cherokee6 Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 I'm looking into a band saw and had made up my mind to get the Grizzly 14" Extreme series with a riser block. Woodworker's Warehouse has the Steel City band saw with basically the same specs and features but with the granite top on sale for $100 dollars less. On the plus side the Steel City also has built in wheels for mobiity but the fence is extra for about $130. The fence (a nice one!) is included with the Grizzly. (I have an extra mobile base for it also.) Of course there is always the worry of chipping granite as it will be in the garage and exposed to family living. (I can see it now: who cracked the table on my saw?! - reply: I dunno!) I also don't have any realistic reviews of it, where the Grizzly is a proven machine, reliable, with very good reviews. I don't even know if Steel City is a subsidiary of some other company, a flash in the pan the may not be around in a year, or whatnot. Also, none of their brochures show the inside of the saw. (I just found out that Rikon and Jet are made through Wilton). Any suggestions out there? Thanks for any input! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddW Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Steel city is fairly new, only been around for a few years, but they're probably made in some of the same factories as the Grizzly saws. They don't add a lot of fluff features, but they do seem to beef up the parts they could possibly break, like the tensioning springs and assembly. I have their 16" and love it. But I'd love the Grizzly too if I'd bought that. Woodworker's warehouse is only 20 minutes away from me, so that 5 year warranty was also a nice touch. However, given todays economy, I can understand being worried about new companies failing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherokee6 Posted March 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 Thanks for the reply. In looking at the Steel City again, the shipping is $50 higher and the fence and riser bock run another $230. That's not including the deluxe model with the granite top, which is what I'd be interested in. So, with that, I'll probably stay with the Grizzly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 FWIW i have the Grizzly G0513X2 17" Band saw and i love it, the only problem is i cant resaw "body blanks" Grizzly makes quality tools, ive only have one bad experience with a $99 sander and they promptly replaced it. so my vote would be get Grizzly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherokee6 Posted March 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 How come you have problems resawing body blanks? I do know you should chuck the Grizzly blades and get an Oldham or Timber Wolf, but you have the space and the power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 nah, i am missing about 1.5 inches of clearance and i use timberwolf i believe the blades are great and the saw has plenty of power if i knew more about modding the saw im sure i could get the clearence i needed hahah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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