Lessons (not so serious) in Bandsaw Buying

[paul.cleary]

I'm still in the process of buying a bandsaw and here are some lessons I have learnt so far:
1. There is no such thing as a cheap good bandsaw (unless you inherit it from a relative).
2. There are lots of bad bandsaws out there at both the cheap and not-so-cheap ends of the market.
3. The price of the bandsaw you want will always be 2 times the amount of $ you have.
4. No one bandsaw will ever have all the features you want.
5. You need 2 lists - 1 list is all the features you want and 1 list is all the faults to avoid (thanks to Lonnie Bird here)
6. The picture in the catalogue is an unreliable guide to the bandsaw - always do a hands-on inspection on the shop floor of the actual model you are interested in .
7. Ask the salesperson nicely before cheerfully pulling a bandsaw apart on the shop floor to check the finer details.
8. The typical salesperson will not know as much as you about bandsaws but they do know how to part you from your $ when you are in the grip of machinery lust.

Cheers
Paul

[barnsey]

G'day Paul

Welcome and have to agree with your comments with the following proviso's

Points 1,2 &3 go without saying about anything along with 6,7 & 8.

I'm at a total loss why you've limited your discussion to Bandsaws :confused:

The tricky bits (4 & 5) is what all newbies go through and you've obviously listened to advice. Good luck with your decision - sounds like you are on the right track.

Jamie