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Should I Buy A Band Saw

A band saw isn't a necessary tool to have; it's a convince item. You can make complex cuts with one. You can cut inside corners, like leaves set into a background. Or you can cut hard to cut glass like ripple, drapery, antique, or any glass that you don't want to take a chance on. However, a band saw can be bad as well. For example, where ever you cut a line, (where a break-line should have been), if the panel were to flex, it would break right in that spot.

A band saw is NOT a replacement for your cutter. So keep practicing cutting glass by hand; it's much faster, and cheaper. A band saw blade is around $100.00 a blade; a glass cutter head about $12.00. The blade, with constant use, will wear or break. I can't say how long it will last in real time however (it varies). A glass cutter head should last for years with the proper maintenance. So you do the math. Plus, you can't do straight lines will a band saw, or at least not very accurately. And lastly, it's not very fast; it's much faster to do it by hand.

If you're planning to buy a band saw, consider these features (some are for convenience):

1. A large work surface - this is a good idea to have, so larger glass can fit easily.
2. A deep throat - this is the distance between the blade and the bar holding up the upper half of the saw. This will restrict how deep you can go into a cut. So the deeper, the better.
3. A removable water tray - mine doesn't have this; in fact, it really doesn't have a lot of these features. For an easier clean-up, this is a great feature. With my band saw, I have to reach into a tight space with a sponge, and maybe I'll get some of the mess out. But if it were removable I would be able to remove it, wash it, and shove it back in.
4. Variable speed - personally, I never used the slower speed settings on my current saw. I've always cranked it up to the fastest speed.
5. Overall size - after a while, you wind up getting all kinds of junk that clutters up the work bench. So now that your buying your new toy, you'll have to figure out what you can fit in that space. Whenever I buy something, I usually don't worry too much where it's going to go. I guess that's stupid, because I don't have that much space left. But I always manage to cram that new piece of equipment in.

The band saw I have now is the Diamond Laser 1000. It's shaky, not particularly accurate, the blade wanders; I could go on. I really don't recommend this one, I haven't tried the other new ones though.

As I mentioned before, I would buy the Taurus 2 Ring Saw. I strongly recommend this saw; it's omni-directional, gives you plenty of water, it has an easy cleanup area where the water goes and it can even cut soft metals. And no, I'm not a representative, but I wouldn't mind a discount to buy one...hint, hint. I've heard nothing except compliments for this device. It costs around $400 or so which isn't bad because a good band saw can cost around $600.

Tips For People Who Own A Band Saw Already

Marker line washing away
Don't use something like a Sharpie, it tends to "float away". Instead use the Pilot Gold Paint Marker. For details go to the marker page. Another method is to rub Chapstick over the marker line (untested by me). You can use Chapstick to seal the permanent marker lines in. It helps to prevent water from going under the marker itself. Just be sure to wash the piece off with soap and water before you foil so that your foil will stick.

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Started on 9-22-98