# Band Saw riser block, is it worth the extra money?



## MLK (Dec 19, 2007)

Today I ordered my 14" Jet Band Saw from Woodcraft great deal 10% off, $50 rebate from Jet, and some freebees. I didn't order the riser block because I don't know how use I wood have for it so I thought I would put the question to all of you. Is the riser block worth the extra money?


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## JoeLyddon (Apr 22, 2007)

If you want to resaw alot of cuts more than your current LIMIT, 
YES… it's worth every penny of it.

Typically, you go from about a 6" Limit to 12" Limit…

How many times have you wished you could make that wider cut?
How have you gotten by without it?

If you could do it in ONE cut, would it be worth it to you?

I liked mine… but haven't used it as much as I thought I would… Not sorry about it.


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## rikkor (Oct 17, 2007)

I got it, and I am not a bit sorry. It is nice to have the capacity to slice 8" stock. If you are never going to have to do that then it probably isn't worth it.


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

I tend to operate with the philosophy of "it is better to have it and not need it as opposed to needing it and not having it". I put one on my saw that I got three months ago and, while, I have yet to do any resawing it is there if I need it.

You have a nice bandsaw. Adding this to it will add a little more versatility to the saw. But Rikkor is right. Its only purpose is to increase your sawing height from 6 to 12 inches and if you don't ever plan on doing this you probably don't need it.


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## douglas2cats (Mar 31, 2008)

IMHO it's not worth it. My Ex-bandsaw was a 14" Jet with riser. It just doesn't have the HP or frame stiffness for enough blade tension to resaw anything *well* over the 6" non-riser height. If you're willing to work around less than straight vertical cuts on taller stuff and lose a fair amount of wood to planing afterwards, then maybe OK.


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## MLK (Dec 19, 2007)

Thanks for the replays; since this is my first Ban Saw I'm not sure how much I would use it for resawing boards wider then 6". What Scott says makes a lot of senses "it is better to have it and not need it as opposed to needing it and not having it". Doug also brought up a good point about the saw having enough power to do the job. The standard Jet 14" Band Saw comes with a 1 HPM, For a few dollars more I ordered the deluxe model that comes with 1 ¼ HPM, will the extra ¼ HP makes a lot of difference when it comes to resawing a 12" wide board?


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## rikkor (Oct 17, 2007)

Feed it slowly, the extra 1/4 HP will help.


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## GaryK (Jun 25, 2007)

The first thing you will want to do is to get rid of the cheap blade that comes with your saw unless you plan
on getting the riser soon. Why buy blades when you will be changing them anyway.

I have risers in both my bandsaws and I don't regret it a bit.
Use a nice sharp blade like the Woodslicer from Highland hardware and 1 1/4 HP will be all that you need to
cut basically anything.


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## ChicoWoodnut (Dec 15, 2007)

If I were you I would get it. I have to dissagree with Doug S, I have a JWBS-14CS 1hp saw and I re-saw up to 10" wide boards on it. I have re-sawn White Oak, Hard Maple and Mahogany. You need a sharp blade and it needs to be tuned up but long as you aren't doing 200 foot runs it works great (at least for me)

I don't know what I would do without it as I do re-sawing for most every project I do.


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## WoodRivWW (Mar 29, 2008)

If you plan to do much frame and panel stuff, you'll want the riser to resaw boards for the panels. I do a lot of resawing on my Rigid BS1400. I wish I had a bigger, more powerful saw, but I've gotten by so far. I've been resawing some pretty wide red oak and that stuff is really hard!


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## Blake (Oct 17, 2007)

Mike: Yup.


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## Dorje (Jun 17, 2007)

It's a must have in my opinion.

Re: saw power. My first band saw was an old Delta 14" with a riser and only a 1/2hp motor. With the right blade, it could resaw anything under 12"... The more power the better, but a relatively slow feed rate can do wonders too…


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## motthunter (Dec 31, 2007)

it is not just nice to have, it is required for me. I dont know why they don't sell the saw already with one.


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## Critterman (Dec 20, 2007)

Mike, sorry I didn't see this till today. I have a Jet 14" and installed the riser….worth every penny and more. It really expands what you can do, and if you do or plan to do resawing it's a must. Buy it, you'll not regret it.


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## wmodavis (Aug 28, 2007)

Yup! Worth every penny!


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## Gofor (Jan 12, 2008)

Buy the riser kit. If you never install it, it will increase the value of the saw when you resell it, as well as few things are going down in price, and woodworking tools/accessories definitely are not among the few that are. If you want you may want to wait long enough to catch a 10% off sale if its not on sale now.
Well, if you continue woodworking you will ultimately find the need to resaw more than 6". If you don't use the bandsaw much, you may keep it a long time but will need the resaw eventially. If you do use it a lot you will eventually want a bigger or more convenient one. Either way you'll need it or will get more for resale.

You don't think you will resell it?

If you don't continue woodworking, or go into an aspect where you never need the bandsaw, you will resell it for extra $$ for whatever your passion at that time is.

As far as installing it, I would play with the saw a bit first, get familiar with it and how to adjust and fine tune it. Also fully check out the saw to make sure a return/exchange is not necessary (it happens occasionally even with the best brands). After you have fully checked it out, know what "coplaner" and "drift" means, and have found how to properly tension the blade, know that the tires are good and tight, then consider installing it. With the added knowledge, you will be able to set the riser up right the first time, and you will also be able to spot any changes made due to the installation, which may eliminate a lot of time troubleshooting any problems that develop. Also by that time, you will have a better idea of what width/tooth count blades you will need most, so will spend less on the longer blades. The caveat to this is that if you are going to go with the better quality and more expensive blades, installing it earlier than later will reduce wasting money on the shorter blades.

JMHO

Go


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## sloupe (Apr 13, 2008)

OK, Now I remember one of the main reasons I was looking for a forum like LJ. I was hoping someone could give me an idea of what might be wrong with my 14" bandsaw. So, sorry if this is long but I want to make sure I include all variable:

I have only had it since January but used it enough to know I should have bought one years ago, and have already gotten to the point that I needed a riser (and I thought that would take me a year).

1. Before the riser, it was working fine (as far as I could tell, being a novice with it).
2. I had bent a blade and figured that out. Went to buy a new blade and the usual guy that makes up the blades and has 30+ years of experience is in the hospital.
3. New blade by new guy was too short plus the join seemed very bumpy.
4. Instead of having the shop replace it, I bought the 6" riser and new guy made up blades for that. 
I got the saw all set up, did several pieces of re-saw of hard and of softwood plus some other cross cuts and shapes. At some point, I began to perceive a kind of pull back up on the work piece. Hard to explain, but a roughness in the running as if the blade was pulling up on the piece or like the piece was bouncing. I readjusted bearings several times, tried tension decrease and then increase (more than instructions called for). I took a file to the backside etc. The back of the join seems flush but there is a bit of bumpiness on the sides. I was suspicious of the join because of the "chunk-chunk" noise while running. So, I switched from a 5/8ths to a ¼". It seemed better but then not, which may have been due to different types of wood but I am not sure. Sometimes it does it and sometimes it doesn't.

I would assume it was the riser, except; the blades are also by a new person who has not been as reliable. My only way of differentiating would be to take the riser off, put on one of the old blades that were not a problem and see if it goes back to running better.

Putting that riser on took me all day and required I rig up a pulley system to lift it. Now that it is seated on the pegs I am not even sure I could get the riser back off without rigging a come-a-long on the rafters (which I would not trust for that kind of operation).

Any suggestions as to what the problem and solution might be?
Is it possible the throat (neck?) is actually bouncing up and down? I'm hoping you will tell me it is the blade . . .

Thanks
SM


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## MLK (Dec 19, 2007)

Everyone convinced me I should spend the extra $75 and get the riser block so I called woodcraft and add the riser block to my order, thanks again.

SM, This will be my first band saw so what I'm about to suggest comes from a book I bought called "The New Complete Guide to The Band Saw" the problem you describe started after you add the riser block. The book says that when adding a riser block it is possible to introduce a misalignment between the top and bottom wheels that could cause this type of problem you might want to check this. If If there is a misalignment it can be corretted by adding shims to the riser block.good luck.


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## sloupe (Apr 13, 2008)

Mike, 
Thank you. I will check out the book. (I like your hall table too!)
SM


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## lighthearted (Apr 30, 2009)

Thanks for all the advise above.
I am sitting here waiting for my 14" powermatic to be delivered! It came with a free riser block from Woodcraft.
After reading Gofor's wise advise I am going to wait and put the riser block on after I get a feel for my new saw.
-Chris


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## Hrolfr (May 12, 2008)

SM just throwing this out there but…. are the teeth on the blade pointing down???

The only way I can think of for the blade to lift a work piece is for the blade to be on upside down.


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## Gofor (Jan 12, 2008)

Also, yes, a crooked or bumpy weld can definitely cause the work to bounce. If the weld is bent or bumped up so that it is outside the kerf of the teeth, then it is bigger than the slot it is trying to run through. Kind of like trying to pull a knot through a hole that isn't quite big enough. It will deflect the wood down and then it springs back up.

I think I would be looking for another place to buy blades, unless they offered to make it right by giving you good replacements. There should be no bumps on the weld and it should be straight, both on the sides as well as along the back edge.

One thing that may help is making sure your top guides are as low as possible to the woods top surface.

Go


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

I have a riser block on my HF 14" band saw, and it was worth every penny. While not every time I use it, but more than 50% of my use of the band saw has been for resawing between 7" and 10" stock. I couldn't do that without the riser block…


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