Sheeze, lumber prices have sure gone up, I paid over $3/ft for 1x6 eastern white cedar yesterday. I’m using that since I can’t get any western red it seems.
Anyone have issues with one species over the other?
My 25-year-old little bandsaw is falling apart, and couldn’t handle the amount of ripping here. Can’t afford one of the pro units, but this one from Harbor Freight has good reviews and a great price.
Anyone have this, or found a better unit for near the price?
Why not a bench top unit? Less space and you’ll probably be able to cut most things on it.
I’m with Sean. I REALLY like the benchtop units, but I guess it really depends on what how you plan to use it. What are YOUR plans?
(There are a LOT more benchtop units available out there!)
The one I’m getting rid of is a 9" benchtop, and has served well. But it can only take a 1/4" blade, and isn’t very powerful. My table saw also broke down beyond repair.
So the plan is to not replace the TS, but get a more powerful bandsaw. Over the years, I’ve used the BS far more than the TS; and I prefer a circular saw for large sheet cutting.
The 1/2" blade and greater HP should help with the scale lumber ripping (~700 feet of it for this bridge), giving cleaner cuts.
Fwiw: I have a Grizzly 14” bandsaw but it costs more. I find that a 3/4 inch, thin blade gives me good cuts. And I use it for everything.
But, pricey…
What’s wrong with the table saw?
Bearings gone?
Thanks Jim, that does look tempting, and it does have a nice fence (I’m eyeing a $120 quality fence to go with the HF saw). This would cost $180 for shipping, bummer… But I do like the 3/4 blade. And Grizzly seems well respected.
It was a recent Porter-Cable with a blade-lowering mechanism of a terrible design. Once it seized up, there was no getting it up or down. They no longer produce it, for good reason.
After a couple attempts to fix and waiting a couple years wondering what to do about it, I pinched it off and gave it away. [edit] To a guy who didn’t care if the blade ever lowered 
I’ve had the Grizzly that Jim mentioned for over 15 years. It’s great and has held up well.
Thanks Jim and Doc, I’ll probably head in that direction now.
One thing to note, I think with any bandsaw, is that it takes a bit of fiddling to get it set up to work well. Grizzy has a number of videos that helped me.
Here’s a link to the Grizzly youtube channel. Lots of videos there.
Thanks Jim, that’ll help a LOT.
[edit] Looks like shipping is ~$200 + a $35 lift gate fee. I suppose that’s typical for a larger machine. But with the better blades and caster set, I’m now $900 over the $450 HF saw. So I need to think it over a bit more, and ensure where the funds are coming from.
Well, I sure wish I could offer some sage advice but I never owned a bandsaw. 
I can only recommend that you buy the “best”- and only you can decide what best really means to you. How often will you use this and how important are certain features to you? Are there other options for purchasing?
I just don’t think that cost should ever be a deciding factor, although I guess it usually is…
All too true Bruce, the ol’ budget vs. quality / features argument…
Assuming I get some bandsaw running sometime soon, I’m completing the materials cut list for this project. After design simplification, it’s looking to be around 500 feet, in 7 different sizes.
Since the cedar I bought is rough, I’ll have to cut all 4 sides. So, 2000 feet of cedar to be run thru the saw. Jim sold me on the wide blade, that’ll help a lot in keeping things smooth in all that.
About the shipping, I’ve been trying to find a quality product available for local pickup, and this is the best I can find.
It’s near the price of the shipped Grizzly 14", is 50% more powerful, has larger resaw ability, and much better customer support (Grizzly doesn’t allow emails, from what I can find on their site). All are made in Taiwan (Grizzly) or China (Rikon), both are ISO 9001 certified (fwiw).
I know, a yawn post… but I like having a place to record what I’m encountering.
[edit] Here’s the secret Grizzly contact page.
Woodcraft is a high end wood working establishment … They usually sell or recommend good quality tools etc…
Don’t know if you have Amazon prime but my neighbor who’s a woodworker said he bought a machine tool from Amazon and used his “free” prime shipping to get it delivered. Cheaper overall than paying for shipping. Just another angle to think about. Obviously it wasn’t 2 day shipping. 
Cliff, I have several Rikon power tools and they have all performed well over the years. I also own a Grizzly 21" band saw that has served me well. I think either way you go, you will have a much better product than what HF offers and I have bought tools from them too.
It’s a tough decision - no matter WHAT you end up with!
I would look at You Tube and search for band saw reviews and see if that helps - if nothing else, you can waste a lot more time!
You might also do a search for reviews. I suspect that most of these have some bias, but at least might give you some MORE ideas.
I will never tell someone WHAT to purchase other than to purchase the highest quality item your budget will allow. I have never regretted stretching the budget to buy better.
And for casual reading, a treatsie on cutting scale lumber. Good advice on setting up a band saw for cutting scale lumber. https://gscalejunkie.com/Articles/MillingScaleLumberRev-01.pdf
This looks like an excellent how-to, but did you post the wrong link, or did you mean
to say “table saw”?