Saw choice

Hi,

Firstly, hello! I'm a newbie turner, based in Derbyshire, England. I'm about to invest in a saw for wood preparation, and I'm wondering if it would be best to get a table saw, or a band saw. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Giles. (Up to his armpits in shavings!)

Reply to
Giles
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Tuff choice. If you are not hurting for space, I'd go with the table saw. Band saws are great tools when they are tuned up, a table saw has less to go wrong with it.

Reply to
Phisherman

Giles That is a hard call. I like having both but if I had to give up one it would likely be the table saw. On the other hand I have had a band saw a lot longer than the table saw so I may be prejudiced .

Reply to
Darrell Feltmate

For woodturning, definitely the bandsaw. If you are doing mostly spindle work, the tablesaw *might* be better. There are those who claim that, even for flat work, the bandsaw should be the first power saw purchase. IIRC, Gary Rogowski claimed this in a FWW article some time back.

You probably want a 14" or 16" model.

LD

Reply to
Lobby Dosser

If you are just preparing stock for the lathe............go for the bandsaw. It's hard to saw a bowl blank round on a table saw. The best you can do is just knock off the corners. Get the largest bandsaw you can afford. A 14" will do. Larger is better. You can also do a decent job on green wood bowl blanks with a good chainsaw.

If you are preparing wood for general woodworking, the choices are a little harder.

Ripping boards to narrower widths is easier on a tablesaw, although a bandsaw can work quite well.

Cut-off work or cutting boards to length is the forte' of the radial arm saw.

For general cabinet work, a tablesaw is much more useful than a radial arm saw or a bandsaw, although I'm sure many others would argue this point.

So, take your pick for now and save your money. If you continue with this insane hobby, you're gonna want one of each.

Barry

Reply to
Barry N. Turner

Hi Giles

The question is what do you want to turn ??? If only chair/table legs and candle holders, you could get away with a table saw, to saw up some boards. If on the other hand you would like to make some bowls and or hollow forms, than a chain saw and band saw would be what you need, you could get away with only an electric chain saw if you can haul your wood home, and saw into the needed sizes, but if you are able to get green/wet wood in larger sizes you would need a gasoline chain saw, that is what most turners use for cutting up tree trunks or limbs, unless you want to go at it with a hand saw. Of course you could buy some nice kiln dried tropical hardwood bowl blanks, if money is no object, does make some nice expensive wood chips and curls.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Giles wrote:

Reply to
Leo Van Der Loo

Me too. With a bit of care, you can do all the cuts you'll need for woodturning with a band and hand saw of the crosscut variety. Leave it up to you whether you want push or pull teeth. The quality of your cuts will depend directly on the quality of your saw, so don't try to be frugal. The saws are "good enough" engineered in the sub 14" range, and that's not good enough for heavy work. You've got some classy steel machinery available over there, so you might want to look at it over Chiwan cast iron.

Reply to
George

Hello Giles,

I have been using an Elektra Beckum BAS 315 bandsaw that I bought in the UK from Yandles in Somerset, for the past 5 years and it does nearly everything I want it to do, it does have some limitations. It has ample room for the average requirements of a woodturner. 12.1/2" throat, 6" cutting height, 88" blade length on 2 wheels. Can be a bit pricey but it is very tolerant of idiots and I should know!!!

Regards, Peter Charles Fagg Freshwater, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom.

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Reply to
Peter Charles Fagg

I use my bandsaw all the time with my woodturning. I never use my tablesaw. Nashville, GA Cold As A Witches Behind In January

Reply to
Ghodges2

I think someone else mentioned this but I think it bears repeating: It all depends on what the turner wants to work on at the moment.

For green and roughing work most of us turn first to our bandsaws. They're versatile, can cut or trim a pretty large chunk and they cut circles. Problem is that they aren't particularly accurate and the finish is fairly rough.

If, however, the OP is interested in segmented work then a bandsaw isn't as useful as a tablesaw or mitersaw. The quest here is accurate angled cuts with a good cut surface finish.

Reply to
Owen Lowe

I use my bandsaw and tablesaw with my woodturning. The bandsaw cuts blanks, rips boards, and cuts up some tree limbs. The tablesaw is used to support my Jet mini lathe. Martin Long Island NY

Reply to
Martin Rost

Thanks for all the tips - since I'm planning to use it mostly for turning (I'm not feeling up to cabinet making yet) I'll probably got for the bandsaw. Now to find a decent one at a price that won't also earn me a divorce! ....

A couple of people have also recommended a chainsaw - I've got one of those, as we also have a couple of log fires and a friendly farmer who lets me thin his trees from time to time. A few weeks ago, he dropped of an entire beech tree for me! I've cut some chunks and done some green turning for practice, although I think it needs to season for a bit longer. The trick will be to rescue enough of it from the lathe to burn next winter!

Mind you, having looked at Peter Fagg's website just now, perhaps I should chuck it all in now; I don't think I'll ever aspire to that level of skill! :-{

Cheers!

Giles.

Reply to
Giles

Giles, thankyou for the kind words, please see my work as inspiration not as a barrier, please copy it but while doing so just that add something of your own to establish your own mark of identity.

If you need any help or advice just ask, woodturners the world over are renowned for wanting to help, wanting to reveal many of the secrets, wanting to help others attain the experience of uncovering the beauty of wood in all it's forms.

If you get really stuck, please feel free to email me, Regards, Peter Charles Fagg Freshwater, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom.

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Reply to
Peter Charles Fagg

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