Am I Wrong?

[jteneyck]

Derek, Rich, Gary, John, and the rest of you.  1st of all, thank you - it's why I asked the question.

Have studied the Grizzly 513X2 more.  For essentially the same money, the machine has cast iron wheels, trunnion and table.  Also bearing guides and a quick tension release. 2 hp 240vac motor.  Just need to make sure I can handle delivery.

What size blade can this saw effectively tension?  Is there any harm in running a resaw blade for general ripping?

That's a great choice; I'm sure you will be pleased with it.  Delivery shouldn't be a problem as long as you request lift gate service.  It was no extra cost when I got mine.  The UPS driver even was kind enough to leave the pallet on his pallet jack and help me and a friend drag it up my 120 ft driveway to my garage.  

The specs. say that saw can handle a 1" blade.  When I made a comment on SMC a few days ago questioning if that saw or a similar one actually could put 25K psi on a 1" blade Shiraz himself quickly replied that it "could handle it" or something to that effect.  His answer didn't specifically say it could put 25K psi on it, however, so I don't know for sure.  My tension measurements on my G-0636X shows it should be able to put about 25K psi on its widest rated blade, so if Grizzly is consistent in how they rate their machines the G-513X2 should be able to do it, too.  And I'd be pretty darned sure it could do it on a 1" Laguna Resaw King blade because they are only 0.025" thick IIRC, whereas Lennox 1" blades use 0.035" bands.  

For sure it will have no trouble tensioning a 3/4" blade and unless you want to regularly resaw or slice veneer in 10" thick hardwoods it will work very well. 
You can use a resaw blade for general ripping, but I wouldn't use a carbide tipped one on rough stock because of the risk of hitting dirt and also the risk of the board having twist, etc. in it which could cause the blade to be damaged/broken.  Cheap blades, sure.    

Don't judge the saw by the 1/2" x 6 tpi blade Grizzly ships on it.  Order something you intend to use so you have it on hand when the saw arrives. Take a test cut or two with the stock blade and then put the new blade on to see what it's really capable of.  A 3/4"  2 or 3 tpi blade would make a great general purpose ripping blade.   

John

[Admiral]

Have studied the Grizzly 513X2 more.  For essentially the same money, the machine has cast iron wheels, trunnion and table.  Also bearing guides and a quick tension release. 2 hp 240vac motor.  Just need to make sure I can handle delivery.

Think about a mobile base, I got this one for my G0514X3, which is slightly heavier, and it handles the saw well with no problems.

[Arlin Eastman]

Derek, Rich, Gary, John, and the rest of you.  1st of all, thank you - it's why I asked the question.

Have studied the Grizzly 513X2 more.  For essentially the same money, the machine has cast iron wheels, trunnion and table.  Also bearing guides and a quick tension release. 2 hp 240vac motor.  Just need to make sure I can handle delivery.

What size blade can this saw effectively tension?  Is there any harm in running a resaw blade for general ripping?

Curt
The site says 1/8 to 1" but it is due to the size of the motor since I can go up to 1.5" but only use up to 1.25"  You will not regret the G0513

Also like what was said I have several different size blades from 3/8"x6tpi and 1/2"x4tpi and a 1".   It is really easy to change the blades all of 4 minutes or less.

[jteneyck]

Curt
The site says 1/8 to 1" but it is due to the size of the motor since I can go up to 1.5" but only use up to 1.25"  You will not regret the G0513

Arlin, you may be able to physically put a 1.25" wide blade on that saw but it will never be able to apply adequate tension to it to take advantage of the width.  I'm not even sure it can tension a 1" blade but Grizzly says it can.  It is common to downsize on blade width from what the manufacturer claims.  You are paying more money than you should for a blade that won't perform as well as a narrower one that can be adequately tensioned.

John

[Arlin Eastman]

Arlin, you may be able to physically put a 1.25" wide blade on that saw but it will never be able to apply adequate tension to it to take advantage of the width.  I'm not even sure it can tension a 1" blade but Grizzly says it can.  It is common to downsize on blade width from what the manufacturer claims.  You are paying more money than you should for a blade that won't perform as well as a narrower one that can be adequately tensioned.  

John

?????

I have it set at the proper tension and could go a lot more and it stays there so I do not know what you mean?

[jteneyck]

?????

I have it set at the proper tension and could go a lot more and it stays there so I do not know what you mean?

How is you define proper tension?  Have you measured it?  To me, proper tension, as recommended by the blade manufacturers, is 25K psi.  I truly doubt a bandsaw designed to use blades from 1/8 - 1" can put 25K psi on a 1-1/4" one.  Or are you talking about some other saw?  

John