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I brought a used 28-212. I wasn't impressed with the finish of the table as it had an ground edge. Don't waste your money on the new Deltas, spend it on older Deltas.Delta will not learn until its too late. After seeing one example at Acme Rents, I wouldn't buy one. An unknown quantity are cast in China and imported here.
OTOH, it is amazing that this could be sold for around $1,000, so that is my perspective. After six months of learning how to tune it right, mine now runs perfectly smooth. Cheap blades and bad guide adjustment will make a terrible noise and vibration. I still use the old steel blocks that work well once you figure out how to adjust them properly.On the postive side, all components are heavy duty stamped steel and cast iron. You can spend a lot of money upgrading with aftermarket parts but by the time you're done you might just as well have bought a better saw from the get go.My tension adjuster crapped out after 6 months.
Note that vibration is usually the result of poor set up. The mobile base is nice, but makes it more likely to fall over.A major negative are the lower guide controls that have "pencil" knobs and require the use of pliers to adjust them because they are very stiff. Checked tolerances on all aspects and all was okay. If you buy this machine be prepared to spend some time learning to adjust and use it right and it will perform well for you.
The Jet seems an exact copy.The blade guides are crummy but serviceable. That said, this machine is an antique and belongs in a museum as they haven't improved a thing in 50 years. I've had this machine a year now. I'd take the vibration complaints with a grain of salt. Not sure ball bearing guides are worth the cost.
If you are not familiar with them, beware that it takes time to learn how to set it up right. I haven't noticed other low end machines with anything better. I also bought the Kreg fence which, with these two items makes it a decent machine at additional cost of about $200.00. Arrived with no problems.
Worth every penny of $60. I bought the machine wheel upgrade from Highland Hardware which is a 6" wheel (not a finger-breaking 2" knob) with Acme threads. I routinely saw 1/16 x 6" wide veneers accurately with little strain on the motor. Once I got used to adjusting them, it's not a big deal. I highly recommend it.
Using the right feed rate and sharp blades is critical. It's probably no coincidence that all the negatives are upgradable.Set up right, it performs reasonably well. If you think you can just start jamming pieces of wood thru it without knowledge, you'll be disappointed and end up writing nasty reviews. Another $200 for bearing guides and this'd be a fine machine.
Start with the fact that band saws are cantankerous machines -- need a lot of TLC. The standard threads couldn't handle the stress. My machine got knocked over with a horrible crash onto concrete floor and suffered only minor damage to motor housing. This is the best of the low end machines, fine for hobbyists but not so fine for pros.Wheels are balanced and track well.
The problem is likely the operator and not the machine.
Assembly and tuneup went very quickly, except for the motor mount, which tends to let the motor skew so that the drive and pulley are not square. The motor without a belt runs so smooth you barely know it is on.
A link belt helped a little, but probably wasn't necessary. Mine was shipped with a 2HP, which cuts through anything with ease, given the right blade.
Bought this saw after comparing to Jet and overseas Deltas. I resorted to a band clamp around the motor and a pipe under the base to hold the tension while I repeatedly check the wheels with a straightedge.There is a bit of vibration from the driven pulley, as it is die-cast and not perfectly round, but the saw manages the Standing Nickel Test on the table for smoothness, at least after start up.
Add Timberwolf blades for real cutting enjoyment. This saw definitely has beefier castings and more solid feel.
This make a _lot_ of difference in the smoothness of the saw, so work to get drive & pulley aligned and coplanar.
Like others, I had to drill new holes for the switch because their cord is too short to accomodate the riser I bought. I won't make this too long. There is an excellent online review at American Woodworker, October, 2004. I have a strong impression from friends that getting a "real" bandsaw on its own base and with adequate power is way better than a cheap benchtop model, so if you can afford it, don't waste your money on a lesser model.
I am a rank beginner (never had or used a bandsaw before), so I have nothing to compare to. BUT - it works well and I have easily made 5mm thin resaw "veneers" from a cedar post I bought at Home Depot to use for planking salmon, so I am looking forward to more complicated projects and would buy this saw again. I may need to shim the riser to get the blade exactly centered, and as indicated in reviews, the tuning of the blocks seems harder than it should be, especially on the lower one. I bought a set of timberwolf blades - talked with one of their advisors to pick out a "package" of 4 - they seem to work great.The saw performs well enough.
First, Amazon had this on sale with free shipping and included free mobile base (highly recommended). I also recommend the Lonnie Bird book for tuning tips and use. I read everything possible about bandsaws before selecting this one. (annoying) The assembly book is adequate in pdf format.
However, I was able to use a cheap hand dolly to get the big parts downstairs before assembly and did the whole thing myself. You should read this before making any decision - goes over pros and cons of all saws from least expensive to >2K, 110V, 220V, etc. I agree with other reviewers about assembly - took about 4 or 5 hours, heavy, etc.
I took this off and straightened it with heat. For some reason the top wheel on my saw scraped the rear metal hood both on the top rear and near the middle. I highly recommend this saw but only give it 4 stars because of the problems mentioned above. Bottom Line: Now that these headaches are out of the way I'm very pleased with everything about the saw and have no reason to doubt that it'll outlast me by many, many years. I corrected this by buying another washer and putting it behind the wheel. There were also a few bolts missing and the rear (plastic) blade guard was warped due to sloppy assembly at the factory.
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