Replies

1. 
   forestgirl | Feb 16, 2008 06:55pm | #1

   John, if you click on Advanced Search (over toward the top of the left column, under the "Show discussions" box) and type in rikon band saw you'll get some hits.  I would suggest you research at several different forums, as the Rikon is relatively new, and from what I've read the quality varies widely from one machine to another.

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 
   
1. 
   jpat | Feb 17, 2008 03:21am | #2

   Thanks Forest,

   I had done a search but needed to refine it a bit .... and you where right plenty of info to say the least !

   Thanks again, John

1. 
   forestgirl | Feb 17, 2008 05:57am | #3

   "...but needed to refine it a bit "  There's the rub with the Prospero search function, ain't that easy to "refine" LOL!

   I'm still leary of the Rikon stuff -- seems like they're either great out of the box, or so messed up you want to scream.  At least that's my impression from the stuff that gets posted.  Good luck with your research!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

1. 
   jpat | Feb 17, 2008 04:14pm | #4

   Hey Forest,

   I know what you mean. I am kindda new to the Knots thing, but I have also found that searching for a specific magazine article "ain't" so easy either.

   Thanks again, John 

1. 
   forestgirl | Feb 17, 2008 06:18pm | #5

   If you happen to know the author's name, that will help quite a bit in your article searches.  Otherwise, as you've apparently discovered, you get so many irrelevant hits it can be very frustrating.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

2. 
   woodchip20 | Feb 17, 2008 07:33pm | #6

   Good morning, I am not real sure about the Rikon band saw, but I was doing some research this last summer for 14" bandsaw's. I looked at a lot of discussion groups and reviews. At about that time, right before I was going to buy a jet 15", Sear's sent me a sales flyer. I know nobody likes craftsman power tools anymore, and I am in that group most of the time. I bought an 18 volt drill and it was the worst drill I have ever owned. Any way I checked it out and went to a local store and looked at one. It looks identical to the Rikon, before the Rikon went up to 12" resaw. It is better built in my opinion than a lot of the 14" bandsaws on the market. It has 8" resaw, which for me is plenty. I bought it and am really glad I did. I gave $350.00 for it because of the sale, I think it normally goes for $499.00 which is a lot cheaper than most of the 14" models. If you get on sears.com there are quite a few reviews on it. Just my opinion. Good luck. Oh yea, I believe Popular woodworking mag did a review just recently on 14" bandsaws. I think that was who it was, not real sure. Anyway good luck.

    

1. 
   forestgirl | Feb 18, 2008 07:22am | #8

   Does the model number for that bandsaw have an OR in it?  If so, it's made by Orion.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

1. 
   woodchip20 | Feb 18, 2008 11:47pm | #9

   Good afternoon forestgirl,

   No there is no OR in the model #. Mine is the professional model, it's not the 14" model that is pictured on FWW website on bandsaws. Mine looks just like the Rikon, except it is black and silver.

   Rick

3. 
   tom77 | Feb 18, 2008 06:06am | #7

   FWW, issue no. 193 (Oct 2007) just did a review on 14" bandsaws.

4. 
   TWM | Feb 19, 2008 07:35am | #10

   I wanted to chime in here as the current owner of the RIkon bandsaw (love it) and the FORMER owner of TWO DIFFERENT Powermatic 14" bandsaws that I could never got a riser block to work in. Below is an excerpt from an email I sent to a friend comparing the 2 different machines.

   ...As I mentioned to you, I have owned TWO 14" Powermatics in the last 2 months and have been unsatisfied with the alignment of the wheels after adding the 6" riser block. I am convinced this is a design flaw in the block as Fine Woodworking commented they could not get the wheels to align on either the Jet or Powermatic they tested in their shootout. Anyway - here is my experience with the Rikon having unboxed it only a few hours ago.

   Assembly time - Not a dealbreaker cause you only do it once, but I had this thing assembled, tuned and making sawdust less than 2 hours after I opened the box. Compare that to 6 hours for Powermatic #1 and 5 Hours for Powermatic #2. I think it is a pretty big difference. Half of the assembly time on the Rikon is putting the base together. I think it took me almost 2 hours just to get the Powermatic table assembled and aligned.

   Fit / Finish: Very Good / Excellent. I would give the Powermatic a Good here (alignment issues aside). The Rikon upper and Lower doors work better. Blade guard is smooth operator, trunion is about the same, but Rikon has a rack and pinion which makes it feel a little smoother. No sharp or rough edges on the steel or paint - similar to the Powermatic in this regard.

   Operation - VERY QUIET. Hard to compare to the powermatic cause i didn't have them side by side, but it is noticeably quieter than my dad's benchtop craftsman I had been using since returning Powermatic #2. No vibration at all. Powermatic #1 was equally vibration free. Powermatic #2 had an obviously out of balance upper wheel and shook too much to be usable (in fairness, would be an easy fix with some lead tape, but not what i would expect from a $900 saw).

   Design - This is not really a fair comparison b/c the Powermatic is a 60 year old design, but I prefer the single piece upper frame at this stage. It seems with the PM, a lot of the features are 'bolted on' as opposed to 'designed in'. For example, you have to wrangle the tension release on the PM around the blade guard and upper housing to move it up and down. The RIkon is a simple lever that has its own dedicated 'space' on the back of the saw.

   The blade guard has a rack and Pinion and is easy to adjust via a hand crank. The PM is slid up and down manually which is less user friendly. The sturdiness of each is comparable.

   PM has that little dust blower thingy that the Rikon lacks. It came in handy on the ONE cut I ever made on the PM but is obviously not the reason you would pick one over another. Both have a light, with PM's getting the nod for better placement.

   Use - I only made 1 cut on the Powermatic--resawing the bookmatched mahogany tabletop on that project I sent you a couple months ago. The PM performed fine--plenty of power and a pretty smooth cut. I have not made a similar cut on the Rikon yet, but I did slice some 1/8" inlay strips tonite and it performed fine. I also made some cuts in 8/4 maple to test the power and it cut well, but I havent given it the type of big resaw test I gave the Powermatic. The point being I cannot say one way or the other if it is adequately powered. I will follow up if I determine that this critical detail is lacking in the RIkon. [UPDATE: i have resawn some 11" walnut since writing the review. the Rikon didnt miss a beat - plenty of power]

   Some other random datapoints :

   Rikon fence rail is sturdy and easy to adjust for drift, but IT DOES NOT EXTEND TO THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BLADE! WTF? if you want to cut on the right side of the blade you have to UNBOLT the fence rail and move it! Absurd design - I may opt for an aftermarket fence if this becomes an annoyance.

   RIkon has 2 power cords - 1 for the light and 1 for the motor. I guess it is to allow you to run the motor on 220 and the light on 110, but annoying that I need to plug 2 things in.

   FYI, I passed on the Laguna b/c it was going to cost $1700 (including shipping) to get it here to Texas and they had a 2 month backorder. I opted instead for the Rikon (sub $700 after 10% Woodcraft discount coupon) AND a new fence for my tablesaw AND probably a thickness sander and will still come in under the $1700 the Laguna would have cost.