Looking for good, used metal band saw--what brands?

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BillG

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What brands/features should I be targeting? How much should I expect to spend?
A lot of the ones on CL (e.g., Powermatic 141 14" and Delta/Rockwell 14") are advertised as wood cutting. Can they be converted?
 
yes they can be converted with a reduction gear box added to the drive. if you can weld and fab stuff, I think its a fairly straight forward conversion. I have not done it as I already have an old craftsman and deep throat Milwaukee hand held. I usually mount it in the vice when I need a stand up saw. . ..

I would guess just finding a decent used one would be a problem. at least around here. . .

I think I even have a new 9o degree reduction box off a saw I might be interested in parting with. they are probably worth about $100 or so.
 
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BillG said:
What brands/features should I be targeting? How much should I expect to spend?
A lot of the ones on CL (e.g., Powermatic 141 14" and Delta/Rockwell 14") are advertised as wood cutting. Can they be converted?
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You can get a 1 hp sewing machine "servo" motor and install it to slow down the blade speed, they run around $120.00 on the bay. Tim
 
I have converted several, a 14",and now i'am using a 3 wheel sears. All i did was used threadmill motors and there control and they work great. I also silver solder my own metal cutting blades fine and course.
 
From my limited research, I'm thinking a Powermatic 143 might be perfect from a size, weight, cost standpoint.

What do you think is the going rate for a good, well maintained Powermatic 143? What are somethings to watch out for or check on these models?
 
BillG said:
From my limited research, I'm thinking a Powermatic 143 might be perfect from a size, weight, cost standpoint.

What do you think is the going rate for a good, well maintained Powermatic 143? What are somethings to watch out for or check on these models?
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THAT POWERMATIC 143 IS a beautiful machine. If you can get one of those for your shop you'd be king of the home shop band saw world. :jester:
 
xalky said:
THAT POWERMATIC 143 IS a beautiful machine. If you can get one of those for your shop you'd be king of the home shop band saw world. :jester:
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What do you think I should pay for a nice one?
 
I don't know. I've never been in the market for one. I just saw one in eBay for$1500. Not sure if that's good or bad

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
 
I wouldn't get too hung up on a brand. Look on craigs list in your area. I just looked in my area and theres probably 40 of them within an hour of my house, all different types and sizes.
 
BillG said:
What do you think I should pay for a nice one?
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Bill, if you can find a Powermatic 143 in good shape for under $1,200, I'd buy it. I sold my 143 last year for $1,000 but I hated to let it go because it was such a solid machine. You could barely hear the thing running!

In my shop, I have a DoAll 16ML vertical with a blade welder, a Wellsaw 600 horizontal and a Roll-in 14 vertical. I would not part with any of them, although the DoAll is my favourite. Now you can see why I let my Powermatic 143 go ... it just wasn't getting used. Bill
 
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