I am doing something I have never done before based on Insomniac writing about his Rikon bandsaw. I am going to throw out a post on upgrading a bandsaw.
Here is the deal. I have had a Delta 28-245 open framed 1/2 horsepower bandsaw with riser block for about 10 years. I bought it new, and thought it was a pretty good machine until I tried to do some resawing, and boy, that was a joke. I finally decided I wanted to either buy a new saw or upgrade the one I had, but I went back and forth and back and forth trying to figure out what to buy. The Delta 18 inch looked pretty shabby to me and I wasn't real thrilled with the Jet 18 either so I started looking higher end towards the MiniMax, Agazzani, and Laguna's. I just had a hard time thinking about spending $2500 on a bandsaw when my largest single tool purchase to date has been a Performax 22-44 Pro for about $1800. Would I use it enough and could I really justify it. I got so bad on looking at these things the LOML was going to buy me one for Christmas, but I changed my mind so much that she gave up. I finally decided to "upgrade" my saw after reading too much of Iturra Designs catalog and old FWW articles.
I began by building a new base/cabinet for the saw. 1 1/2 inch thick birch plywood with two drawers (still making drawers) and planned to leave the motor out back. My father bought me a new 1 1/2 HP motor so that was a done deal, I bought a Kreg fence and 7" resaw guide, and a few other odds and ends. Now the fun starts.
I mount the bandsaw frame on the new cabinet, no problems there. First problem is the new motor has to sit further back than the original due to the electrical box sitting out so far and keeping me from opening the saw doors. So, I have to order a belt (the Fenner drive belts are AWESOME but expensive, and I have to make a new belt guard/cover. Took about 4 hours to get that straight and done. I had figured since my saw was US made, it was going to be in good shape and alignment. That was wrong. Although the saw says made in USA, the castings were made in Mexico and a lot of the individual components are made in Taiwan. Well, my wheels were not in parallel, nor were they concentric, nor was the table square vertically to the blade.
So, I order some goodies from Iturra design to include the spinner handwheel, urethane tires, wheel shim kit, improved tension spring, some other doo dad to make the wheels concentric, and a table shim kit. All of this ran about $248 dollars. It took awhile to get all this installed, but it was needed. The wheels were over an 1/8 of an inch out of parallel, and the table was almost as bad. I got to looking at dust collection and realized that was a joke so I bought a wheel brush and the improved dust collection hook up to keep the dust down. Electrical switch had to be replaced due to toggle switch not being easily remountable and not being safe enough. I went cheap and bought an electrical jiffy box and a 20AMP light switch and just mounted that to the post.
I will say the difference in the cutting quality and speed is amazing. I can resaw a 12 inch board very easily and with little to no washboarding. Now the question is was it worth it? I am not too sure about that when you add it all up.
Total costs (including gifts):
$100 for materials for new cabinet including casters and slides
$150 for a new motor
$248 for shim kits, tires, fenner belt, spinner, etc
$ 30 for improved dust collection
$20 for new thrust bearings (old ones were shot)
$120 for bandsaw fence and resaw guide
$19 for high tension spring
So I spent close to $700 on this thing. Cheaper than a Minimax or Agazzani, but very close to being able to have bought the 18" Rikon and just keeping the Delta for small cutting.
Would I do it again? No. I would have been better off buying the Rikon and keeping the Delta or just breaking down and buying the Minimax. My shop time has become very limited due to having a very young daughter and another one on the way, and I personally would have been better served to get a new one. I have the space, could have afforded it (still makes me wince to think about spending that much money on a saw), and the time would have been used to build more projects either furniture or shop storage/cabinets which is my focus at the moment.
One day, I will break down and take the wifes camera to the shop and take pictures.
Here is the deal. I have had a Delta 28-245 open framed 1/2 horsepower bandsaw with riser block for about 10 years. I bought it new, and thought it was a pretty good machine until I tried to do some resawing, and boy, that was a joke. I finally decided I wanted to either buy a new saw or upgrade the one I had, but I went back and forth and back and forth trying to figure out what to buy. The Delta 18 inch looked pretty shabby to me and I wasn't real thrilled with the Jet 18 either so I started looking higher end towards the MiniMax, Agazzani, and Laguna's. I just had a hard time thinking about spending $2500 on a bandsaw when my largest single tool purchase to date has been a Performax 22-44 Pro for about $1800. Would I use it enough and could I really justify it. I got so bad on looking at these things the LOML was going to buy me one for Christmas, but I changed my mind so much that she gave up. I finally decided to "upgrade" my saw after reading too much of Iturra Designs catalog and old FWW articles.
I began by building a new base/cabinet for the saw. 1 1/2 inch thick birch plywood with two drawers (still making drawers) and planned to leave the motor out back. My father bought me a new 1 1/2 HP motor so that was a done deal, I bought a Kreg fence and 7" resaw guide, and a few other odds and ends. Now the fun starts.
I mount the bandsaw frame on the new cabinet, no problems there. First problem is the new motor has to sit further back than the original due to the electrical box sitting out so far and keeping me from opening the saw doors. So, I have to order a belt (the Fenner drive belts are AWESOME but expensive, and I have to make a new belt guard/cover. Took about 4 hours to get that straight and done. I had figured since my saw was US made, it was going to be in good shape and alignment. That was wrong. Although the saw says made in USA, the castings were made in Mexico and a lot of the individual components are made in Taiwan. Well, my wheels were not in parallel, nor were they concentric, nor was the table square vertically to the blade.
So, I order some goodies from Iturra design to include the spinner handwheel, urethane tires, wheel shim kit, improved tension spring, some other doo dad to make the wheels concentric, and a table shim kit. All of this ran about $248 dollars. It took awhile to get all this installed, but it was needed. The wheels were over an 1/8 of an inch out of parallel, and the table was almost as bad. I got to looking at dust collection and realized that was a joke so I bought a wheel brush and the improved dust collection hook up to keep the dust down. Electrical switch had to be replaced due to toggle switch not being easily remountable and not being safe enough. I went cheap and bought an electrical jiffy box and a 20AMP light switch and just mounted that to the post.
I will say the difference in the cutting quality and speed is amazing. I can resaw a 12 inch board very easily and with little to no washboarding. Now the question is was it worth it? I am not too sure about that when you add it all up.
Total costs (including gifts):
$100 for materials for new cabinet including casters and slides
$150 for a new motor
$248 for shim kits, tires, fenner belt, spinner, etc
$ 30 for improved dust collection
$20 for new thrust bearings (old ones were shot)
$120 for bandsaw fence and resaw guide
$19 for high tension spring
So I spent close to $700 on this thing. Cheaper than a Minimax or Agazzani, but very close to being able to have bought the 18" Rikon and just keeping the Delta for small cutting.
Would I do it again? No. I would have been better off buying the Rikon and keeping the Delta or just breaking down and buying the Minimax. My shop time has become very limited due to having a very young daughter and another one on the way, and I personally would have been better served to get a new one. I have the space, could have afforded it (still makes me wince to think about spending that much money on a saw), and the time would have been used to build more projects either furniture or shop storage/cabinets which is my focus at the moment.
One day, I will break down and take the wifes camera to the shop and take pictures.
