Replies

1. 
   oldusty | Sep 19, 2008 05:03pm | #1

     An old friend does slab work and has a Hobart set up for resawing , it is sweet, not sure how much modification was done .My guess is the guides may need to be changed and possibly the motor .It seems he rigged some kind of an extension of the sliding table also .

                have fun           dusty

1. 
   dougmeyer | Sep 19, 2008 05:12pm | #2

   Ok, I am lost on this one. I guess I have to ask, why would you buy a new BS designed for cutting meat for that kind of cost and use it on wood, vs just buying one designed for wood. Remember that some of the cost of the Hobart is to make it legal to cut food with and thus it needs to be cleanable in a way that a wood saw does not amongst other things. So you are paying for features that you will not use. (I assume you do not intend to cut wood and meat with the same saw :))

   Doug M

1. 
   oldusty | Sep 19, 2008 05:31pm | #3

     Doug ,

             The OP said he was considering a used model not a new one .

           Depending where you live and if you hunt the BS can make quick work of a Deer and others as well .

         My old Delta still has blood stains from the guy before me who butchered a Deer on it .

                        regards from Oregon         dusty

1. 
   dougmeyer | Sep 19, 2008 06:07pm | #4

   Ok let me rephrase this. Why would you BUY a band saw for cutting wood that was designed for cutting meat. I have to think that if it started life as $7000 then even used it will be as much as a good (not great) woodworking bandsaw would be new (well maybe not the likes of the big big ones) And it will be used, a LOT. I have a buddy that is a butcher, and they tend to use those saws all day long.

   So I guess my point was and is unless this is amazingly cheep I would have to think that a saw designed for wood to begin with would give you more bang for the buck.

   Doug M.

1. 
   heartwould | Sep 19, 2008 06:10pm | #5

   Instead of having hickory smoked steaks, you could just have hickory stakes . . .

2. 
   oldusty | Sep 19, 2008 07:45pm | #7

   What time is dinner ?

3. 
   heartwould | Sep 19, 2008 07:54pm | #8

   I'm not sure, the beef quarter keeps setting off the SawStop brake. So far we're looking at $160 a pound steaks . . .

4. 
   oldusty | Sep 19, 2008 07:45pm | #6

     Doug , If I'm not mistaken the meat saws have a much taller capacity for resawing and such , and a wide throat coupled with a sliding table of sorts the one I saw in use was in a word skookem .

      Also they have huge thrust bearings and the main frame is beefy , no  pun intended.

                      dusty

5. 
   dougmeyer | Sep 19, 2008 07:58pm | #9

   A couple of good points that. I guess I would all depend on the cost. IF you can get it cheep enough, and if it is in good enough shape. But I would expect that if it is being sold it is pretty well used.  One thing I do wonder about is can you get blades for it or do you need to have them made or make them yourself?

   Doug M

6. 
   oldusty | Sep 19, 2008 10:29pm | #10

      Doug ,

             Yup , if you can buy used cheap or at least pay the price things are worth to you at least you won't start out in the hole  .

        Now a days unfortunately business's are here today and gone tomorrow often victims of our economy and the slight recession they say we are headed for , I thought we were in a recession and now headed for a depression , what do I know ?

      Many times an old machine can be found at an estate auction or farm sale or even a yard sale .

       Band saw blades do come in a few ready made sizes like a standard 14" BS may use a 92 1/4"  blade , but for the most part any saw sharpening shop ( I said the "S" word let's not go there) will cut and weld BS blades to your specs and the tooth configuration you want . Not sure if there are special teeth for meat cutting .

                 dusty

     

7. 
   philip | Sep 19, 2008 11:50pm | #11

   Dusty, I have often looked at the bigger butcher band saws- and thought they would be good for wood-for all the points you mention-plus you don't have to banish brother-in-laws and other difficult people from cutting wet stuff on them.I never found one going cheap.
   Another point of interest: David Charlesworth uses butcher blades because they are very thin with minimal set which is excellent for cutting dovetails. I use metal cutting blades for the same reason except that I don't score on the thickness as they are thick, but if you can get a saw doctor to sharpen them they are tremendous and last for ages.Philip Marcou

2. 
   PADDYDAHAT | Sep 20, 2008 02:52am | #12

   dusty, I recall hearing/reading of Tage Frid when teaching in his home shop, came in one morning with a frozen loin of ? pork/lamb whacked off a bunch of chops on his BS while telling that early assembly that the head chef said that they would be having guests for dinner that evening. I wouldn't doubt that story for a nano second. ha ha ha .

   The other big meat saw is Byrd or is it Bird?  Does anyone know their speeds, is it adjustable? I expect that the table trunions are significant, not like the cheepo aluminum on our off shore saws. Paddy

1. 
   dougmeyer | Sep 20, 2008 04:02pm | #13

   Yeah, I just figured that if it cost 7000 new you would still be spending a LOT for it used, and a lot of the reason it cost that much new (being as it works with food) is something a wood worker does not need. So a wood saw should be cheaper. Having worked with local Health Departments to get past their inspections for a store or restaurant I hate to think what you have to do to get a saw approved for use in the food industry.

    On the other hand if you can get a used one cheep enough that is a different story.

   Doug M

2. 
   oldusty | Sep 20, 2008 05:07pm | #14

     Dougy , That is the name of the game when you buy used . Some of my best deals were bought very cheap and then I spent weeks trying to fix them up , so some bargains are and some aren't.

      The stainless steels used contribute to the cost of the meat saws but the sliding table when modified can almost be like a sliding TS , you may not need it often but when you do , it is good .Craigs list E bay has them now and then .

                dusty

2. 
   WillGeorge | Sep 20, 2008 10:03pm | #15

   Remember that some of the cost of the Hobart is to make it legal to cut food with and thus it needs to be cleanable in a way that a wood saw does not amongst other things. So you are paying for features that you will not use. RIGHT ON! Somebody has to pay for the lawyers!

2. 
   DonfromUtah | Sep 20, 2008 11:00pm | #16

   I've noted that there aren't as many butcher shops as there used to be and even supermarkets are bringing in more and more pre-packaged meats. With this contracting market, it seems reasonable to me that used meat saws may be selling fairly cheaply.

1. 
   KungFuJesus | Sep 21, 2008 01:06am | #17

   i used to work in a meat plant as a sawman and i can say, if you can get one of those monster bandsaws to work with wood it would be magic. we had two. i dont remember the wheel diameter but the saw itself stood about 8' high with a 4' sliding table and probably a good foot and a half of clearance from the table to the blade guide. for a small shop a saw like that would be more than overkill but if you are cutting your own lumber it would certainly make your life easier. it took no pressure at all to cut bones, the blade went through them like nothing so i imagine wood wouldn't be a problem. it wouldn't take long to clean either, if you even had to, as there really wasn't anywhere for sawdust(or meat dust, saw-meat-dust?) to hide.