New Band Saw

[Victory Pete]

Is this band saw adequate for guitar building? I have an old Craftsman 12" band saw that is a bit wobbly that I have been using. This Rikon is on sale for this month. http://www.rikontools.com/productpage_10-321.htm

[B. Howard]

I get by with less....Will probably not do a lot in the way of resawing backs and tops but other than that would work fine.

[Victory Pete]

I get by with less....Will probably not do a lot in the way of resawing backs and tops but other than that would work fine.

What exactly is resawing backs and tops?

[B. Howard]

Cutting your own back and top sets from a "buck" or billet is typically done on a band saw. The process of cutting large pieces of wood into smaller ones for any particular project is re-sawing (guess that should have had a hyphen?). So basically sawing your own top sets from a large piece of wood.

I get by with less....Will probably not do a lot in the way of resawing backs and tops but other than that would work fine.

What exactly is resawing backs and tops?

Resawing is sawing thick pieces of wood into thinner pieces. A piece of wood, 1"x6"x30" could be resawn into two pieces, approx. 3/8"x6"x30".
Or...resawn into 3 pieces, approx. 1/4"x6"x30"
-tommy

[Victory Pete]

Thanks, that is what I thought.

[ruby@magpage.com]

Since nothing on the guitar is left with the raw saw marks, I bet your Craftsman can be made to do just fine. I have used my older, bottom-of-the-line Delta 14" to build houses, boats and furniture as well as guitars. It can cut up to 6" if I go slow enough, use the right blade, and am not too worried about the quality of the cut, but I don't do that too often - I don't re-saw my backs and tops. Maybe just new tires on the wheels and better blade guides and Bob's your uncle.

Ed Minch

Since nothing on the guitar is left with the raw saw marks, I bet your Craftsman can be made to do just fine. I have used my older, bottom-of-the-line Delta 14" to build houses, boats and furniture as well as guitars. It can cut up to 6" if I go slow enough, use the right blade, and am not too worried about the quality of the cut, but I don't do that too often - I don't re-saw my backs and tops. Maybe just new tires on the wheels and better blade guides and Bob's your uncle.

Ed Minch

...and a Timberwolf blade.