little out of line, but some us are just saying things that we’d personally want in our own shops. I find it a little irresponsible of us to make suggestions about spending some serious money for a hobbyist woodworker on the assumption of things he may or may not need.

How about we get a better idea of what you plan on doing SawDustKing?

-- "Well, at least we can still use it as firewood... maybe." - Doss