Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)14" Vertical Bandsaws are great. I've owned 2 of them in my life. Most ammatures shy away from 700+lb bandsaws because of the movability aspect, but you shouldn't. Get yourself a mini pallette jack or standard pallete jack to lift this thing around when necessary. Then you can leave it on 2x4's or 4x4'x. The machine is heavy enough that bolting it down is entirely unnecessary. Most of the weight in a 14" vertical bandsaw is in the arm and this is where the weight allows you to cut everything from sheet metal to billets of solid steel.
Wilton is a great brand, so is Jet, so is MSC, KBC and many of the others. In fact most of these bandsaws are made in the same factory. That said make sure you get a 1HP model. Don't settle for 1/2 or 3/4HP as this bandsaw is the beginning spectrum in the vertical metal-cutting bandsaw range, don't short change yourself by getting less then 1HP from the get go.
Input: My preference is for 110V 1HP as you can plug into any standard outlet. I have 110V 20Amp for my shop outlets and my bandsaw runs great on it. If you are doing a stationary installation the 220V may be better for you, otherwise you will use a 220V cord and those are generally limited to 6'. However 1HP is 1HP so 220 isn't going to give you more horses.
Mobility: As I said above a pallet jack moves this around with ease. Failing that I suggest having a local welding company weld you up a very solid 1000lb+ capacity mobile base. I've investigated every mobile base around and most are no where near strong enough for a unit of 700lb+ nor do they match the dimensions of the foot of this saw.
Blades: Contrary to what all these 14" bandsaw specs say, you can run 3/4" blades on these machines, in fact the wheels are designed for it by allowing the teeth to not rest on the wheel. The guides are highly adjustable as well and hold 3/4" easy. The only thing that has to be modified is 1 of the pegs that help close the top door. Why the engineers could not have made a different type of door closure system is beyond me. Simply take out this bolt (which will be obvious) as it will interfere with 3/4" blade travel, and bend the top tab on the bottom door away from it's peg and then your 3/4" blade travels perfectly. Easily done in a few seconds.
Alignment: This can't be overstated. When you get the bandsaw BEFORE even turning it on check the alignment of both the top guides and the bottom guides. Also there are 4 different front to back guides, two in the top and two in the bottom. Half of the front to back guides hold the whole guide assembly while the other half hold a brass pin of which works as a stop for the back of the blade. If this is difficult to imagine you will see and it will be clear when looking at the bandsw in person. Make sure that not only the guides are aligned, but also make sure the front to back guides have pushed the blade forward enough that the teeth do not enter the guides. If not you will push stock into the blade and the blades teeth will recess into the guides and break the teeth off, thus ruining your blade almost instantly. SO MAKE SURE you adjust the front to back travel behind the guides and make sure that brass pin, which is the final stop for the back of the bandsaw blade, is far enough forward to never allow the teeth to enter the path of those hardened tool steel guide.
Blade Welding: I advice total novices to buy pre-welded blades as this will make it much easier on you. Generally you will not break blades and so you will never use the annealing/welding station "unless" you buy coils of blade and weld your own blade lengths or on very rare instances you break a tooth off your blade. Thus you'll save yourself a lot of hassle by just buying pre-welded blades as they have total precision which I think even an expert will fine is hard to match. With that said the blade welder does great on 1/2" blades provided your skilled, you align the teeth perfectly, you have a mig or tig to fix anything that didn't get welded strong enough, plus you have grinders/sanders to make the blade exact tolerances (*Note the grinder on the machine is pretty difficult and inadequate, so don't try to rely solely on it). Again this is why I say save yourself the hassle and buy pre-welded blades from the get go. The blade welder station will weld 3/4" blades but annealing them was impossible for me, I just ended up getting the annealer to smoke :( so If needed i'd weld your 3/4 blades on the station, and then anneal with a propane or other torch very lightly. 1/2" blades are adequate but the 3/4" blades on this machine are phenemenonal, especially for long straight cuts through 1"+ thick material. 1/4-1/2" is better for contour cuts and adequate for thinner material(*as in under 1"). The blade that comes with this machine is nothing special, so get yourself a powerband or gladiator blade and describe your average process to a sales rep so you get the right thing. *Hint: You will save yourself time and frustration by writing down on the inside of the door in black permanent marker the blade length in both exact inches and in feet as catalogs often refer to one or the other, but rarely both. When buying pre-welded blades (not custom welded blades which you can have welded to any length but are generally more expensive or require minimum purchase of 2 or 3 or more) make sure you buy your pre-welded blade near the top length of your saws capability that way should you need to cut a section out and re-weld the blade you have adequate space to do so.
Cutting: Remember to keep 4-6 teeth in the stock at all times. This is what they call TPI (teeth per inch). If your cutting very thick stuff 1"+ then 4-6 Teeth per inch is fine, if your cutting thinner stock you will want anywhere from 10-14TPI to 14-18TPI(for cutting thin sheet metal). To put in perspective most hand hacksaw blades start at 14"TPI then go up to 18, 24 and 32. More teeth per inch gives you a smoother cut but removes less stock, and thus is slower, hence why it is used on thinner material. Less teeth gives you a rougher cut, removes more stock faster and is better on thicker material. Most people will want to order a blade for this saw that works good on high grade carbon steel and is 10-14TPI, for those only doing thin sheet metal fabrication you might want a 14-18TPI blade.
Learning your saw, adjusting the guides and the fences and taking some time to adjust and inspect before even starting the saw will be greatly advantageous and will probably stop you from ruining the blade that comes with it.
CONS: It would have been nice if they built in a small cord keeper on the side of the machine as those who are going to install a plug will find that there is nothing to coil that plug around when not in use. Agan it's a small thing. I wish they would have designed the door in such a way so that the 3/4" blade doesn't hit the door pegs and thus you have to remove them when using a 3/4" blade. Again that's a small nuisance. Overall this and other 14" bandsaws are worth the buy and they are all very similar, so find one that has a great price. One thing I like about some over others is that some come with tables that have fence/miter guage grooves. Thats a huge benefit for those wantting to making straigt cuts.
-Cheers
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Adjustable work lamp. Built in chip blower. Chip tray. Blade speed and pitch selector. Variable speed drive system. Adjustable carbide blade guides. Largest cast iron tilting table. Rip fence. LED SFPM readout. Miter gauge. 2 YEAR LIMITED PARTS WARRANTY. PRE-PAID FREIGHT IN CONTINENTAL USA.
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