Who uses two bandsaws in their shop?

[Terry W]

I have a nice 14 inch Rikon bandsaw in my shop. I use it for resawing rough wood, slicing veneer and cutting curves. But, each action requires a different blade. My frustration is that every time I get a blade installed, adjusted and dialed in, the next time I need to use it, it’s the wrong blade and I have to swap it out for another one. Right now I have a “wood slicer” on that took me about 45 minutes to get set up. It’s adjusted so nice that I’m able to slice veneer almost paper thin. Today I need to cut some curved corbels for a small bookcase. It’s going to break my heart when I have to swap it out. It took so long to get it this perfect. I doubt I’ll get it adjusted this good again.  

To keep from all this swapping back & forth, I’m thinking of buying a small 9 or 10 inch benchtop bandsaw. Something I can pull out with thinner blades for cutting curves. Anyone else doing this?

 BTW, I’d go with another 14 inch but I don’t have the floor space.

[fredhargis]

I do not, but I hope to have 2 in the shop by the end of the summer. When I bought the one I now have, I let my precious one go. At the time I didn't have room for 2 bandsaws, and my nephew wanted my old one (Delta 14") so I gave it to him. But for the same reason you stated, the one I have now will be used for resawing adnd the new one will be for scroll cutting and such. I now have the room I need for 2 of them.

[Tapper]

I have a Rikon 10-340 18" 2 HP bandsaw (runs on 220v) that I keep a Lennox 1" carbide blade installed on all the time. It's used for any heavy work and resawing. My "daily driver" is a Walker Turner 16" classic old beauty that I restored. It is for lighter work and curves. So far I wouldn't change a thing.

Doug

[jteneyck]

Same as Doug, I have a 5 HP, 17" BS with a 1" carbide blade exclusively for resawing and veneer slicing.  Everything else gets put on my 14" Delta.  I normally have a 3/8" x 4 tpi blade on it which can handle a wide range of tasks, but occasionally have to put a 1/4" on it for tight curves.  And because I'm not slicing veneer changing blades on that saw is maybe 5 minutes.  I would never want to go back to only one BS.  

John

[jcredding]

Due to some unusual circumstances, I happen to have 4 right now. I use the 5hp MM16 for resawing and that blade lives on it. I have an 18” Rikon (same 10-340 Tapper has) that uses some larger, non-carbide blades and is my go to for roughing out turning blanks from green wood logs as well as daily stuff with wider blades. I then have a 10970’s 14” delta I use for some small stuff, and finally I inherited a 10” that gets used more like a scroll saw than anything else, so very small blades. I keep meaning to get rid of one, but then find a use for it and end up not doing so.

[Stwood_]

Just one. MM16. 5 minute blade changes.

[Ohio Mike]

I have a nice 14 inch Rikon bandsaw in my shop. I use it for resawing rough wood, slicing veneer and cutting curves. But, each action requires a different blade. My frustration is that every time I get a blade installed, adjusted and dialed in, the next time I need to use it, it’s the wrong blade and I have to swap it out for another one. Right now I have a “wood slicer” on that took me about 45 minutes to get set up. It’s adjusted so nice that I’m able to slice veneer almost paper thin. Today I need to cut some curved corbels for a small bookcase. It’s going to break my heart when I have to swap it out. It took so long to get it this perfect. I doubt I’ll get it adjusted this good again.  

To keep from all this swapping back & forth, I’m thinking of buying a small 9 or 10 inch benchtop bandsaw. Something I can pull out with thinner blades for cutting curves. Anyone else doing this?

 BTW, I’d go with another 14 inch but I don’t have the floor space.

I have two bandsaws.

My 17 inch Grizzly has a 1/2 inch 3 TPI blade.  I use it to rip rough lumber to width and I use it for resawing.

My other saw is a RIKON 10 inch (10-306 benchtop model).  Most of the time I keep a 1/4 inch 6 TPI on it but I change the blade to a 3/16 inch 10 TPI when cutting veneer for Shaker boxes.

Mike

[Bob Potter]

I have two. A small one for cutting curve's and a bigger one for straight cuts and re sawing . This works great for me and saves time. The small bandsaw is a 10".
And the main one is a 14".
Bob

[jcousins2]

2 for me - mm16 - with 1" carbide blade for resawing and a delta 14" with a 3/8 blade for almost everything else.
jerry

[measure once cut remeasure]

Rikon 10-325 14" recently upgraded with the newest version of rikon guides.

Delata homecraft 10" has a small blade with a carter stabalizer for a guide. While the stabalizer seems overpriced for what it is, it works well.
Planning on replacing the delta homecraft with a 14" 1930's delta "starburst" that is in the que. i allready have a stabalizer for it, thanks to ebay.

Two bandsaws don't take up much shop space.