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Hi Alain

If I'm getting your description correctly, it is known as a moon key (at least thats what I know it as).

Hi Charlie

Nice to see you, I was wondering about you the other day as I hadn't seen you around.

Hows the building going ?

[QUOTE=MichaelP] Truth is the bearings, guides, sheaves, belts and wheels are not truly proprietary They get their stuff from suppliers stock. You have to do some research and cross reference specification which is not easy but if you know how to spec out the part, you can find most of it through specialty vendors

They want you to believe they have these bearings and such made just for this product...... [/QUOTE]

....And will usually charge a premium price to boot. Bearings and such, even name brands are often priced very reasonably from suppliers, IMHO, considering what you get.

Serge,

If you're feeling phobic about having the C-word on a major tool in your shop, you could follow my contractor-nephew's advice to me when I bought one of Craftsman's new "zip-code" table saws: put a big bumper sticker over the logo!

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Thanks much guys, Thanks Al for explaining the problems i had with the RIDGID better than i would have!

Hi Charlie, nice to see you again bud, sorry, the riser block followed the bandsaw in the van and in the store! Give us more news of you when you have a chance!

Anthony, i have seen the 14" Craftex from Busy bee but it does not appeal to me, still those cast aluminum wheels and only 6 1/2" of resaw capacity!

I made my decision and went with the Craftsman, i'll try it out seriously and will have 30 days to return it in case of failure, i'll keep you updated on how it performs!

Thanks to all who gave their input, i really apreciated it!

Serge

Serge:

I got in on this discussion late, but I have this exact saw, and have used it for about 2 months, give or take a few days. So far, I love it and it's performed flawlessly. Easy to assemble, easy to change blades, runs quiet and very, very smooth...and I use both the dust ports simultaneously and have almost ZERO dust from the thing. Now the truth is, it's not going to compare to a Laguna, nor should it...and it might not be powerful enough to handle anything other than the rare resaw need. But for general guitar building, it will probably be more than adequate.

I spoke with Louis at Iturra about getting bandsaw blades made for it (for when the time comes), and they were very reasonably priced (around $16 each). He said he had seen the saw in his local Sears, and thought it appeared to be quite nice for the money.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Thanks Bill, i believe so too, i compared with what i knew from my former RIDGID, the caracteristics of all the others i saw on the internet and feel confident that for occasional resawing, it will do what it is suppose to.

I reaaly like the idea of an adjustable speed control via a cam drive pulley tensioner like Michael said amd also the twin dust port. I plan on still buying tonewoods from sponsors, the resawing that i'll do will be for when i come across a nice plank or 2!

Hey Charlie, where you been? Welcome back

I know Mario has mentioned that he has a Delta 14" with riser block and resaws most of his tops, I believe.

The delta is a great saw Serge, nothing to be afraid of. Try King Canada for something similar.

Also, I don't think you need to be afraid of the aluminum sheeves, they've been used for years with great success.

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Plus, Serge, ol' buddy ol'pal, if you ever need some serious machine, I might know where you'll always have free access to one!...   

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

Hey Serge, Laguna has a 16" on sale right now. Still, it's $1300 + shipping. Their 14" models look decent too, and have the new Laguna ceramic guides, which are very nice.
Agazanni also makes some reasonably priced smaller saws, which are rated pretty high.

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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."

Hey Todd, I have a question for you. I saw a pic you posted a while back of your Delta 14" bandsaw. It appeared that you had cut extra holes on the housing to install 4" dust ports. Mind if I ask how you cut through that material? Seems to be a little too thick for anything I have to cut it with.

Sorry for the hijack Serge.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

[QUOTE=Serge Poirier]

Todd, The delta bandsaw is appealing as for price range and resaw capacity when using a riser block but the only thing that stopped me from buying it was those cast aluminum wheels and the fact that it was at HDepot, [/QUOTE]
Serge - why do aluminum wheels bother you? I know some think that cast iron is better, but I can't see why. The rotating mass doesn't really affect how the machine works.

Here's a picture of me cutting the aluminum motor adapter for my electric car with my home-made bandsaw (about 15 years old now, and no problems) and it has baltic birch wheels. (two 1/2 inch discs laminated together). And the tires were cut from bike inner tubes (1.99 each)






I think the important thing is that the wheels are round and balanced - and cast iron has no advantage over aluminum in that regard.

Phil

Well, there IS a legitimate argument as to the effects of Inertia...in that it augments the horsepower of the motor. Is it measureable? Yes. I'm not an engineer, but at least to some small degree it is. Anyone who has ever seen a 36" Tannowicz in action knows just how much those large massive wheels help to drive the blade through the wood.

Gee Phil, that's some piece of work! And you made an electric car????? Wow!

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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."

Phil, i wish i had known you back in December when i asked how to build a home made bandsaw, it was my first thread and question on the forum! Do you still have the plans on how to build one?

I'd say like Don, mass is important as well as power from the motor,my now former RIDGID had cast aluminum wheels and the saw was running smooth but through some 11" Makore, it lacked a bit of force, could just be because of that lost pin though

Dave, no prob. buddy!

Phil, your bandsaw is so cool, I can't believe it!!!!! I wish I had the time to
undertake a project like that. Way to go. I love it!

Mike

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

Like Todd has mentioned, stick with a simple Delta 14", get the riser if you want to do some resawing. The best advise so far is make sure that the saw is set up well and get good blades if you plan to resaw. Cause I bet you realy don't need to spend that much to get a great working saw Serge. I'd hate to see you spend money on a saw that could have been spent on Zoot or another tool of some sort.

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My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Thanks Todd, you are certainly right since you have more experience than me with bandsaws but i could not decide myself to go with Delta since HD seems the only place around here that carries them and didn't want to deal with them no more,especially after asking questions about the Delta 14" to the young sales rep who had lost the catalog of parts and the only saw they had to show there was lacking it's cast iron table and it made them look very unprofessional, it felt like i was gonna be back to square one again and didn't want to deal with that store anymore for power tools. So you and Tony must be right but the ingredients were all there for me not to go with it and i might regret it but what i saw at Sears and all of my questions being answered by an honest and seasoned sales rep made the balance go in their favor, i ordered the saw!

Rereading the thread, i noticed that i had missed you Robbie. Sorry!

What happened was well described by my bud Alain, 2 bolts had broken into their threads, one that locks the blade guard assembly and the other one was inside the pulley which served to push a locking pin onto the shaft!

Best regards

Serge

Thanks for the info Todd!

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Todd, would you mind copying me on those setup files?

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Todd, you are one special gentleman! Thank you! i saved up your post and will PM you my e-mail address, i will also follow your advice on the link belt and the book on maintenance!

Thanks again

Serge

Another book I found to be very good Serge is "The Bandsaw Book" by Lonnie Bird.You can find it at Amazon.com if you are interested.Here it isDaveAndy38917.4059375

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Thanks Dave, i will check into that also!

Todd, i found the book you mentionned at Lee Valley's!

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=46736&cat=1,46 096,46119&ap=1

[QUOTE=RussellR] Hi Charlie

Nice to see you, I was wondering about you the other day as I hadn't seen you around.

Hows the building going ?[/QUOTE]

I a doing well, Russel, Serge, and everyone else who gives 2... :-)
I have had an extremely busy summer - with multiple inlaw visits, garden work, shop work, garden shed building, Im building a thickness sander, jigs and molds {still yes}
And for those of you who dont know - I have gotten interested in cactus growing since I was injured. It therefore makes this my busy time for my hobby as well.
It has been warm and beautiful here, and we really couldnt have asked for a beter summer so far - the kind of summer we just havent had in years around here.
So needless to say Im taking advantage of these sunny days, so I dont regret it come this Nov.
I have only had time to lurk here lately, but Im still around. Plus I sorta vowed that I would post regularily again until I had more to contribute, I feel that pretty soon I will.
Cheers
Charlie
PS thanks for the info on the bandsaw guys!
PSS oh yeah I really tried to stay away from the swap meet - alas it was too strong a pull!

Serge, another book to add to your shop collection is The New Best of Fine Woodworking - Workshop Machines. It is a compilation of numerous woodworkers, one of which is White. You can check it out at Amazon as well.Don A38917.8159259259

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA