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yep, I am just gonna bite the bullet and buy one.

What size and horsepower would be capable of cutting tops and backs out of billets, if I were able to get chunks of wood 4-5 inches thick by 6-10" inches wide? Would that be considered resawing?

that is resawing. the minimum you can consider is a delta/jet style 14" with the riser block. from there you are only limited by the contents of your wallet or your credit rating.

thanks,

i have been looking at both of those for 2 weeks now.

how much hp?  is 3/4 enough, or just go for the 1 hp?

[QUOTE=jonhfry]

thanks,

i have been looking at both of those for 2 weeks now.

how much hp? is 3/4 enough, or just go for the 1 hp?

[/QUOTE]

As much as you can get. Is there a 1.5 HP version for the Delta these days?

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

preferable the 1hp. i've done a lot of resawing with my old walker turner which only has a 3/4 hp motor on it but it is one of the old, old motors which weights a ton and has massive inertia. once they are spinning it takes a lot to slow them up, and yes, i've been thinking about upgrading it to a 2 or 3 hp modern motor.

there is a new model rikon 14 in saw on the market you should seriously have a look at. price is close to a bells and whistle delta 14 and it has huge resaw capacity. all reports i have seen on the rikon saws rate them highly.

Jon,

I'm going to offer a different opinion...
I struggled for years with a Delta 14 with a 1hp motor. It's woefully undersized, underpowered, and under-engineered for any serious resaw work. Look into the newer tubular steel framed saws, as they seem to be more rigid and able to handle higher band tension. If money is a concern, the Delta 16", or the Jet 16" will give you a lot more bang for the buck than the Delta 14".
I've been using a Laguna LT16-HD since the summer, and love it. With a 4.5hp Baldor motor, it will cut just about anything.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I'm with Don (I usually agree with Don!), for resawing I'm definitely in the more power school. I think that 1hp is way underpowered, I have a 3.75kW (5hp) on my 21" Axminster, and it makes the cutting effortless. I would certainly aim for at least 1.5-2hp. We can't get bandsaws with riser blocks over here and I'm pretty glad about it, I want a machine that is engineered from the outset with the resaw ability I'm after, rather than as a bolt on afterthought. I have a smaller 1hp 13" for the guitar work, but to saw large hardwood billets then you can't have too much power.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Jon, I think the answer is really dependent on how much resawing you are contemplating.

A few months back I bought the Delta 14 inch, 1HP with riser block, a $25 Lee Valley Blade and the Duginske book. After spending time to properly set it up I have been able to effectively resaw 10" buginga, movingui, pau rosa and mahogany - two sets out of 4/4. I have done as well as 5 side sets out of 8/4 mahogany.

So if you are a hobbyist, resawing a few sets a year this will work - but don't kid yourself. This is not a production setup, you have to go slow, and you can tell the saw is struggling to get through things.

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David White, Toronto

"All my favourite singers can't sing."

I guess my advice is to set a budget and get the most powerful saw you can afford. About a year ago I purchased a Minimax MM16 and it was the first new and by far the nicest tool I had purchased. The saw has been able to handle everything that I have cut on it with power to spare and for that reason I am very happy with the purchase. I am sure you will find many opinions on this topic...I know I did when I was in buying mode.

Good luck!

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Brad
Avon, OH

I have also been looking at band saws to start my shop. The Jet 18" is nice, but it is pretty pricey. I found at woodcraft they carry a Rikon 14" deluxe for a resonable price. It has a 1 2/2hp and a 13" resaw capacity

Here is the link:

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=20041

Good Luck

that is the rikon i was referring to above.

Look around for a good quality second hand bandsaw in the 16"-18" range; I found a 16" bandsaw (10" resaw capacity with the standard guides), a good 22 years old, excellent working order, Italian-made, for about 800 bucks. Spent another few hunderd on a variable speed drive so I could run the three-phase (2HP) motor it came with, and I'll very soon have a fully operational bandsaw that should be able to tackle anything I want to throw at it. I hope I can get the VSD wired up and working this weekend; saw's been sitting in the shop, mocking my inability to use it, for a number of months now...

The 14" Delta, Jet or similar with riser block seem to be the standard in many guitar makers shops where a little resawing is done occasionally, but where the saw is normally used for a multitude of lighter tasks. Like Mattia I have an older Italian saw (mine is 24", 3hp, 3 phase 230V, probably 30-40 years old "Centaur") that I use for resawing, but I also have a newer 12" for smaller stuff.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin