Best Bandsaw for the buck

I can only tell you what I just went through, I am a fairly new woodworker but just purchased mine. I had a budget and was hoping sub $ 1000. Two of the most popular ones for those who want to keep it reasonable seem to be between the rikon 10-326 and the laguna 1412. The luguna has ceramic guides and the rikon has bearings. It is a 50/50 split between opinions on them. The consensus is at least 1.5 hp and at least a 14” saw. I bought the rikon 10-324TG (TG is very different than the plain 324). It has most of the 10-326’s refinements and was $850 at rockler. The 324TG does not have cast iron wheels which some say is very important and it has less HP at 1.5, the 1412 and 326 are 1.75hp and both have cast iron wheels. The laguna 1412 without shipping or taxes is $1079. The 10-326 is all over the place but basically $1200 before shipping and taxes. There is a Grizzly G0513 – 17” 2 HP at $995 but my search didnt show a lot of opinions for or against grizzly. You will have to research ceramic vs bearings and form an opinion of your own.

Wheel kits are shown but sold seperately, the 324TG needs an additional $29 plate for + wheel kit not supplied.

at woodcraft the blade choices for 111” (rikon) is 35, for (laguuna) 115” has 68 choices of blades and the price difference is minimal. Some have said their laguna 1412 came without a blade.

So make sure you consider
bandsaw+blade+shipping+taxes+wheel kit if desired.

If your budget is larger, then this will be of no help.

P.S. many people keep their smaller bandsaws for scroll work so they don’t have to change blades .

Hope my very limited experience helps.

Couple of other things, steel vs cast iron spine, steel seems to be preferred and adding risers seems to be a bad idea. cast iron table is also good.

Quick release tension handle on blade makes blade changes and loosening the blade at the end of the day much easier.

Warranty is important also, I think grizzly is 1 year, rikon is 5, laguna is 2 years.

I just went through the bandsaw search myself a couple of months ago. I had all the usual questions – 14” vs 17”, foot brake or not, cast iron wheels vs aluminum, 110 vs 220, etc. After weeks of over-analysis and dithering I stretched my budget and chose a Grizzly G0513X2BF. And I’ve been nothing but happy with it in the short time that I’ve had it.

Big cast iron trunnion, dual dust collection ports, a nice solid rail and fence system, tension release arm. It’s solid and nice. Comes with a pretty lousy blade though. And you have to put together your own powercord, but that’s trivial. It’s a lot of saw for your dollars.

Good luck in your search!

-- DaveS, Montana

Since I could spend the $, I went with the laguna 14SUV because of the larger motor and larger resaw. 125” blade. I don’t have a wheel kit because I bolted it to the floor. The dust collection has two 4” ports and works well with my 2hp dc. The SUV is listed at the end of the laguna site, after the large saws.

Get into the larger saws and the wheels tend to be wider, allowing you to run wider blades. That’s one argument for skipping the cast iron 14” saws for a steel frame saw.

My experience is almost identical to this one. I have the Craftsman version of the Rikon 10” (keeping it for reasons stated).

Bought the 324TG also. Haven’t used it a whole lot yet, but happy with build quality and it’s worked well so far.

Edit: Wanted to add that the upper door was damaged when I opened the box. Called Rikon and I had a new on within 2-3 days.

I can only tell you what I just went through, I am a fairly new woodworker but just purchased mine. I had a budget and was hoping sub $ 1000. Two of the most popular ones for those who want to keep it reasonable seem to be between the rikon 10-326 and the laguna 1412. The luguna has ceramic guides and the rikon has bearings. It is a 50/50 split between opinions on them. The consensus is at least 1.5 hp and at least a 14” saw. I bought the rikon 10-324TG (TG is very different than the plain 324). It has most of the 10-326 s refinements and was $850 at rockler. The 324TG does not have cast iron wheels which some say is very important and it has less HP at 1.5, the 1412 and 326 are 1.75hp and both have cast iron wheels. The laguna 1412 without shipping or taxes is $1079. The 10-326 is all over the place but basically $1200 before shipping and taxes. There is a Grizzly G0513 – 17” 2 HP at $995 but my search didnt show a lot of opinions for or against grizzly. You will have to research ceramic vs bearings and form an opinion of your own.

Wheel kits are shown but sold seperately, the 324TG needs an additional $29 plate for + wheel kit not supplied.

at woodcraft the blade choices for 111” (rikon) is 35, for (laguuna) 115” has 68 choices of blades and the price difference is minimal. Some have said their laguna 1412 came without a blade.

So make sure you consider
bandsaw+blade+shipping+taxes+wheel kit if desired.

If your budget is larger, then this will be of no help.

P.S. many people keep their smaller bandsaws for scroll work so they don t have to change blades .

Hope my very limited experience helps.

- OldBull

-- Joe | Spartanburg, SC | "To give anything less than your best is to sacrafice the gift." - Steve Prefontaine

I picked up the 14” at Harbor Freight a couple of years back. Got it on sale, so it was a lot cheaper than finding a used Delta 14”. It did need a fair amount of tweaking. The original tires are junk, so plan on getting a decent set of urethane ones if you go this route. I swapped the original blade for a Timber Wolf and ditto the blade guides to Olsen. I also changed the drive belts to link style, and added a brace to eliminate vibration. Changed out the tension knob for a crank, but haven’t added the blade tension relief as of yet. There is also no pre-drilled/tapped holes for mounting a fence. I may go with a Carter magnetic fence, or do some drilling/tapping for a Kreg. I added a Shop Fox mobile base to it, as everything in my basement shop needs to be mobile. Dust collection on this saw is pretty much non-existent, but will get addressed in the near future. I also don’t like the location of the on/off switch.

-- "In the end, it's all Hack..."

A few years ago I went with the Grizzly 17” saw (model with cast iron wheels) and have been nothing but pleased with its performance. It takes up to a 1” blade for re-sawing and has the power to drive the blade without slowing down. Changing blades is not hard but setting the lower blade guides is a little awkward. For the money it was the best I could find.

Grizzly 17” band saws all take a unique size blade, 131 1/2”, so you have to order them from Grizzly or have them made up. My local saw shop does that with no problem and no extra charge, but most saw blade sellers will also make them for you.

You will never regret having the larger saw capacity even if you don’t use it very often.

-- Les B, Oregon

A few years ago I went with the Grizzly 17” saw (model with cast iron wheels) and have been nothing but pleased with its performance. It takes up to a 1” blade for re-sawing and has the power to drive the blade without slowing down. Changing blades is not hard but setting the lower blade guides is a little awkward. For the money it was the best I could find.

Grizzly 17” band saws all take a unique size blade, 131 1/2”, so you have to order them from Grizzly or have them made up. My local saw shop does that with no problem and no extra charge, but most saw blade sellers will also make them for you.

You will never regret having the larger saw capacity even if you don t use it very often.

- LesB

I have a 17” “Canwood” bandsaw that I bought 12 years or more ago as a House of Tools brand. Pretty much identical to the 17” General International and the Grizzly from what I can see in the pictures. Pretty sure they came out of the same Taiwanese factory. I don’t have any issues with the lower guides so there are likely a few small differences. It’s been a great saw and hopefully will continue to be for a long time. Blade size is stated as 131 5/8” but 131 1/2” work fine.

-- Darrel

After reading about half this stuff and all the negative reviews of Grizzly saws showing up trashed by the shippers I went to Woodcraft and bought a 14BX. I couldn’t be happier. 2HP. 220V. 13” re-saw. Black Friday 10% off on the saw and 20% off on all the blades and other fun stuff.

-- Don't blame lazy people they didn't do anything