Hey guys..
I am trying to look for a good band saw for a gift for my father. He is planning on doing gun smithing when he retires.
I would like to stick with grizzly brand as they have proven themselves to be pretty reliable (the Taiwan made ones) and the customer service is excellent as well as parts replacement. And I would like to stick with one with swiveling head..as I plan to build exhaust and manifolds as a H. Side hobby and it would be nicer to build merge collectors etc (I would think)
First I was just going to buy a HF or similar 4x6..but takes some work and mods to get them to be better.. Would need to add down feed cylinder etc. Kinda booted that idea.
Next option was the grizzly G9742
Things I liked
Swivel head.
Variable speed
Can do vertical/horizontal.
Dual voltage option
Light and fairly small
Cheap price for what it does
Things I did not like
Made in China (seems like the Taiwan made units are better all around)
Read that download cylinder is cheapie
No fluid cooling
Small/thin 1/2" wide blade
Just have the feeling it's cheap feel like HF saws
Another option was Grizzly g0613 (which I'm leaning toward the most)
Things I like
Larger capacity than above.
Larger 3/4" blade.
Dual voltage
Coolant pump and better professional down feed cylinder
Swivel head
Made in Taiwan
Things I did not like
Pretty **** large (I think over 63" long and 60" tall!)
SINGLE SPEED. (yeck)
Is the single speed that much of a deal? Could i just slow the download rate and add the cooling to the blade to cut through harder metals? I don't know what exactly will be cut.. It's a toss up there. I'd be doing stainless tubing and aluminum for intercoolers etc. He would be doing barrels and misc stuff.
Could I add a VFD controller to the motor to adjust speed? I could probabaly get most parts for that for almost free through woke depending on if it will work or not.
The last option is the g0614
Love that it has full 1" thick blade and variable speed.. And it also swivels.. But it's also another ~$450 more And must be dedicated to 220v only. Also even larger than the g0613.
My shop has 110v for now. Which it will be at my shop for a while until my father builds his machine shop room.. His has 220v.
Please don't throw in.. "buy an Ellis or Johnson etc.." I've been too complicated looking at tons of different machines lately.. And the price of these are about the max I'd like to spend.
I hope he doesn't happen to come across this post.. I'd really like for this to be a surprise as I know he would not be expecting it at all.
Thanks for any help guys!
Kong
Oh yea.. I also was thinking of picking up this shopfox heavy duty mobile base.. Was thinking of making my own.. But it wouldn't make sense after the cost of materials.
I am trying to look for a good band saw for a gift for my father. He is planning on doing gun smithing when he retires.
I would like to stick with grizzly brand as they have proven themselves to be pretty reliable (the Taiwan made ones) and the customer service is excellent as well as parts replacement. And I would like to stick with one with swiveling head..as I plan to build exhaust and manifolds as a H. Side hobby and it would be nicer to build merge collectors etc (I would think)
First I was just going to buy a HF or similar 4x6..but takes some work and mods to get them to be better.. Would need to add down feed cylinder etc. Kinda booted that idea.
Next option was the grizzly G9742
Things I liked
Swivel head.
Variable speed
Can do vertical/horizontal.
Dual voltage option
Light and fairly small
Cheap price for what it does
Things I did not like
Made in China (seems like the Taiwan made units are better all around)
Read that download cylinder is cheapie
No fluid cooling
Small/thin 1/2" wide blade
Just have the feeling it's cheap feel like HF saws
Another option was Grizzly g0613 (which I'm leaning toward the most)
Things I like
Larger capacity than above.
Larger 3/4" blade.
Dual voltage
Coolant pump and better professional down feed cylinder
Swivel head
Made in Taiwan
Things I did not like
Pretty **** large (I think over 63" long and 60" tall!)
SINGLE SPEED. (yeck)
Is the single speed that much of a deal? Could i just slow the download rate and add the cooling to the blade to cut through harder metals? I don't know what exactly will be cut.. It's a toss up there. I'd be doing stainless tubing and aluminum for intercoolers etc. He would be doing barrels and misc stuff.
Could I add a VFD controller to the motor to adjust speed? I could probabaly get most parts for that for almost free through woke depending on if it will work or not.
The last option is the g0614
Love that it has full 1" thick blade and variable speed.. And it also swivels.. But it's also another ~$450 more And must be dedicated to 220v only. Also even larger than the g0613.
My shop has 110v for now. Which it will be at my shop for a while until my father builds his machine shop room.. His has 220v.
Please don't throw in.. "buy an Ellis or Johnson etc.." I've been too complicated looking at tons of different machines lately.. And the price of these are about the max I'd like to spend.
I hope he doesn't happen to come across this post.. I'd really like for this to be a surprise as I know he would not be expecting it at all.
Thanks for any help guys!
Kong
Oh yea.. I also was thinking of picking up this shopfox heavy duty mobile base.. Was thinking of making my own.. But it wouldn't make sense after the cost of materials.
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