"henry" wrote in message
ps.com...
I am about to purchase a 14" delux Rikon band saw for $750 unless some
one suggest a better saw or price. Besides general furniture making
stuff i would like to Resaw some Oak tree that I cut late winter.
Whats the best method to cut a 48" x 12" logs into 4/4 and 8/4 and
12/4. I will set the bandsaw up next to a work bench for the out feed
side and fiqure something out for the infeed side. Now the logs are
full lenght. Oak is my least favorite furniture wood but thats what I
have. I have never resawd so recommendations on blades, is a cradle
needed ?, cut now or let logs dry some after end sealing?,pith issues.
Suggested web site on resawing?


I have been down the path of resawing green wood on a Rikon BS. I had the
18" version and IIRC all of the Rikon's have roller bearing guides. This is
not a good combination for resawing/cutting green wood.
The problem is that the saw dust sticks to the bearings and the blade. As
the debris gets POUNDED onto the bearings and blade the noise and vibration
goes up dramatically. In addition to this problem the pitch and dust is
very hard to remove from the bearings and blades.

The Rikon line of BS's are a good starter set of saws. Definitely not an
upgrade from any brand IMHO. I had a 12" 1/2" hp 20 year old Craftsman and
was very disappointed in the performance and guide bearings on the 18" 2 hp
Rikon.

Regardless of what brand you buy, I strongly recommend getting it with or
immediately replacing the guide bearings with ceramic guides. These style
guides do not get hot and can be adjusted extremely close to the blade. The
result is that the blades stay clean and you don't get the vibration from
spinning guide bearings.