How much should I pay?

So they guy is willing to sell the saw and timbers for 400. I figure the lumber is worth 50-100 so I would basically be paying 350 for the saw. What do you guys think? It that a decent price? If I were buying a new saw I would probably buy a 1+hp at least and I will have to pick up a fence for this one.

-- Jeremy Morgan, CO Front Range, http://lifeonwallst.blogspot.com/

I think your offer was/is more than fair. -Jack

In my area the band saw would sell somewhere from $200-$300.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

I just found another, newer Jet for sale locally. It is the 1HP version and the guy has installed all the Carter goodies, Kreg Fence and a mobile base. He is asking 675. That sounds like it might be a better deal unless the old Blue saws were any better than the newer ones.

-- Jeremy Morgan, CO Front Range, http://lifeonwallst.blogspot.com/

Jeremy, I saw that “tricked out” bandsaw on craigslist too. It looks like a good deal… all those accessories are top notch and cost a lot on their own. I just installed the same fence on my bandsaw and it’s quite nice.

http://boulder.craigslist.org/tls/3650185390.html

It does seem like a pretty good deal, but for just a few hundred more I could pick up one of the Rikon or Jet Deluxe saws with more re-saw capacity and they both come with most of the features of this upgraded saw standard. If I were to add a riser block to that CL saw I would be getting pretty close to the prices of the new ones.

Too many choices. All of these saws seem to be about the same size. My big dilema is wether or not I want to spend the extra money for saw that will be more suited for re-sawing, should I find myself doing much of that.

-- Jeremy Morgan, CO Front Range, http://lifeonwallst.blogspot.com/

Resawing wood wider than 6” is not fun. The setups are
finicky, the stock usually cups and the wider you go
the physical demands of feeding the work become
more pronounced. The wider the board, the higher
the chance a less-than-new 1/2” blade will bow in the
cut. Once an internal bow in the cut gets started it
will follow through to the end.

Last night I was checking out the Grizzly site and saw that they have their G0555lx on sale. it looks like a comparable machine to the 14” Jet, but comes with most of the “upgrades” standard. I could buy the Grizzly with a mobile base and a riser block for the same price as the used Jet. This makes the decision harder. The Grizzly seems to have excellent reviews and I would at least have the one year warranty…..

-- Jeremy Morgan, CO Front Range, http://lifeonwallst.blogspot.com/

I could buy the Grizzly with a mobile base and a riser block for the same price as the used Jet. This makes the decision harder.

you’re kidding, right?

-- there's a solution to every problem.......you just have to be willing to find it.

Kind of, the reviews for the new 555lx are as good or better than those for the jet. What about the jet saws makes them that much better?

-- Jeremy Morgan, CO Front Range, http://lifeonwallst.blogspot.com/

Do you have any specific reasons why the used Jet would be better than the new Griz? It looks like the Griz saw has a fence that is as good or better than the Kreg one that gets mixed reviews. Aside from a handful of people who have had bad experiences with both saws the reviews are pretty favorable.

-- Jeremy Morgan, CO Front Range, http://lifeonwallst.blogspot.com/

What about the jet saws makes them that much better?

absolutely nothing. buying a new one is what economists refer to as emotional, rather than rational, decisions.

25 or 35 years ago, jet was a well respected tool manufacturer based, i believe, in the usa. as a brand of the walter meier tool group, they are, IMHO, currently just another chiwanese tool that attempts to dupe unsuspecting tool snobs into paying extra for tools that are shadows of their former selves. in comparative tool tests in the likes of wood magazine for 14” band saws, jet hasn’t been rated as a top tool or a top value. what would the reason be for paying several hundred dollars more for a jet 14” BS when there are band saws from another tool sellers that cost less and deliver as good or better performance or equipment?

-- there's a solution to every problem.......you just have to be willing to find it.

Are you suggesting that you would recommend buying the cheaper grizzly? or are you saying that I should be trying to buy a 30yo band saw, the only old ones I see on craigslist around here are way to big to fit in my shop and run on 220.

-- Jeremy Morgan, CO Front Range, http://lifeonwallst.blogspot.com/

Are you suggesting that you would recommend buying the cheaper grizzly?

absolutely yes. the 555lx with a woodriver mobile base ( http://www.woodcraft.com/product/2080750/33126/woodriver-universal-mobile-base-hardware-kit.aspx ~$50 on sale) =~$575 delivered. now take the saved $100 vs that jet and get a couple of good blades from iturra design and you’re ready to start making sawdust. and you have a new tool and a warranty.

-- there's a solution to every problem.......you just have to be willing to find it.

Toolie, thanks for the pointer to the Woodriver mobile base. Those look pretty beefy. I went and checked out the JET saw after work today and was generally impressed with the way it ran and cut. A few observations that are making me lean toward your suggestion of going with the cheaper Griz.

1. the Jet saw has cast AL wheels, not sure how much this really matters but given that I am picking at little details for a decision this is definitely a plus for the Griz.
2.The Blade guide adjustment was a bit sticky, a little lube would probably help but the rack/pinion setup on the griz looks pretty slick, another point to the Griz.
3. The guy selling the jet saw has it set up and the thing cuts very nicely, not having to go through the setup is appealing, though it is probably a good way to learn the saw, I’ll give this point to the Jet.
4. I wasn’t really wow’d by the Kreg fence, the main thing was the lack of rear support so it didn’t move smoothly side to side. Probably not a big deal in real use. The micro-adjuster is an interesting addition and I like the T-slots. The ability to mount the fence on edge for thin rips is also nice. From the video that LJ Drew posted reviewing the Griz it looks like the fence on that saw works pretty smoothly. The Kreg fence has the taller re-saw guide with it, not sure how much people like those versus just re-sawing off the fence. I’ll call this one a draw.
5. The HTC mobile base that the JET saw is on is one of the custom sized units with three wheels and a pair of floor locks. Really slick unit, though I wasn’t crazy about the plastic levers on the floor locks. If I buy the Griz I will probably go with the Woodriver base but the HTC is nice. Another tie?
6. The Carter guides on the jet saw have double bearings which would provide additional support for wide blades, not sure how well these saws would handle a 3/4” blade.
7. The Carter Tension mechanism installed on the Jet is pretty smooth. It is nice that it is accessible from the front
8. I called both JET and Grizzly tech support today with a few questions, mostly regarding the ability to install block style blade guides for use with narrower blades if needed. Both were friendly and helpful, but the Grizzly tech support guy was much more knowledgable.
9. Re-sale value, it seems that if I were to decide to upgrade in the future I could likely get more for the JET saw?

I would probably just buy something like the 10-325 Rikon now if I had the space and better electrical for the shop. Running a 1.5 hp saw and shop vac for dust collection..as well as lighting off a single 15a circuit will probably leave me in the dark more than I’d care for. In the 1HP class saws the Grizzly seems to be a great deal compared to the stock JET. With the upgrades this one is pretty atractive. I do like the idea of being able to go pick up a fully functional saw and take it home instead of having to deal with a freight shipment and assembling/tuning up a saw from scratch, but on the other hand a warranty, even for just a year, is a good thing.

My apologies for a long rambling post. Thanks for the input guys.

-- Jeremy Morgan, CO Front Range, http://lifeonwallst.blogspot.com/