Reply by Andybb

I had just bought a HF 14” saw on their 25% off sale for $277, so not a huge price gap, especially if the Rockwell needs a lot of work. I know most people have a knewwjerk reaction against HF products, but I ve read tons of reviews that their band saws are just re-badged Delta s, which are also Rockwells I think.

My plan was to buy a 14” cheap to have something usable now and make improvements down the line with a bigger motor, add a fence, riser, roller guides, etc.

- AM420

Sounds like a good plan in theory, but go easy on the upgrades to a cheap saw. Adding fences and risers and guides (oh my!) puts you in the price range of a much better used 14” saw. In my recent experience a new 14” HF saw is probably on par with that Rockwell. But for $5-600 you can find a nice used saw with a riser block, fence, guides etc., so I’d pass on the Rockwell if you have a new HF saw. No matter what I did to my HF saw it was still a night and day difference to the Laguna I bought. Band saws are a finicky animal because they have so many inter-related moving parts. JMHO

-- Andy - Seattle USA