I'm seriously considering buying the Jet JWBS-18 18" bandsaw at the
Woodcraft 10% off sale next Saturday the 17th. It seems to be well built,
has a decent fence and has roller bearing blade guides upper and lower. The
only negative I see for my needs is the 10" limit on resaw, which is one of
the reasons I'm replacing my old Crapsman. To get to 12" resaw, I'd have to
buy the 20" Jet or perhaps a Laguna, both of which cost considerably more.
The 10" resaw capability is adequate for raised panel doors, as it allows
for 14" or so door widths with rails (28" for a pair of doors). However, if
I want to do a bare panel, 10" is the limit.
Any comments pro and con on this saw?
I have the JWBS-16, & the fit and finish on this saw is outstanding.
Re-sawing with it has been a pleasure. The max re-saw capacity is
10-1/4", which is more than sufficient for my needs. The wheels are
computer balanced cast iron, & the tires are factory crowned. That's
probably why mine tracked perfectly straight, right out of the box, &
after at least 1000 bf, continues to do so. At 300 lbs, it's a very
heavy saw. Jet didn't fudge the weight, so don't plan to move it too
often w/o a mobile base, or a buddy. The body is made of heavy gauge
steel, with full-length welds at critical stress points. The doors are
of a thinner material, but all they do is cover the wheelhouses. It
takes a 123" blade, which is not a standard size, but Timber wolf
stocks them, & I'm sure others do too. As far as the rigidity of the
frame, I haven't had any flexing problems with mine. Once set up, the
adjustments stay put. The tension scale on mine is right on for the
one inch Timber wolf blade. However, I would agree that the blade that
comes with the saw is useless for re-sawing. The only negative would
be the lower blade guide adjustment. If you have big mitts like I do,
you essentially have to remove the table to adjust the lower guides.
Amazon has it for 799 w/free shipping, if you can get it for 10
percent off somewhere else, I would look at it before buying the 18.
It's essentially the same saw. Carter guides are overrated from what
I've read, & the European guides that come with it do the job just
fine.
Good luck, Rob L.I., NY
"bob" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I'm seriously considering buying the Jet JWBS-18 18" bandsaw at the
> Woodcraft 10% off sale next Saturday the 17th.
<Snip>
> Any comments pro and con on this saw?
On Wed, 7 Apr 2004 21:54:04 -0500, "bob"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>I'm seriously considering buying the Jet JWBS-18 18" bandsaw at the
>Woodcraft 10% off sale next Saturday the 17th. It seems to be well built,
I bought one for about $900 some 3 years ago, and am very happy with
it. I have 2 relatively minor complaints. The provided blades, there
was 4 as part of the package, are not so good. And, adjusting the
bottom guides was a bit of a mission, until I made a couple of custom
tools that speeds things up a lot.
Look in any of the WW mags over the past 2-3 years and you will see
reviews on better BS blades. I have changed to Timberwolf, and they
seem pretty good.
Barry Lennox
> IDAGS and found at least 1 negative review on the Jet 18. They felt that
> there was too much flex in the body of the saw. That's 3rd hand so take it
> for what it's worth.
>
I have a 16 and they're built the same way. Lots of flex everywhere. You
can move the upper guide quite a bit with your hand, after all it's bolted
to just sheetmetal.(!) This design would be alot better if they reinforced
several key areas. And while I've never had problems with accuracy and
resawing, Jet should rethink their design.
Mark
I have the earlier version of the Jet 18" bandsaw and love it.
The only negative, as you say, is the resaw capacity.
You might check out Delta's new 18" bandsaw. It looks very similar to the
Jet but it has a 12" resaw capacity.
It is definitely worth checking out.
If you get the Jet, don't get the mobile base from Jet. It sucks. It
wobbles on three points.
Rob
"bob" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm seriously considering buying the Jet JWBS-18 18" bandsaw at the
> Woodcraft 10% off sale next Saturday the 17th. It seems to be well built,
> has a decent fence and has roller bearing blade guides upper and lower.
The
> only negative I see for my needs is the 10" limit on resaw, which is one
of
> the reasons I'm replacing my old Crapsman. To get to 12" resaw, I'd have
to
> buy the 20" Jet or perhaps a Laguna, both of which cost considerably more.
> The 10" resaw capability is adequate for raised panel doors, as it allows
> for 14" or so door widths with rails (28" for a pair of doors). However,
if
> I want to do a bare panel, 10" is the limit.
>
> Any comments pro and con on this saw?
>
>
"bob" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm seriously considering buying the Jet JWBS-18 18" bandsaw at the
> Woodcraft 10% off sale next Saturday the 17th. It seems to be well built,
> has a decent fence and has roller bearing blade guides upper and lower.
The
> only negative I see for my needs is the 10" limit on resaw, which is one
of
> the reasons I'm replacing my old Crapsman. To get to 12" resaw, I'd have
to
> buy the 20" Jet or perhaps a Laguna, both of which cost considerably more.
> The 10" resaw capability is adequate for raised panel doors, as it allows
> for 14" or so door widths with rails (28" for a pair of doors). However,
if
> I want to do a bare panel, 10" is the limit.
>
> Any comments pro and con on this saw?
I don't own this saw, and have only used it a few times, so my actual use is
limited. That said, I have read a few extremely negative reviews about
this saw. Most focused on not beeing able to tension medium to wide blades
properly. Many reported that the saw started to flex before the proper
tension was achieved.
I own a Laguna 18" bandsaw and love it. If I were looking to purchase an
new saw today I would focus on Laguna or MiniMax. They are both high priced
than the Jet but I beilve that they are both a better value.
Bob
I have a 1 1/2" inch resaw blade on mine and have no problem with proper
tension or flexing.
In my experience, it is a very good saw with a limited resaw capacity.
Rob
"RWM" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "bob" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I'm seriously considering buying the Jet JWBS-18 18" bandsaw at the
> > Woodcraft 10% off sale next Saturday the 17th. It seems to be well
built,
> > has a decent fence and has roller bearing blade guides upper and lower.
> The
> > only negative I see for my needs is the 10" limit on resaw, which is one
> of
> > the reasons I'm replacing my old Crapsman. To get to 12" resaw, I'd
have
> to
> > buy the 20" Jet or perhaps a Laguna, both of which cost considerably
more.
> > The 10" resaw capability is adequate for raised panel doors, as it
allows
> > for 14" or so door widths with rails (28" for a pair of doors).
However,
> if
> > I want to do a bare panel, 10" is the limit.
> >
> > Any comments pro and con on this saw?
>
> I don't own this saw, and have only used it a few times, so my actual use
is
> limited. That said, I have read a few extremely negative reviews about
> this saw. Most focused on not beeing able to tension medium to wide
blades
> properly. Many reported that the saw started to flex before the proper
> tension was achieved.
>
> I own a Laguna 18" bandsaw and love it. If I were looking to purchase an
> new saw today I would focus on Laguna or MiniMax. They are both high
priced
> than the Jet but I beilve that they are both a better value.
>
> Bob
>
>
I bought this saw from woodcraft during one of the prior Jet 10% off sales.
The saw comes created with a saw blade mounted and the tables/Fence in a
serrate package which have to be installed. The blade that comes with the
saw is pretty bad, throw it away. get one of the better blades(133"). I
bought this saw because I was looking for a saw which had decent HP on
120/240V. I am more then satisfied with this saw. I have had the opportunity
to use many bandsaws and I have yet to try anything close to this price
which matches it. I have seen the new Deltas which look similar but they are
made in China. If the typical Chinese quality doesn't bother you (it bothers
me) they my be worth looking at also. Adjusting the lower guides is probably
the only negative comment I can make about this saw. If it's in your price
range I think it's the best available. If you wasn't to spend more money you
can get more HP which would always be a help with resawing. I would buy this
saw again with no hesitation
"bob" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm seriously considering buying the Jet JWBS-18 18" bandsaw at the
> Woodcraft 10% off sale next Saturday the 17th. It seems to be well built,
> has a decent fence and has roller bearing blade guides upper and lower.
The
> only negative I see for my needs is the 10" limit on resaw, which is one
of
> the reasons I'm replacing my old Crapsman. To get to 12" resaw, I'd have
to
> buy the 20" Jet or perhaps a Laguna, both of which cost considerably more.
> The 10" resaw capability is adequate for raised panel doors, as it allows
> for 14" or so door widths with rails (28" for a pair of doors). However,
if
> I want to do a bare panel, 10" is the limit.
>
> Any comments pro and con on this saw?
>
>
> The 10" resaw capability is adequate for raised panel doors, as it allows
> for 14" or so door widths with rails (28" for a pair of doors). However,
if
> I want to do a bare panel, 10" is the limit.
I compromised with a 10" resaw and I thought specifically about this issue.
The reasons to go with 12 that I came up with are wide veneers and compound
curves on foot assemblies.
Not that 12" wouldn't be nice, but I see that as a 24" door limitation
(which is wider than I think looks good). If you are going to resaw pannels,
why not bookmatch (much nicer IMHO)?10+10+stiles = at least 24.
IDAGS and found at least 1 negative review on the Jet 18. They felt that
there was too much flex in the body of the saw. That's 3rd hand so take it
for what it's worth.
At least one guy here has recently ordered the Bridgewood 17. I'll bet Woody
will write a review for us (please?). That has a 12" capacity and you may
want to put that on your short list.
-Steve
I recently got this saw and I like it. The lower bearing adjustment is
absurd though. In order to make it usable you should plan on 1) drilling a
hole in the table in order to access one of the lower bearing screws and 2)
changing the other lower bearing screw from a hex socket to a lag bolt so
that it can be loosened with an open end wrench.
Mitch Berkson