By: Vickster Carsten

Vickster Carsten — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 17:00:48 +0000

I agree with Mr. Holliday concerning the BT bandsaws. I tried, but they flex the blades too much rounding the small wheels, and that kills the blades quickly. I am happy, however, that a neighbor has one because occasionally I want the abilities of a bandsaw, but the kerf of a jig-saw, so I go bum off of him on occasion. By like token, he enjoys my 14 incher. Primarily serving 3 tools (4 x 36 vertical sander, a home built 5.5″ wide “thicknessing” sander, and my 14″ BSaw) my vacuum system is my real pride and joy. All I do is turn on whichever tool I want, and the vacuum works, drawing only from that tool. A home-made cyclone takes out heavy stuff, and the ultra light dust is drawn through another cyclone that captures the dust and flushes it down the drain. NO fine dust is ‘recycled’ or inhaled.
Small shop. 100 sq. ft, of which I gave generously given my wife 9 s.f. for HER washing and drier. Ain’t I the sweet one?

By: John Holladay

John Holladay — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 22:05:12 +0000

I too use a benchtop drill press – no more room to put a free standing one. It does the job adequately, but occasionally, I would like to have one with bigger capacity. For 99% of my tasks, it is more than sufficient. I also have a benchtop scroll saw, planer, lathe and power miter saw. They all do very well for me. I am probably going to purchase a benchtop jointer as well, because, as mentioned before, I have no room. However, I tried a benchtop bandsaw for a while and that little tool was not even close to being able to do what I wanted it to do. For the most part, it was useless on anything thicker than 1 inch and it didn’t do a great job with that. I won’t say which brand to protect the innocent, but I now have a 14″ band saw and am much happier.

Comments on: Bigger Isn’t Always Better

By: Vickster Carsten

By: John Holladay