Shopping for a new bandsaw - anyone ever dealt with Grizzly?

[Bass Kahuna]

Hey Gang,

I'm shopping for a new bandsaw, and Grizzly (www.grizzly.com) has what looks to be two nice 18" saws in their discontinued store. I'm kinda leaning towards the G4186Z model for $750. Has anyone ever dealt with Grizzly or bought/used any of their products?

There is also a Harbor Freight store right here in town, but they only have 2 very inexpensive 14" models that I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be happy with them.

Sears has quite a good selection but seems just a bit pricey.

Thanks!

:^)~

[Skorzen]

Do a search in the archives over at mimf there has been a bit of disscusion of grizzly over there.

[FBB Custom]

I've only ever bought their dust collector. Good value for the money. I would certainly consider any of their tools. There are a few reviews up on epinions.com that are generally positive.

[Bassmanbob]

I know to stay away from $100.00 bandsaws, but how much is enough to spend? I looked at that Grizzly web site and there were bandsaws that were close to $2,000.00.

Call me cheep, but I'd like to do this for a hobby. I'm not planning to start the company, "Bob The Bass Builder". I'm planning to make 1- 3 basses for myself a year. If someone wants to buy one, fine.

There has to be a happy medium between $100 and $2,000. I thought a $350 (floor) bandsaw would be good for my purposes. Yes? No? ...

Like I've said before in other threads, I would rather buy quality than quantity, but I may have to draw the line some where.

[Carey]

I have a G0513 band saw and I love it. For $750 it works great. It acutally specs pretty close to the one you were asking about Kahuna. I'd check on standard blade availability though. I modified mine because it's built for 132" and not standard 133" blades. That might be justification for the one you're asking about because it uses 130" blades.
One difference that might also be important is cutting height. The G0513 will do 12" and the G4186Z will only do 9-3/8".

I also would recommend Highland Hardware's Wood Slicer blades. They really work nice!

I bought a Grizzly radial drill press($150) at the same time I got my bandsaw and I sold it 3 months later. It was rather poorly made and wobbled a bit. I could't drill a good clean hole with it.

So, Grizzly can be hit and miss, but I definitely recommend their band saws.

[Bass Kahuna]

Hmmmm.... Nothing between $100 and $2000? I thought they actually had quite a good selection for under $1000....

Ah well, I'm probably going to check a few local stores as well. I'd really like to get something bigger than 14", but not sure if that would really be needed, except for doing some resawing of thicker stock (like for figured tops, etc.)

Thanks for the tip on the standard blade sizes, too....

:^)~

[mslatter]

The FWW Tool Guide magazine reviewed 14" bandsaws, and chose to not pick an editor's choice, saying they were all good. I don't believe they reviewed Harbor Freight's offering, but I would recommend steering clear. I'm pretty sure Grizzly, Delta, Jet, etc. were all in there, though.

So the good news is you really can't go wrong in the $500-900 price range for 14" saws. They're all pretty solid, though some have specific features that might be more important to you. For instance, the Laguna had the most standard resaw capacity at around 8.5" while the others were just over 6". That means you could cut your own bookmatched tops for bodies under 17" wide.

If you can accomodate a larger saw, then you'll get more resaw capacity (but if it's important to you, do the research on who has what.) I honest don't think anyone makes a crappy 18" bandsaw. The discount tool makers just don't play at that level, and the big names all make very good tools in those ranges. It comes down to comparing individual features and deciding which one works best for you.

[Bassmanbob]

Originally posted by Bass Kahuna
Hmmmm.... Nothing between $100 and $2000? I thought they actually had quite a good selection for under $1000....
:^)~

No, no. I didn't say that they only had the two extremes. My point is that you can spend anywhere between $100.00 and $2,000.00. What would an appropriate price range be for a good bandsaw for bass building? Is it $350, $500, $1,000, or $1,800?

Actually, I think mslatter did answer the question. Thanks.

[mslatter]

I misspoke. The FWW Tool Review DID pick editor's choices for bandsaws. They chose the Lagune and the Delta. The reader's choice (some sort of mail-in vote, I guess) was the Laguna, followed by the Delta.