Bandsaw/Wood Lathe

Thinking of getting one each in the next week. I have my mind made up on the brands and since I know little on the use or features of them am asking for pointers...you know-needs and need-nots of them sorta thing?

Any help or suggestions are considered and helpful!

Rikon bandsaw
Nova tekanatool wood lathe

 

Cool! But I'm not quite sure what you're asking here Dave? A lot depends on what you want to do with it.

There's a lot of extra tooling with a lathe, and if you want to get into bowls, there's even more. Plus the chisels and gouges will all need to be sharpened. As far as a bandsaw, its really just about the blades. Tighter curves require narrower blades; and the rule of thumb for TPI is "three in the cut".

 

No idea, but I'd like to get a BS.

Nope. Didn't happen.
Nope.

 

While on the topic...what wood you suggest to cut/rip branches in half longitudinal. The closest mill is a half day drive and I don't plan on makin lumber. Just want 6-8 inches wide for shelving. Tried a 3 inch on my 10 inch table saw and burned the tar out of it. So much smoke n bogged so bad I thought I burned out the motor. Would a band saw work or by being that much unsupported blade will it wander?

 

Thanks.

I will be using the saw for ripping and lathe prep and finishing...cutting face plate area off bottom of turnings etc. Also hope to open up some burls....

The lathe will be used for bowls (I hope) and maybe a few oddball projects here and there.
I realize that a convential bench grinder spins too fast to properly sharpen a chisel/gouge but have not yet purchased a half speed grinder-as I call them.
What about these different chucks I see available for bowls/projects? Worth the purchase? Can you remove it from one piece to start another and then replace it one the original piece with the same precision?

 

Man I sure wish I could help steer you in a direction but I myself just started last year.

So the band saw is going to complement the lathe primarily? This is what I was going to do but also wanted to build some small dovetail boxes. You should check them out on utube. Lots of different styles and the same kind of lathe will work well with both.

The Wood Wolverine, fishingpol, unclefess . Maybe you guys can help him understand some stuff.

I'm just gonna sit back and cause I'm gonna be in the market soon.

 

Well the prep work could be done on a smaller saw, but resawing takes a good amount of power, and you might struggle to make the cut you want on an odd shaped burl with insufficient cutting height/throat depth. One about the size of mine could be a good fit - 2HP, 12" resaw, 17" throat. I'd invest in a nice carbide tipped blade for those sorts of tasks as well - Lennox makes some nice ones at a fair price.

A set of stones will be the cheapest and most versatile sharpening tools. Most of the time you'll probably just need to hone them rather than grind.

The screw-on type face plates are much cheaper than a jawed chuck, but the jawed type are much easier and precise for remounting the work. But, you might be able to buy several of the screw on type for the same price and just leave them attached. You can spend an awful lot of money on specialty tooling; Id take a "wait and see" sort of approach to what you think you might need.

 

Is there a wood turners association near you? A guy I used to work with is a member of the North Dakota Wood Turning Association. They would have meetings and occasionally invite big name wood workers for conventions and their dues includes an insurance if you do a demonstration and someone got hurt. He said he made all sorts of connections and learned a lot from them.

 

How much money do you want to spend?
$400, 2,000?

 

A bandsaw will be a much better choice than a tablesaw for rough dimensioning like that. It takes a bit of practice to keep it from wandering, and for 6-8" wide, perhaps a shopmade tall fence. A tablesaw really requires at least a semi- squared corner on the piece so that it can feed into the blade perfectly straight. You could make a jig out of plywood or something to substitute for the squared corner, but you'll be limited in the depth of cut to around 3".

 

I'd say go right ahead and get a Rikon. I almost pulled the trigger on one myself before I found the used Grizzly.
I found this thread 15 min. before I had to leave for work so I'll respond later. In the mean time, check out this link. Penn State Industries | Pen Turning | Pen Kits | Dust Collector I'd highly recommend choosing a chuck. The screw on face plates require you to loose a lot of material due to the depth of needed screws.

Vs.

 

Tooling is key w/ a lathe. This is where you blow the budget. One thing I do not have but want/need is this tool rest.

And a sharpening system is a must. Tools loose a fine edge quickly and performance drops off. Haven't tried this but will soon.

A jig for guiding tools on a grinding wheel. My pop and I have been using bench belt sander w a fine grit to keep tools sharp, and he has a multi-shaped stone.

 

I can add a little bit. Shawn has good advice on the size of a band saw. At least 1 hp, better yet 2 hp is very sweet. Don't undersized and be disappointed. At least 14" on the width is nice. If you have a model number on a band saw, a search on the net will take you to top wood working websites with reviews.

I can't really give advice on the machines two you mentioned as I have older tools and I dont follow the latest models. I just work with what I have and that is fine by me.

Band saws a are on CL a lot around here. Good decent ones that someone bought for a small project and never used it again. They are asking almost new prices though. A larger band saw will be on my list. It will most likely be a Porter Cable or Delta. I have a small shop, and move machines around on wheeled bases. So a larger machine is not in the cards.
I'll keep the ready.

 

I'm thinking of this bandsaw

Buy Rikon 14" Open Stand Bandsaw, 1.5 HP at Woodcraft.com


And this lathe


Buy Nova 1624 II Lathe at Woodcraft.com

 

Those look pretty nice. Good features on both. Not sure price wise but those numbers sure look good for what you're getting.