i got an e-mail from my brother today, he is not yet a member of this forum. He ask me to ask the folks on this forum if anybody could reccomend a good bench band saw, he needs portability in the tool. Hope to hear from somebody on the subject.

Jerry
Colorado City, TX

Jerry, I have a small Ryobi bench top band saw which works great for things like pen blanks and other small projects. There are heavy duty bench top models that will cut thicker wood. What does he want to cut with it? (Right tool for the job thing, understand?)

Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum... In response to the band saw question...in a table top version and at a reasonable cost is the Rikon unit or Ryobi unit. Mike hit it on the head....What are you going to do with it? I bought a 14" Ridgid, which is on sale at Home Depot for just a little nmore then a good bench model, made some modifications for vibration etc, and it's fantastic!!! Again it fits my needs well.
Dave in Connecticut

Welcome, Dave.

Could you elaborate on the mods? I'm in the market too and I've seen the reviews on the HD site and they weren't very comforting. Right now I'm leaning toward the Rikon 10" (or the Craftsman re-badge) but a 14" would be nice if I can shoehorn it into my space.

GCG

What my brother wants with the saw is to just cut the corners off of his workpieces before he chucks them up in his lathe.

Jerry
Colorado City, TX

Jerry, the inexpensive Ryobi will handle this job. It is not as fast as the more expensive models but about half the price.

Well, First I set it up on a movable base...on sale at Woodcraft. The belt was replaced with a link belt, really cut down on vibration, I then fiddled with the wheels, mostly the top one by adding magnets to balance it out, and then removing some material from the wheel ( small amount,) by drilling partial holes opposite of where the magnets were. This may or may not be needed depending on your unit. Some people have added a top to the stand to beef it up, and to help with vibration. I haven't done this yet as I didn't feel it was needed. I also changed the blades, bought a 3 variety pack from Woodcraft which allows some resawing as well as form cutting...made a big difference. Mostly I cut blanks out for spoons/spatulas and other small turning projects. I use a lot of native wood like oak and cherry. I have a small lathe, and 6 inch resaw is about all I need. Again...the right tool for the job!!!

Thanks Saydie,

Most of the negative reviews were for the vibration issue and I found another review site (can't recall where now) that described similar balancing with favorable results.

GCG