On Jul 23, 3:20 pm, Leuf wrote:
On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 16:56:18 GMT, Aardvark
wrote:

On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 11:09:49 -0700, Father Haskell wrote:

I recall hearing that another advantage is the extra weight/density of
cast iron, which gives the wheels more inertia, like flywheels.

Which dampens vibrations and helps machinery last longer. Not sure why
trunnions would need more inertia, though.

Possibly he meant momentum. Extra momentum in a rotating piece of cast
iron would minimise 'slowdown' in the blade when entering a workpiece
that's higher in moisture or denser or harder (like hitting a knot).

Just a guess. A WAG at that :-).

He just confused the trunnion with the wheels. The trunnion is the
cradle the table sits on that allows it to be angled. The only
significant advantage would be if it keeps the table locked more
securely. I dunno what the grizzly's are like, but once I lock the
table on my delta if I try to move it the whole saw moves not the
table. But that's also true of my little pos ryobi 9" bandsaw and I
assure you there is no cast iron to be found anywhere on it.

On my new grizzly 8" disc / 1" belt sander the table and trunnion for
the disc table are both cast iron, however they didn't machine the
mating surfaces, just rough painted castings that don't particularly
fit well together. I mention this not to imply anything about
grizzly's band saws, but just that sometimes they like to be able to
throw around "cast iron!" this and that to look better on paper
without actually being any better. I had to toss the trunnion in the
trash and make my own fixed support to make it usable.

That's typical Chaiwanese craftsmanship -- cut back heavily on
finishing, finish only where it counts. I see they've lowered their
standards. It's time you learned the fine art of scraping cast iron.