Thread: New Jet 15" Bandsaw + 1/2" Wood slicer blade

You gotta be happy with that!
Where did you get the blade from?

Highland Woodworking (USA) wasn't cheap though. $32 USD for 133" blade. I'll probably reserve these blades just for resaw work and cheaper blades for every day use.

What was the shipping like from Highland? I have a number of things I’d like to get from them but need to email them for a quote on shipping to Australia.

I got two 1/2" blades, 2 3/4", 2 1/4" and 2 3/8" i think plus one of those kreg 7" resaw fence attachments (probably don't need it) and it was $75 for shipping.

Damn that’s pretty good, thanks mate!

Might as well give a quick review of this bandsaw too while i'm at it.

I went into Carbatec with the sole intention of purchasing a Sawstop PCS and they happened to have one of the new Jet 15" Bandsaw's on the showroom floor. Right next to the door. It had been returned by a customer as it had a tiny paint scratch and apparently when he/she received it, some of the protective paper on the bandsaw table had come off and a bit of surface rust had formed. They got a replacement bandsaw and Carbatec were looking to move this one off quickly. Considering I was purchasing the PCS on the same day along with some other gear, they did a good deal for me and I got it at a nicely discounted price. They had already cleaned off the surface rust on the table too. It was on my list of things to buy eventually. A definite upgrade from my 'Heavy Duty' 14" carbatec model

The Saw is excellent. Plenty of power. Jet rates this motor as 1-3/4" HP but I think that is at normal operation rather than max as judging by the size of the motor physically, it looks like a max rated 3hp motor. 14" resaw capacity. The guides are excellent and you don't need any tools at all to loosen, adjust and tighten them. The motor has some sort of internal brake and the saw stops in only a matter of seconds which I think is great. It does, though, make it difficult to rotate the wheels when trying to adjust blade tracking. Not a big deal. The on/off switch isn't great. Which is surprising considering the rest of the saw quality. The blade guards have little windows build in so you can check tracking and blade tension with the doors close. Two 4" dust ports that do quite a good job even with my low CFM dust collector. as the dust port directly below the table has a good shroud around it to channel the suction directly to the blade. Proximity sensor on the doors so the saw can't start with them open. The fence is bloody awesome. Easy to adjust for any drift and you can use it in either the vertical orientation for resaw or you can take off and rotate the fence 90 degrees and use it in a lower profile orientation. I've only had it a month or so and so far, can't find much to fault it on. Very solid, quiet, easy to adjust and well built.

Hi - the timing of your post is unbelievable, thank you. I was looking at that Jet model yesterday. I was concerned about its perceived low power when compared to its peers (I am trying to decide between a Laguna SUV and a Hammer N3800). Did you look at other models or decide to purchase the Jet given the excellent opportunity? Having not owned a bandsaw before I am a little overwhelmed with the number of options!!

Originally Posted by hurcorh

Highland Woodworking (USA) wasn't cheap though. $32 USD for 133" blade. I'll probably reserve these blades just for resaw work and cheaper blades for every day use.

Thanks. I'm pretty keen to try them out as I've only heard good things about them.

Originally Posted by DeeSki

Hi - the timing of your post is unbelievable, thank you. I was looking at that Jet model yesterday. I was concerned about its perceived low power when compared to its peers (I am trying to decide between a Laguna SUV and a Hammer N3800). Did you look at other models or decide to purchase the Jet given the excellent opportunity? Having not owned a bandsaw before I am a little overwhelmed with the number of options!!

Hi DeeSki. I had a small Carbatec Bandsaw that I had always been disappointed with so jumped at this opportunity. The price drop had me sold. I was also looking at the Laguna but don't have a local distributor and like to at least look at an item in person before I purchase it. Yeah, the HP on the motor is odd. I got my mate to measure startup and running amps compared to my sawstop 3hp and they were pretty similar so i'm pretty confident the 1-3/4 jet motor will be more than enough.

I don't know the retail on the hammer unit but i'm sure you'd be pretty happy with either of the three you chose. The fence on the hammer and the Laguna look like good designs. The Laguna has the shorest blade length (3175mm) and the hammer has the longest at 3556mm.

Thanks again for the above, some useful insights. The Hammer is about $400 more than the Jet with the only other material differences being the extra 1/2 HP and a claim that it is made in Austria. Good to know your Jet is traveling well after a month. Cheers!