Bandsaw size

[ELXVintagefade]

I was wondering if a 9" bandsaw is sufficient enough to cut a guitar body because i found a decent craftsman on sale.

[Lex Luthier]

Yup, but I got tired of the small size of mine and got a 14".

[ELXVintagefade]

yeah i just didnt want to buy one that would be useless. im not building that many guitars thanks to to my big empty wallet

[westhemann]

it's what i use too but it pisses me off sometimes

[krazyderek]

around the horns you mean?

[rhoads56]

Id say go for anything larger than 14 inch, but the prices really seem to shoot up over that size. Ive lost access to the 29 inch 3hp band saw ive used to date, and i'm looking at getting a 19 or 21 inch model. Pretty expensive though, but will pay for itself reasonably quickly i guess. In the mean time, ive been paying $20 an hour to use the local wood school's bandsaw.

This is what i have my eye on HERE

[krazyderek]

so that 21" can resaw up to 1.18 feet tall? *impressive hick wisseling sound*

[daveq]

I have a 14" JET bandsaw that I use a lot. It's great for everything but resawing. For that, supposedly, you need the riser block but I haven't tried that yet. I'm just not sure the 1 HP is enough to do the resawing job.

So, if you've got a tight budget I'd think about a 14" bandsaw since it seems to be the minimum size that can do almost any guitar building task. Going above 14 would of course be even better but as Rhoads mentioned, the prices start to really jump around that size.

If you are like most of us, you'll be hooked on building these things and might end up being pissed that you spent the money on a smaller bandsaw. So if you can get by without one for a while and save up for at least a 14", that's what I would do.

My bandsaw is probably my most used tool (other than my router) so I think it's worth saving up for a good one if you can.

[Lex Luthier]

I have a 14" JET bandsaw that I use a lot. It's great for everything but resawing. For that, supposedly, you need the riser block but I haven't tried that yet. I'm just not sure the 1 HP is enough to do the resawing job.

I resawed figured maple on my 3/4HP Delta 14" with a home-made riser. It worked fine. It uses standard 98" blades.

[daveq]

Nice! Glad to hear that. Maybe I will look into that someday then.

(welcome back Lex - maybe?)

[Sweepdude]

This is great, i just built my first guitar and ive done the neck to my 2nd guitar already, im routing the body tomorrow, for now i concentrated to build ibanez pgm models, i bought a bandsaw and a hmmm dont know the english word for it but heres pics of the stuff i bought a few weeks ago, i payed $320 for it.

[krazyderek]

i bought a bandsaw and a hmmm dont know the english word for it

a jointer??

that's pretty cool! sounds like a great deal!

i'm getting my bandsaw tomorow, just thought i'd brag i'll post pics as soon as i get batteries for my cam

[Ace]

for now i concentrated to build ibanez pgm models

do you happen to have plans for that in DXF or Corel or whatever? I love PG

so long

ace

[Sweepdude]

Yeah, my daughters friends dad works with CAD and he promised to help me

I´ll let you know asap.

Sweepdude