Bandsaws
- Thread starter Matty04
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I have had the previous model 10-325 for a number of years.
From watching the video below (I have no hands-on with the new saw),
I see a couple differences, some good, some not so good.
New fence that is taller and can be used outboard of the blade.
New blade guides. Don't know how they will perform but I took my
stock guides off and installed Carter guides years ago. They work fine
but if this new spring-loaded guide setup is any good then that would
be nice for quicker setup when changing blades. I saw an ad from Rikon
last month which says that there is a retro fit kit for the 10-325 to install
the new style guides like the 10-326 has. I think it was $125 or in that
neighborhood.
Power switch looks different but apparently still a hard switch not a latching
switch which if power failed would stay off when the power came back. I
like that on my table saw and would like to see it on more stationary tools.
There is now a 110v outlet on the back side where you can plug in a light.
On the 10-325 it came with a light so you don't need the outlet. Seems like
a money saving thing not an improvement to me.
Trunion and table adjustment system looks to be improved, but again without
seeing it close up can't say for sure.
New 1.75 HP motor. I believe mine is 1.5, don't see it making much difference
and I have never reached the limits of mine but I have not done any resawing
greater than 7 inches so far.
Another thing that I wish my 10-325 had was a foot brake and I see they chose
not to add one to the 10-326. This saw with the CI wheels takes a long time to
spin down to a stop, 30 seconds or more. A foot brake would be nice and would
make up for removing the light.
No first hand experience with the Laguna or other comparable sized bandsaws.
I also have two old Craftsman 12" bands made by Emerson in the 80s. I keep different
blades in each so I can handle various tasks without changing blades. After owning
the Craftsman saws for many years (one for 32 years and the other for 10) I have
them tweaked and tuned pretty well and made a few mods to improve them. Blades
are a lot cheaper and the 3/4 HP motors I have installed on them have enough power
to handle anything up to the capacity of the saw.
From watching the video below (I have no hands-on with the new saw),
I see a couple differences, some good, some not so good.
New fence that is taller and can be used outboard of the blade.
New blade guides. Don't know how they will perform but I took my
stock guides off and installed Carter guides years ago. They work fine
but if this new spring-loaded guide setup is any good then that would
be nice for quicker setup when changing blades. I saw an ad from Rikon
last month which says that there is a retro fit kit for the 10-325 to install
the new style guides like the 10-326 has. I think it was $125 or in that
neighborhood.
Power switch looks different but apparently still a hard switch not a latching
switch which if power failed would stay off when the power came back. I
like that on my table saw and would like to see it on more stationary tools.
There is now a 110v outlet on the back side where you can plug in a light.
On the 10-325 it came with a light so you don't need the outlet. Seems like
a money saving thing not an improvement to me.
Trunion and table adjustment system looks to be improved, but again without
seeing it close up can't say for sure.
New 1.75 HP motor. I believe mine is 1.5, don't see it making much difference
and I have never reached the limits of mine but I have not done any resawing
greater than 7 inches so far.
Another thing that I wish my 10-325 had was a foot brake and I see they chose
not to add one to the 10-326. This saw with the CI wheels takes a long time to
spin down to a stop, 30 seconds or more. A foot brake would be nice and would
make up for removing the light.
No first hand experience with the Laguna or other comparable sized bandsaws.
I also have two old Craftsman 12" bands made by Emerson in the 80s. I keep different
blades in each so I can handle various tasks without changing blades. After owning
the Craftsman saws for many years (one for 32 years and the other for 10) I have
them tweaked and tuned pretty well and made a few mods to improve them. Blades
are a lot cheaper and the 3/4 HP motors I have installed on them have enough power
to handle anything up to the capacity of the saw.
kevinculle
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- 615
An older Rockwell/Delta 14" can be had at a good price, parts and accessories are widely available, and when properly tuned they do a good job. I have equipped mine with the Kreg fence which works very well.
HarveyWildes
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Matty04 said:
I bought the Laguna 14-12 a while back because I just could not get my Jet 18" to resaw worth a rip. Set it up, tuned it, and it has performed very well ever since. The resaw depth is about the same as the Jet, and the difference between a 14" and 18" throat has not affected me. I'd do it again in a minute.
As an aside, I run it on 120V and it does great.
I picked up a Laguna 14BX last fall and super glad I did. I did tons of research on the choices in that range and kept coming up with Laguna on top.
I spent a little extra to get the 220V version which also includes the brake. Having a brake makes me breathe a little easier since I have kids who come pester me in the shop. I can stop it in a second before I turn around to see what they're up to.
I just moved into a new house this Spring and had a chance to set up the bandsaw again. It was much easier the second time through and I was resawing fir chunks lickety split.
I picked up a couple of blades from Timberwolf and they seem like great quality for an excellent price.
The fit and finish is very nice for the saw as well. The only super minor nitpik was the underside of my table had a bit of rust. Water must have snuck in at some point and found the one spot that didn't have paint. I just scuffed the rust off with steel wool and painted with Upol primer/paint.
I also like the fact that the tower is one piece - I think the regular 14-12 is two pieces?
The fence is also super handy and easy to true up if your blade is off a bit.
I would definitely recommend the Laguna and especially the 14bx. Take this all with a grain of salt though, it's my first bandsaw.
I spent a little extra to get the 220V version which also includes the brake. Having a brake makes me breathe a little easier since I have kids who come pester me in the shop. I can stop it in a second before I turn around to see what they're up to.
I just moved into a new house this Spring and had a chance to set up the bandsaw again. It was much easier the second time through and I was resawing fir chunks lickety split.
I picked up a couple of blades from Timberwolf and they seem like great quality for an excellent price.
The fit and finish is very nice for the saw as well. The only super minor nitpik was the underside of my table had a bit of rust. Water must have snuck in at some point and found the one spot that didn't have paint. I just scuffed the rust off with steel wool and painted with Upol primer/paint.
I also like the fact that the tower is one piece - I think the regular 14-12 is two pieces?
The fence is also super handy and easy to true up if your blade is off a bit.
I would definitely recommend the Laguna and especially the 14bx. Take this all with a grain of salt though, it's my first bandsaw.
I have the Rikon 326. I bought it on amazon when they had a crazy deal. The mobility kit was an extra $100. The only thing I wish it had was a brake. My other choice at that time after a lot of research was the BX, 220 volt version. I think I saved about $1000 when I bought the Rikon via the sale on amazon.
I use it mainly for resawing and it’s great. The largest resaw I’ve done was ash, 12” tall, 6 feet long. It was unbelievable how true the cut was!
I added a laguana resaw blade, which wasn’t cheap. But the Rikon came with a blade while the laguana didn’t, so you’ll be buying one anyways.
I use it mainly for resawing and it’s great. The largest resaw I’ve done was ash, 12” tall, 6 feet long. It was unbelievable how true the cut was!
I added a laguana resaw blade, which wasn’t cheap. But the Rikon came with a blade while the laguana didn’t, so you’ll be buying one anyways.
I'm late here, but I have had the Rikon 10-345 for quite a few years. I upgraded it with Carter guides and a Kreg fence and I really like it and use it for all types of cuts. Previous to that I had an old Walker Turner and learned to "tune up" a bandsaw pretty well. Sadly it cracked. A friend bought the Laguna 14 when it came out and I helped him set it up. I was really jealous. Like almost everyone, I agonized over which saw to get. Even though I am happy with my Rikon, if the Laguna 14 had been available when I bought my Rikon, the choice would have been super easy - Laguna all the way. I know Rikon has made some improvements, but the Laguna has a higher level of overall quality and engineering. The one concern is the table is a bit lower on the Laguna. I'm not sure if that would bother me or not, but my friend seems to have no complaints about that. Note, at the time I did consider other more expensive Laguna saws, but there were no dealers in the area and I was hesitant to buy sight unseen and/or pay hundreds for delivery (had a budget). Our Woodcraft stores now carry the lower cost Laguna saws, so that is also a plus.
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Don T said:
Yes, the 10-353 and the earlier version of this saw, the 10-350, 10-351 and 10-352 have some great features for a saw this size.
14" resaw capacity
Foot brake with auto-stop switch
Wheel cover doors with interlock switches
Uses the same table and trunion as their 18" BS
Dual 4" dust ports
Choice of Rikon 2.5HP or Baldor 3HP 240V motors
If this saw had been available when I bought my 10-325 I would have
gladly paid the $400 difference between my saw and the 10-350
Bob D. said:
As a 10-325 owner I will agree with this, but am still leaning a bit to the Laguna 14. However, I will add this. Once I had my 10-325 in the house I realized my almost endless OCD-esque obsession over which band saw to buy was over the top. I was cutting wood and enjoying it - curves, resawing, dovetail joints and more. In the end, if you go with one of these saws, you probably won't look back and will go on to enjoy using it. FYI, I was able to tune up my Rikon to rip 3-4 foot boards dead on. Learning how to set up a bandsaw is a big part of the fun and they all need it. While all power tools need to be calibrated in some way (table saw, jointer...) bandsaws are almost like musical instruments in really needing a good set up and tune up. Enjoy!
I've owned the Rikon 10-325 for several years. It's a great saw.
I retrofitted mine with the spring loaded guides and they work well; make it much easier to setup after changing blades. The lower guides are still a little hard to get to though.
I have never used the fence included with the saw. Instead I purchased the Carter Magfence II and find that this makes it much easier to adjust the fence for the right resew cuts since you can place the fence anywhere you want and just turn on the 2 magnets.
As for power, the 1 1/2 HP motor on the 325 is sufficient for resawing, so the 1 3/4 HP motor on the 326 should be slightly better than that.
I found that setting the guides and support bearings correctly, along with proper tension and tracking, improves the resawing result (specifically the Alex Snodgrass, from Carter, directions). Anyway, I get great results from the Rikon 325 and, given that the price is usually less than most other high quality 14" saws, I think it's a great deal.
I retrofitted mine with the spring loaded guides and they work well; make it much easier to setup after changing blades. The lower guides are still a little hard to get to though.
I have never used the fence included with the saw. Instead I purchased the Carter Magfence II and find that this makes it much easier to adjust the fence for the right resew cuts since you can place the fence anywhere you want and just turn on the 2 magnets.
As for power, the 1 1/2 HP motor on the 325 is sufficient for resawing, so the 1 3/4 HP motor on the 326 should be slightly better than that.
I found that setting the guides and support bearings correctly, along with proper tension and tracking, improves the resawing result (specifically the Alex Snodgrass, from Carter, directions). Anyway, I get great results from the Rikon 325 and, given that the price is usually less than most other high quality 14" saws, I think it's a great deal.
Cheese
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Just noticed that RIKON will be offering a new continuously variable motor (100 rpm to 2375 rpm) update kit for some of their 14" bandsaws.
Along with the variable speeds there will also be 4 wood presets, 4 ferrous presets, 4 non-ferrous presets, 3 plastic presets and 1 custom preset. Rather reminds me of the Voyager drill scenario. [big grin]
I wonder how difficult this would be to adapt to a typical Delta 14"/Delta style 14" bandsaw? [scratch chin]
https://www.rikontools.com/product/13-926
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Along with the variable speeds there will also be 4 wood presets, 4 ferrous presets, 4 non-ferrous presets, 3 plastic presets and 1 custom preset. Rather reminds me of the Voyager drill scenario. [big grin]
I wonder how difficult this would be to adapt to a typical Delta 14"/Delta style 14" bandsaw? [scratch chin]
https://www.rikontools.com/product/13-926
[attachimg=1]
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Or if it could be fitted to a lathe.
Probably cost as much as the whole 10-325 bandsaw did.
Tempted but it will depend on price. I'd like to be able to slow down for non-ferrous metals, specifically aluminum.
Website says available mid Q4, I think we are there so need to start looking for this.
The suggested retail price is $629.99
Probably cost as much as the whole 10-325 bandsaw did.
Tempted but it will depend on price. I'd like to be able to slow down for non-ferrous metals, specifically aluminum.
Website says available mid Q4, I think we are there so need to start looking for this.
The suggested retail price is $629.99
Just find a used 3-phase motor (they are cheap) and get a VFD to control it. That's probably what the Rikon system is. DC single phase motors were a thing for awhile with variable speed lathes but with cheaper electronics these days the VFD based method of running a 3-phase motor on single phase power comes out more economical.
Cincinnati
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If you haven’t purchased yet and you have the budget, I suggest looking at the 16” Minimax (now Branded Formula) by SCM. In my opinion, it shines above the others.
Cheese
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grbmds said:
Not that I'm aware of. Although slowing it down for some plastics would be nice.
I have an older Delta with 7 speeds and a 2 speed transmission. That allows me to cut wood at 3000 SFPM and also stainless at 60 SFPM. So while it has 7 speeds, to change to a different speed means removing panels, removing belts and swapping out pulleys.
Effectively you have 3000 SFPM as one speed and another speed of your choosing (40, 60, 85, 115, 160, 220, 335), I chose 60 SFPM. Thus 60 SFPM is a little fast for stainless while it is also a little slow for plain steel. I am also forced to cut aluminum at 3000 SFPM, it works but it is a bit too fast.
That's the reason I took note when I saw the Rikon notice, and I don't even own their saw. [smile]
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