Thread: Bandsaw or Table saw???

Originally Posted by Lignum

For mine a table saw first up wins hands down. It takes a bit of practice to use a Bandsaw accurate enough to make good dimensioned straight stock to make furniture, where as the table saw will do it with ease straight up. I know you can cut curves on a BS but you need to ask yourself how much curved work will go into what you making to start with? Generally a small percentage and then you can get around it with a jigsaw for the time being. Like the majority I have both, and the table saw would get 85% of use compared to 15% with the BS. I love my BS but the table saw is the heart of the workshop.

And if your tight for space, add about $150 for a mobile wheel base. Worth its weight in gold

What Lig said is my way of thinking too... buy both be happy

I've just been down this route and went for a bandsaw. I intend to do final accurate dimensioning with handplanes, so I don't really have any need for the additional accuracy of a tablesaw.

I bought a 14" Tanner (second hand, for $330 shipped to my door), and am getting the Kreg fence for it (I'm in Washington DC for a conference next week, so I've bought it off Amazon and am getting it sent to my hotel. US$107 all up )

Originally Posted by NZStu

..........I bought a 14" Tanner (second hand, for $330 shipped to my door)

I reckon that's a good way to go. There is an article in the most recent AWR (shed edition) with tips on what to look for in a second hand bandsaw.

Originally Posted by toolbagsPLUS

I would heartily recommend a good bandsaw it's far more versatile and with a good fence it will (with practice) do all a table saw will (a bit slower maybe?) but it will also do many things a table saw won't/can't e.g Wide re-saw, Curves etc, plus the advantage of less wastage with the kerf cut.

Get the best your budget will allow you won't regret it.


Cheers


Steve

Absolutely catagorically NOT true. A bandsaw does not do blind cuts for a start, including dadoes. You can't joint on a bandsaw no matter how well you set it up.

This is a religeous war and I am pleased everyone has been so sensible about it.

One thing not mentioned (that I noticed) is noise. A table saw produces more dust but also more noise.

If your space limited you can mount a router table on the side of a table saw. You can also lower the blade, fit a timber top and use it as a work surface. you can joint and thickness to just under double the cutting height of your blade. On a 12" machine that's up to 4", so an 8" jointer thicknesser.

I have a 3 wheel bandsaw. I know they are out of fashion. I hardly use the thing so mine is adequate for my use. I love my tablesaw/router/incra and use it a lot, but as always depends on what your doing and how you prefer to go about it. I disagree the table saw is necessarily the heart of a good shop. You could just as easily argue a handplane is the heart of a good shop. Your supposed to be having fun, plot your own course..

I would suggest that $1500+ goes to a table saw. A 14" bandsaw will be very handy for curved head boards and re-sawing timber, but you don't need to spend as much to get the value. I would suggest a budget split 75/25 to 80-20 between table saw and bandsaw and go for both.

I have a 1hp 14" bandsaw and it happily rips through 4" recycled (old and hard) Jarrah and other hardwoods. They key is to keep the blades in good condition. It cost me $250 from ebay. Bare in mind too that a great bandsaw blade costs about $35 but a fine tooth 10" tct table saw blade is $75 to $150+ (others may have comments on these ranges too).

Happy hunting.

I have had a couple of table saws and i have a largish band saw.

I can tell you that neither will do the job of the other.

The table saw is by far the most versatile.....the band saw simply can not compete with a table saw for cut quality.

If you cut a piece of timber well and accurately on a table saw there will be no need to do any futher machining in that surface for either accuracy or surface finish.
Cut and glue..end story
.
If you have a table saw you can almost completly eliminate the need for a jointer or thicknesser if you are working within the depth of cut of the machine.

you can not do meaningfull work on pannel goods on a band saw, you are limited to the throat depth which aint much comperd to a 1200 x2400 sheet.

the band saw can not compete on the basis of cutting tool durability, almost all table saws these days are used with carbide tipped blades which handle hard and abrasive woods and other materials far far better than even the hardest band saw blade.

on the other hand, table saws do not do curves...well not well and safely.
a table saw can not compete on the basis of depth of cut.

and ripping anything other than small pieces on a band saw is a slow and expensive process....and yes I do have a good variety of blades.

I have both and I have come to the conclusion that if the table saw will do the cut...that is what I will use.....only if the table saw wont do the cut do I use the band saw.

If I had to keep one and not the other...at the moment I would have to say I would keep the table saw.

if you are going to buy a band saw however....forget the 14 inch machines..they simply are a toy....by the time you buy the spacer blocks and upgrade the guides and stuff, you could have baught a 17 or 18 inch machine which will be far more capable then the modified 14 inch machine can ever be.

a band saw is a much more quiet, peacefull and calm device and less prone to bite you or spit things at you.


cheers

What to do, what to do?

So many good arguments on both sides.
If I had the space and money I would definitely buy both.

Soundman, what do you find yourself using the bandsaw for? (apart from curves)

I used to use it for cutting blocks of foam when I was fitting out road cases, I tried it for breaking down and milling wood, but I can do better in the big stuff free hand with a chain saw, the go across the the table saw.

I've used it more recently for cutting up large blocks of floatation foam for my boat.

I do use it for cutting disks that are too thick for the router and for rounding up turning blanks.



I do use the table saw far more..always have done

cheers

My main use is the tablesaw, and bandsaw is used to rip thick rough timber and some circular work for those tissue boxes.

Bear in mind a large bandsaw 10" plus depth of cut means lifting a very heavy piece of timber up to the table. Nine feet of 12" width by 4" deep might easily weigh over 1cwt.

You original issue was space more than money. The $ you've mentioned would get you both but you've said you've not got space for both. Unless we know exactly what space you have and exactly what your likely to be doing it's a hard call.

Consider this, either outcome would be good, there isn't a BAD answer.

As I say my saw is on wheels and I roll it around on thick carpet no problem. The incra makes it 6' long and of course it's about 30" wide so it's a big monster, but it also has a router table and can be used as a workbench if you make a ply, or similar, top. So if you like your using that signifigant space 3 times over.

And just to be clear, jointing cuts can be made double the cut depth, albiet with a witness line. You turn the work end over end and cut a second time, so I can joint about 7" on my machine. You can of course joint with a router aswell, and (shock) a jointing plane

I basically never use my bandsaw. For curved cuts I usually turn to my jigsaw and clean up with scrapers and router. YMMV.

dont fluff around get a panel saw, i bought one for 1000 bucks less then a good droppie, bandsaw you can get for song i have a small workshop and i fit it in real easy....

Table saw ? Bandsaw? what a predicament. Its a hard call. both machines in my workshop get used regularly. They each have their own pros and cons but for my money I would get a TS if I was limited to space where I could not have both but I would bend over backwards to try and make space somehow to have both. I don't feel the 14" bandsaw is a toy as mentioned in an earlier post, Lot of forumites and other woodworkers use the 14" and find it quite adequate.

I agree that 14" isn't "a toy."

But by the same token I reckon it's the smallest you want to go for any serious WW.

Id like to have a 14" BS too accompany my 18" BS, the 18 cant take finer than a 1/4" blade.