In the latest flyer from Woodcraft (Raleigh) they have the Rikon 10-325 for $699.99. That's almost as low as I paid for mine 6 years ago. I love the saw and have been extremely pleased/impressed w/ it, but there are three aspects I would rate less than optimal:
- The standard blade is poor. Throw it away and replace it w/ a WoodSlicer from Highland.
- The fence looks good, but really isn't. I had trouble w/ it. I built a better, taller fence and have been much happier. They may have fixed that problem in the last six years.
- The light wouldn't stay put. It kept drooping while the saw is running. I now use a clip on desk lamp on the fence I made.
These are all minor irritants on an otherwise great tool.
As for the blades, I'm not sure many bandsaw manufacturers include a decent blade. They seem to only be included because it is better to ship and transport the bandsaw while under moderate tension. Almost anything is usually going to be better than what is typically included. Just be aware when blade shopping that the
Olsen brand blades are typically over their stated length, which can create tensioning issues with some bandsaws (if their is a tension limiter stop you will need to back it off for added travel) and the built in tensioning scale will have little meaning. Most other bands are much closer to the expected nominal length and not usually an issue and this is the only negative that I am aware of concerning Olsen brand blades (they work well otherwise).
I don't know what the present 14" fence is like, but my 18" bandsaw fence was also poor. I used the parts from the original fence and replaced the actual fence piece with a heavy aluminum extrusion that provides multiple T-slots for accessory attachment that is much better than what came from the factory. It does require a bit of creativity to engineer something new from all the pieces, and a drill press was essential for accuracy drilling through my 4" tall extrusion. But that is one option out of many, it had the advantage of eliminating the need for clamping an auxiliary fence and I can still use the original distance measure built into the original T-fence.
Regarding your lamp comment, for my 18" Rikon 10-345, which did not include a factory light, I mounted a Dewalt gooseneck lamp that was sold separately by Woodcraft for the Dewalt scrollsaw which has worked out very nicely (if Woodcraft no longer carries it then others do online). It has a long and very stiff gooseneck so you can easily mount it on the upper wheel housing and still have plenty of length to position it anywhere you wish relative to your workpiece and cut line or fold it back and completely out of the way when unneeded. The lamp is a compact 25W flood lamp with an E17/Intermediate base (readily available at Lowes or Home Depot) which has proven to be a more than adequate amount of light whenever I have needed it and the lower wattage keeps the housing a bit cooler.
On the subject of new bandsaw blades and tuning them....
Before performing either of the following tune ups, be very aware of the fact that you will be performing these operations in close proximity to very sharp teeth, so be aware of the locations of both hands and fingers before and throughout all procedures. For those new to the bandsaw I recommend you practice your moves beforehand without powering on the bandsaw and that the blade be rotated by manually turning the upper wheel housing rather than running under power. Just be safe, as anything with hundreds of very sharp teeth can cause injury. Exploit the fact that your oilstone has some length to it and use that length to position your hands well away from the blade. If you feel you need more length, buy a new dry oilstone and epoxy it to a piece of wood to create a paddle to help hold it by.
When you get your new bandsaw you may wish to tune your blades to eliminate blade drift (the tendency of the workpiece to cut to one side at a steady angle of drift in relation to the intended centerline) and extend the life of your blades -- you will need a medium (grit) oilstone dedicated to this task (do not use a favorite oilstone as we will typically be using it dry and leaving grooves in it), oiling it is not necessary and if oil is used you will need to clean the blade afterwards, so dry is usually best. To extend the blade's life it helps to eliminate the squared corners on the back of the blade. To achieve this you will use the oilstone to round off the back of the blade, which removes the sharp corners that offer propagation points for microfractures by eliminating the corners that focus these stresses as the blade is bent around the wheels. You can do this either under power or by manually rotating the upper wheel with the bandsaw unpowered, if under power be sure to wear safety glasses as there will be sparks and use a lighter pressure on the oilstone to reduce blade heating. When the blade back is reasonably nicely rounded with no sharp corners left you can stop. Be aware that if you apply too much pressure on the back of the blade you will pull it off the wheels, so if the blade shifts too much remove pressure momentarily to allow the blade to re-center on the wheels, then continue. Eliminating the corners will also allow the blade to take slightly tighter turns if you do not perform the next tune up trick to eliminate blade drift (which will cost some turn radius, negating the gain from rounding the back).
To eliminate blade drift it helps to realize that it is largely caused by either irregularities in evenness of blade tooth set and/or from rough tooth edges if the blade was punched, rather than ground, to shape. Eliminating these irregularities at the point where the tooth meets the wood will eliminate blade drift and also lead to smoother cuts, though at the cost of some turn radius. Note that this should not be performed on blades with carbide inserts (however, rounding the back of such blades is fine). This should never be performed on a bandsaw under power as you need to run the blade
backwards so that the tooth points can not impact your oilstone, instead they are safely drug past it backwards. To do this tune up you will hold the oilstone parallel to the blade body with
light pressure against the sides of the teeth, then manually turn the upper wheel
in reverse to pull the teeth safely past your oilstone. Run the blade through a few full revolutions, counting by way of the weld joint, then repeat on the opposite side of the teeth. Coarse tooth blades will require more passes than fine toothed blades, so adjust accordingly, for 10 TPI and finer blades you may wish to test the blade after only one or two full revolutions of the blade (counting revolutions by way of the weld joint). Afterwards test your blade to check for blade drift and smoothness of the cut, if necessary repeat the treatment. This tune up can make a dramatic improvement with most blade brands. However, if using a premium blade known for the smoothness of cut you should first test the blade for drift and smoothness of cut before considering this tune up -- but for most brands I will do this tune up for every new blade by default.
Most of all, good luck and enjoy your new bandsaw!
