mattharris75 Posted January 28, 2009 Report Posted January 28, 2009 I'm close to pulling the trigger on a bandsaw for my shop, I've been using my father-in-laws to this point. Here's the saw I'm looking at: Craftsman 12" bandsaw It has a good price, $320 after rebate, and is fairly compact, which is a big consideration for me since I am very limited on space. It has 7" resaw capacity, which is larger than most 14" saws without a riser block, and should be large enough to resaw tops and whatnot. The combination of price and features seems pretty good, not to mention the fact that I can pick it up rather than ordering it, and avoid freight charges. I went and fiddled with it a few weeks ago, and the quality seemed quite solid. The reviews seem pretty good too. It looks to be a good piece of equipment for its price range. Has anyone here had experience with this particular saw? Quote
Woodenspoke Posted January 28, 2009 Report Posted January 28, 2009 My first saw was a craftsman 12" and it worked. I cant say it was great but it did the job. Now that was several versions ago and this saw is different. The only downside is if you want better blades then you will have to spend more effort. You will have to do a special order with a local or online company. Most of the sears brand blades are not worth the money (also over priced) and a better blade will make the machine cut better. Sears blade discussion Quote
mattharris75 Posted January 28, 2009 Author Report Posted January 28, 2009 I'm not averse to ordering blades online. It seems you can find nearly anything online if you know where to look. I don't know if I've ever heard of a company that supplied a good blade from the factory. Thanks for the link to the blade discussion! That certainly simplifies things. Quote
Rick500 Posted January 28, 2009 Report Posted January 28, 2009 (edited) I looked into it a little. It's apparently made by Rikon for Sears. I haven't seen it up close, but from what I've read, it's one of the better tools you'll find at Sears. Having said that, if at all possible, get at least a 14" band saw. I have a Jet 12" band saw, and I love it, but that extra capacity would make it so much more useful. I'm going to eventually have to replace it with a larger one. Edited January 28, 2009 by Rick500 Quote
mattharris75 Posted January 28, 2009 Author Report Posted January 28, 2009 I see what you're saying with regards to size, Rick. However, this saw has a 7" resaw capacity. I have no doubt I will eventually need another saw, but until I get into serious resawing of large stock, I think this size will do fine. And I imagine that, at the rate I work, that is quite a long way into the future. Buying a slightly smaller saw now seems to fit my current and near-future needs, as well as my budget. Quote
Rick500 Posted January 28, 2009 Report Posted January 28, 2009 Yeah, I understand; I did the same thing, and I wouldn't have had a band saw at all if I hadn't bought the cheaper one. Just wanted to make the suggestion in case you could afford it, or soon could. Quote
guitar_player Posted January 28, 2009 Report Posted January 28, 2009 I've heard that the 14" is decent. The biggest problem seems to be getting the table sqaure to the blade so you wouldn't want to be doing angled cuts often but who does anyways. If I upgrade to a saw with resawing capabilities it would be the 14'' version. Quote
jer7440 Posted January 30, 2009 Report Posted January 30, 2009 I have the 14" version of this saw...and I love it! I would compare the specs of the two saws and if the 12 is similar to the 14 I would say it should work great. Quote
foil1more Posted January 30, 2009 Report Posted January 30, 2009 I use an older craftsman bandsaw 14" and love it. I would definitely recommend the 14" if you can get it. A good bandsaw can be a very versatile saw. And it's better than a jigsaw IMO. Quote
ToddW Posted January 30, 2009 Report Posted January 30, 2009 http://bham.craigslist.org/tls/999907500.html ? ? I find my bandsaw so useful, I'd hold off for one one CL. You can often talk someone down on price too. Best, Todd Quote
Vinny Posted February 1, 2009 Report Posted February 1, 2009 Todd beat me to it, I'd definitly shop the Craigslist Tool section, there was a 14'' grizzley listed that I wish I had the room for. Was a third $ of the cost when new. -Vinny Quote
mdw3332 Posted February 2, 2009 Report Posted February 2, 2009 CL can be a great idea - I found a 14" one, brand new, in the box, for $275 on CL. Before that I had the old 12" that I absolutely loved. There wasn't a thing wrong with it, I just couldn't pass up the bigger one at that price. The only downside I have found is that it is more difficult to change blades. Maybe I just need to get used to it. Re-sawing with a 1/2" blade has worked very well. Quote
avengers63 Posted February 2, 2009 Report Posted February 2, 2009 I'm close to pulling the trigger on a bandsaw for my shop, I've been using my father-in-laws to this point. Here's the saw I'm looking at: Craftsman 12" bandsaw It has a good price, $320 after rebate, and is fairly compact, which is a big consideration for me since I am very limited on space. It has 7" resaw capacity, which is larger than most 14" saws without a riser block, and should be large enough to resaw tops and whatnot. The combination of price and features seems pretty good, not to mention the fact that I can pick it up rather than ordering it, and avoid freight charges. I went and fiddled with it a few weeks ago, and the quality seemed quite solid. The reviews seem pretty good too. It looks to be a good piece of equipment for its price range. Has anyone here had experience with this particular saw? I saw this saw Friday. I've been debating for a while about getting another bandsaw purely for resawing, but I couldn't justify the price of the whole thing after the riser blocks were put on and it was shipped to me. But this one, with this price, and a stock 7" resaw capacity... it's really making me think. PLEASE... if you get it, let us know how it performs when splitting some 7" stock. Quote
mattharris75 Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Posted February 2, 2009 I purchased it on saturday. I have assembled it, and it's a very high quality of construction for the price. I still have to calibrate everything and will be buying a new blade. The widest stock I have on hand is 5.5" currently, but I'll let you know how it performs after I get it rolling. Quote
avengers63 Posted February 11, 2009 Report Posted February 11, 2009 Cut up anything thick yet? I read a bunch of the reviews on Sears' website. There's something like 50 of them, so I got a pretty good feel for what folks thought of it. I'm right on the lip of getting it, but I wanted another 1st-hand testimony before I took the plunge. Quote
mattharris75 Posted February 11, 2009 Author Report Posted February 11, 2009 Not yet, I'm waiting on the new rip fence to come in. The original was damaged when it arrived. Once I get it, I'll put it on and finish calibrating everything and give it a go. Quote
avengers63 Posted February 11, 2009 Report Posted February 11, 2009 From all of the reviews I read, the fine-tuning takes a couple of hours. Supposedly, the bearings are dissicult & quirky, the table has a 3-way adjustment that takes forever to get right, the bearings themselves are crap, and the factory blade is crap. Overall, the reviews were pretty favorable. The main complaint ofter it was all set up is that Sears didn't carry blades for it and that the miter gague wasn't included. Personally, I'm only interested in how well it resaws 6"-7" stock, and how straight the cut is. The motor looks a bit underpowered, but the lower speed setting is supposed to add torque to compensate. Quote
mattharris75 Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Posted February 18, 2009 I think all factory blades are most likely crap. Sears screwed up and sent me the fence carrier instead of the fence, so after getting the run around they are finally sending me the correct piece. It may be another week or so before I get it. I'll post results after that. Quote
avengers63 Posted March 21, 2009 Report Posted March 21, 2009 So.... what's the word on this thing? Quote
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