babyblues
Member
Do any of you use the cheapo Ryobi 9" band saw? It only has a 3.75" cutting height capacity. Would it be worth it for cutting blanks or not?
question about band saws
- Thread starter babyblues
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Wolfdancer
Banned
Hello
I had one. I would say dont do it. I thought it would be good for just pen blanks. NO NO NO The blades just are to small you will not get good stright cuts. Pay the extra and get the bigget one you will be happy. I hope this helps.
Thanks Rod
I had one. I would say dont do it. I thought it would be good for just pen blanks. NO NO NO The blades just are to small you will not get good stright cuts. Pay the extra and get the bigget one you will be happy. I hope this helps.
Thanks Rod
eskimo
Member
That is the bandsaw I use. If you use a 3 or 4 TPI blade that is very sharp, it will work with most woods. Some of the harder woods (Pink Ivory, Lignum Vitae, etc) will still give you problems. I would agree with Rod that if you can afford it, go for a bigger bandsaw. Grizzly has gotten great reviews and that will be my next saw once the finances allow.
Bob
Bob
alphageek
Former Moderator
I have this one too.. I love it! It definately matters what blade you buy (the one that came with it is garbage). I use a thin blade with more teeth and get ready to glue cuts. I've segmented with it - if you look at my photo album, I have 2 slimlines with a bunch of segmenting that came right off the bandsaw.
The height isn't an issue for pen work for me.
The height isn't an issue for pen work for me.
sbell111
Member
I had one. I hated it.
I eventually upgraded to a Shop Fox W1706 (with riser block). It is a really, really great tool.
I eventually upgraded to a Shop Fox W1706 (with riser block). It is a really, really great tool.
leehljp
Member Liaison
I have the Delta 9 inch and will give the same opinion as most of the posters above. IMO, the smaller ones do not allow the proper tension for cutting decent blanks in most situations. Having considerable experience in adjusting, tinkering, re-working adjustments and alignments, on shop tools, and even making my own blade guides from larger "cool blocks", I managed to get mine to do some decent cuts. But it was too much hassle for the degree of accuracy achieved.
It is my opinion that an increase in tension will help considerably on the smaller BSs, but more tension would require beefier frames.
It is my opinion that an increase in tension will help considerably on the smaller BSs, but more tension would require beefier frames.
It depends on what you mean by cutting blanks. I have one. If all you plan on doing with it is cutting sized blanks to fit tube lengths, the saw will work just fine. If you are planning on cutting larger pieces into blanks, I believe you will be very dissatisfied.