PM Bandsaws or other brands

I have a Grizzly G0561 7x12 I'm pleased with. Very solid and cuts straight. Quick release vice, 1hp with coolant system. No issues with it (2-3 yrs). I think the current price is about 1k now but there are 5% off coupons on their web site.

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After 8 years my Jet is still on the job, although I don't use it in a production environment.
Vertical/horizontal model and it cut's just as square as the day I uncrated it.
I added a set of swivel casters under the front for easy steering. Makes it simple to store out of the way when idle.

The Grizzly G0561 7x12 appears to be pretty much the same as mine and the price is about what I paid for mine
 

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coherent said:
I have a Grizzly G0561 7x12 I'm pleased with. Very solid and cuts straight. Quick release vice, 1hp with coolant system. No issues with it (2-3 yrs). I think the current price is about 1k now but there are 5% off coupons on their web site.

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That looks like a decent deal too. Do you know if it is Taiwan or China made?
 
Taiwan. Grizzly seems to have pretty good quality control on their machines compared to some others. I can attest to great customer support if you have any issues. Anytime I have had an issue ( I have 4-5 of their machines) they quickly sent new parts free of charge and free shipping with very little in the way of questions or hassles. To the best of my research it is a variation of the Rong Fu 712N which is sold by about a dozen different companies with minor variations or paint like Jet, Shop Fox, Enco MSC etc.
Here's a link to the Rong Fu company RF 712N https://www.rongfu.com/product-rf-712n.html
 
Right on Coherent. I have a Grizzly 3hp cyclone dust collector for my woodshop. I think shortly after the warranty was up the bearings started to go on the motor and after a call to them, they sent a new motor under warranty. I was pretty impressed with that.
 
I have the Harbor Freight 7x12 saw and it has been great. Cuts straight and no issues yet When I picked it up, had a 20% coupon then had them unbox before I took it since it had damage to the package. One of the plastic knobs was broken and they gave me another $100 off for that, and didn't even ask them for for it. Put a good bimetal blade on it and haven't looked back.

Agree HF is hit or miss, but got lucky on this one.
 
When I took welding classes they had a Jet 7x12 (very similar to the Grizzly and HF 7x12), and an Ellis mitering band saw. Those Ellis saws are really nice, but even the smallest 8x10 is double your budget. If you don't actually need a large saw, Grizzly has a couple of mitering bandsaws that fit your budget. After using both I really prefer the miter style. Since the head turns instead of the stock I found it much nicer to use.

Grizzly G9742 5x6-1/2"

Grizzly G0613 7x8-1/4"

Grizzly's 7x12 saw looks pretty much the same as the HF and Jet saws. Since it is only $30 more than the HF and several hundred cheaper than the Jet I'd probably go with that if you prefer that style of saw or a larger saw.

Grizzly G0561 7x12"


I've got the HF 4x6" bandsaw and yes they have their issues, but for the money they are a great saw. I also have a 50 year old Kalamazoo 6x10" bandsaw which is nicer in many ways than the 7x12 Jet saw I used in class and much nicer than the little HF saw. I would however happily trade it for one of those Ellis saws. :)
 
gmalcom said:
I have the Harbor Freight 7x12 saw and it has been great. Cuts straight and no issues yet When I picked it up, had a 20% coupon then had them unbox before I took it since it had damage to the package. One of the plastic knobs was broken and they gave me another $100 off for that, and didn't even ask them for for it. Put a good bimetal blade on it and haven't looked back.

Agree HF is hit or miss, but got lucky on this one.
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I have the Jet, but looking at the HF and since I have three stores near me, I'd get that in a heartbeat. One thing about HF, their customer service has been great. Never had them question me if something broke.

Also, they almost always have 25% off coupons and just had a 30% off for President's day.
 
I see Precision Mathews bandsaw has a gearbox to allow the speed to be changed. I wonder how essential it is to change the speed of the bandsaw?

Doing it by changing belts could get old pretty quick.
 
StevSmar said:
I see Precision Mathews bandsaw has a gearbox to allow the speed to be changed. I wonder how essential it is to change the speed of the bandsaw?

Doing it by changing belts could get old pretty quick.
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Hmm, I've never felt the need, controlling the feed rate has always been enough IMO.
 
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