Band Saw Buying Guide


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Frame

The frame of a band saw is that thing that keeps holding all of the parts of the saw together nicely and firmly. By choosing a plastic or wooden frame you will probably be successful to get lower costs but the overall user experience might not be as good.

 

No doubt the plastic frame will prove to be lighter and not so sturdy, but it will begin to crack and dent over time in case if the pulleys are too big and heavy. A pulley of the size of 12” is the normal size that should be put on a plastic frame because pulleys with any size bigger than that will simply prove to be a bit too heavy for the plastic to handle.

 

Frames made out of cast iron or steel sheet, you would not have to be worrying that your saw would wobble as you are in the middle of cutting through a log of wood.

 

The Weight & Wheels

It is better that you make sure if a frame made from sheet metal features at least 2 layers or 2 separate frames in it. Machines which are heavier stay steady usually no matter what type of wood you are passing through the saw band to cut. This property enables you to do more precise and neater cuts.

The wheel weight of the machine matters too. The internal wheels are commonly made of cast aluminum or cast iron – the aluminum is comparatively a lot lighter than the cast iron.

 

Dust Ports

Big dust ports prove to be the most helpful. It is a good idea to have installed your shop vac to the integrated dust port on your band saw. A dust port of 4 inches will work to carry away more dust than a smaller 2 1/4 inch port, so the bigger the dust port the better it is.

 

Motor Size

Motors come in sizes varying from ½ to 1 ½ HP. The smaller sized motors have to work comparatively harder. Although the size of motor that is required will depend upon the category of work that you are planning to do with it. If you will be doing craft work and cutting softwoods mostly, then a ½ to 1 HP machine should be just enough for fulfilling your needs. For doing stuff like furniture making or doing some cabinet work, choosing a machine size of 1 ½ HP will be the better choice.

 

Guidepost

The guidepost is also another relatively important part of a band saw, it is the part which sports the upper blade guide assembly and blade guard. The guidepost is adjusted by the means of a rack and pinion according to the thickness of the wood that is being cut.

 

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